BCS Rankings: Alabama and Teams Who Will Make a Massive Statement

The Alabama Crimson Tide are going to roll to victory today against the Tennessee Volunteers. The Tide are undefeated on the season and have the best defense in college football.

They are giving up just seven points per game this season and have held opponents to three-and-outs on 44 percent of drives this season.

That's so impressive that Lee Corso predicted that Alabama's defense would score more points than Tennessee's offense today on ESPN's College Gameday.

Tennessee has shown promise this season, but they don't have enough in them to beat the Crimson Tide on the road. They dropped their last two games against LSU and Georgia.

They are going to have a rough go of things this week as well. Their run defense is giving up 4.5 yards per carry and they go up against the best running back in college football this weekend. Trent Richardson has already rushed for 912 yards and 15 touchdowns on the season. Expect another big day out of Richardson en route to an Alabama blowout.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Fighting Irish need to make a statement in this game. They face the USC Trojans this afternoon in a game that will help propel Notre Dame into the BCS rankings if they are able to come away with a victory.

The Irish still have a chance to reach a BCS game, but they are going to need to win all of their remaining games.

Notre Dame has proven that they have both a solid offense and a solid defense this year, but have lost games in large part because of turnovers. They have limited those turnovers in recent weeks and come away with dominating victories over Purdue and Air Force.

With the 29th-ranked pass game and the 28th-ranked run game, the Golden Domers have proven they have an elite offense. Luckily for them, they face a USC team who have been average on defense.

The Irish score more points per game and give up less points per game than the Trojans. USC's lack of a run game is going to doom them this week, as they fall in South Bend.

Stanford Cardinal

The Cardinal have a lot to prove this week, as they have played a cakewalk schedule up to this point in the season.

They finally draw a ranked opponent as the Washington Huskies come to town. The Huskies just cracked the rankings and are the No. 25 team in the country. They have one of the most underrated players in the country in RB Chris Polk, but they are going to have a tough go of things against Andrew Luck and company.

Stanford's defense is yielding less than three yards per carry, so things are going to be extremely difficult for Polk and his fellow RBs tonight. There is going to be a lot of pressure on Washington QB Keith Price this week, and without a run game behind him, he will likely struggle.

Luck is just too good of a QB to slow down and will pull his team through against a shaky Washington defense that is giving up over 28 points per game this season.

2011 Week 8 BCS Rankings
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Oklahoma State
5. Boise State
6. Wisconsin
7. Clemson
8. Stanford
9. Arkansas
10. Oregon
11. Kansas State
12. Virginia Tech
13. Nebraska
14. South Carolina
15. West Virginia
16. Michigan State
17. Texas A & M
18. Michigan
19. Houston
20. Auburn
21. Penn State
22. Georgia Tech
23. Illinois
24. Texas
25. Washington