BCS Rankings 2011: Nebraska and Teams That Will Plummet in Revised Standings

The beauty of college football is that upsets seem to lurk around every corner, and a team can go from a contender to an also-ran with just one loss. That was the case with several teams on Saturday, ensuring that the BCS standings are sure to see a shake-up.

Just last week, the Nebraska Cornhuskers pulled off a big win over the Michigan State Spartans. A loss to Northwestern this week completely erased that result, however. Here are three teams, including Nebraska, that are sure to plummet in the BCS rankings this week.

West Virginia Mountaineers

The No. 24 West Virginia Mountaineers seemed to be on their last legs when they were embarrassed by the Syracuse Orange a couple of weeks ago, but their fate was sealed on Saturday in an upset loss to the Louisville Cardinals. With three losses now to their record, the Mountaineers are all but assured to drop out of the rankings completely.

West Virginia's main selling point was that it was the best team in the Big East. That is most definitely no longer the case as the Mountaineers now have two losses in the weakest BCS conference. West Virginia certainly has tons of talent on offense, but it simply isn't a complete team. The defense has failed time and time again, and it now looks as if the Mountaineers won't even win the lowly Big East.

Michigan Wolverines

At No. 15, the Michigan Wolverines have already exceeded expectations this season under first-year coach Brady Hoke. Not only has quarterback Denard Robinson continued his fine play, but the defense is like night and day when compared to last year. With that said, Michigan's loss to Iowa on Saturday certainly doesn't sting any less.

The Wolverines were co-leaders of the Big Ten Legends Division, but now trail the Michigan State Spartans by one game. With Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State ahead on the schedule, Michigan may have blown its chance to play for the Big Ten Championship. Whatever the case, the Wolverines are sure to take quite a hit in the rankings after losing to the unranked Hawkeyes.

Nebraska Cornhuskers

After defeating the Michigan State Spartans handily last week, the No. 10 Nebraska Cornhuskers looked to be one of the premier one-loss teams in the nation along with the Oklahoma Sooners and Oregon Ducks. Whatever momentum they created was squashed this week, though in a loss to the 4-5 Northwestern Wildcats. Now, the Huskers will have to scratch and claw to remain in the Big Ten race.

For whatever reason, Nebraska simply couldn't get its signature running game going with quarterback Taylor Martinez and running back Rex Burkhead. Martinez had one of his best passing performances of the season, but the Huskers were out of their element. Nebraska could conceivably drop seven or eight spots in the standings as its hopes of an at-large BCS bid are quite dim at the moment.