BCS Projections 2011: Michigan State and Teams That Will Make Biggest Jumps

The new BCS Rankings are set to be announced later tonight, and here's a look at which teams are likely to be the biggest climbers. 

As always with computers, there will be some controversy. Some schools probably felt they were wrongly ranked last week, and they will probably feel that way again.

No matter where these teams are in the BCS Standings, however, they looked mighty impressive on Saturday and will see a big boost in their ranking. 

Penn State Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions certainly don't set the offensive world on fire, but after a road win at Northwestern, they are now 7-1 in a good Big Ten conference. 

They've yet to beat a ranked opponent, but their defense will keep them in any game.

With teams all around them losing or not playing, Penn State should be able to climb three or four spots. 

Houston Cougars

Sure, they play in the Conference-USA, but No. 19 is just too low for a now 7-0 team that is averaging almost 50 points per game. 

Again, I realize their strength of schedule is incredibly low, but they should at least have a spot in the Top 15 for how dominating they've been. 

Case Keenum is just an absolute machine running that offense and he showed it once again as the Cougars drilled Marshall, 63-28. 

Houston is ranked as high as 11 and 12 in a couple of the computer rankings, but an "unranked" in one of them is bringing them down. A few teams ahead of them lost this week, and I think they make the jump to Top 15. 

Stanford Cardinal

There were only two losses ahead of them, but a 44-point victory over a Top 25 team is sure to boost up the Cardinal in the rankings big time. 

Stanford was incredibly impressive on both sides of the ball yesterday against Washington.

On defense, the Cardinal made it so the Huskies had a ton of trouble moving the ball besides two big runs from Chris Polk.

On offense, Stanford was incredibly efficient. They moved the ball with ease, and that was all the more impressive considering the fact that Andrew Luck didn't need to throw the ball a ton.

The Cardinal are currently No. 8, but they could easily jump three or four spots. 

Michigan State Spartans

Michigan State propelled to No. 16 in the BCS Rankings after an impressive win against Michigan.

Most thought that a matchup this week with No. 6 Wisconsin would bring the Spartans back to earth.

When Wisconsin jumped out to a 14-0 lead, those views were only strengthened. And when Wisconsin came back in the fourth quarter, they were strengthened again.

The Spartans remained resilient, however, pulling off the win in what will likely go down as the best game of the year. 

Michigan State is now 6-1 and has pulled off two consecutive big victories. They aren't necessarily always pretty wins, but Michigan State is going to make a big jump in the rankings.