College Football Rankings: 5 Risers and Fallers

The end of college football's regular season is quickly approaching. Clear contenders have emerged, but there are some important games yet to be played.

Late season rivalries and conference championships hang in the balance. Non-AQ programs will jockey for position in the rankings. This is a fun time to be a college football fan.

Want to get a handle on where this madness is heading?

Here are five teams you can expect to climb and five that will tail off as the regular season wraps up.

Rising: Houston

The Houston Cougars possess a dynamic offense and are ranked 11 in the latest BCS poll.

The Cougars are a perfect 9-0 so far and close out their regular season against three Conference USA opponents. The combined record of these remaining opponents is 14-14.

The final game against Tulsa will likely be Houston's tallest hurdle, but there is not much standing in the way of a perfect regular season.

Case Keenum and his teammates will move up the rankings as several teams ahead of them drop from losses.

The real issue is whether they can impress voters enough to make up for a weak schedule.

Rising: Texas

Texas has rebounded nicely following consecutive losses to the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Texas' opportunity to climb the rankings comes from a combination of "winnable" yet challenging games.

The Longhorns play No. 15 Kansas State at home and travel to No. 25 Baylor to end the season. These are the two ranked opponents remaining on the schedule.

Watch out for Mack Brown's team.

Rising: Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Badgers are a top team that have tumbled all the way down to 18.

The remaining schedule sets up nicely for them to climb back up the rankings.

They will be heavily favored during trips to Minnesota and Illinois in the coming weeks before they host a reeling Penn State program to finish the year.

The Badgers trail Penn State by two games in the Big Ten Leaders division. Based on the Nittany Lions current turmoil, difficult schedule and the remaining head-to-head matchup, Wisconsin has a very real chance to win the division.

A Rose Bowl appearance is not out of the question.

Rising: Southern Miss

Southern Miss is the second Conference USA team to place in the BCS rankings.With an 8-1 record, the Golden Eagles come in at number 22.

This Southern Miss team will enjoy an exceptionally soft stretch run. The combined record of the teams left on their schedule is a dismal 7-22.

Southern Miss is lacking a marquee win, but they have already made the rankings without one.

They will take care of business during the final three games and benefit from other teams faltering.

Rising: Ohio State

Ohio State is currently unranked, but has the look of a program ready to break back into the BCS rankings.

Since stumbling to a 3-3 start the Buckeyes have put together some quality wins. Luke Fickell's team upset Illinois and Wisconsin when they were ranked 15 and 16, respectively.

This is a team gaining momentum.

Two of the final three games on Ohio State's schedule are against No.12 Penn State and No. 24 Michigan.

The Buckeye's, like the Texas Longhorns, have a schedule with challenging games that are still well within their ability to win.

Ohio State should finish the season inside the BCS rankings.

Falling: Arkansas

During the next two weeks, Arkansas has to face Tennessee and Mississippi State.

Neither of those programs are where they hoped to be right now, but each will test the Razorbacks.

If Arkansas is able to handle those conference foes they will maintain a top 10 ranking heading into Death Valley to take on LSU.

Whether they are upset during the next two weeks, or fall to the mighty LSU Tigers, it's hard to imagine Arkansas finishing this regular season with three more wins. 

Falling: Penn State

Even before scandal and distraction descended on State College, Penn State was a prime candidate to stumble down the stretch.

The final three games are against their toughest conference opponents.

After hosting Nebraska, the Nittany Lions have to go on the road to play an emerging Ohio State team and a Wisconsin squad fighting to make the conference title game.

From a purely football perspective, there are difficult days ahead for Penn State. Now throw heart-wrenching scandal on top of that.

Penn State will almost certainly slide down the rankings.

Falling: Auburn

The Auburn Tigers are likely facing either a four or five loss season on the heels of their national title.

Sandwiched around a walkover game against Samford are games at Georgia and home against Alabama.

Auburn currently sits precariously at No. 20 in the BCS rankings and one or two more losses will likely knock them right out.

Falling: Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech rallied from their two game skid with an impressive win over, then fifth ranked, Clemson.

The season looked bleak after falling to Virginia and Miami, but with a statement win, the Yellow Jackets regained hope.

Unfortunately for the Georgia Tech faithful, their team fell to the Virginia Tech Hokies on Thursday night.

The Yellow Jackets still have to close the season with a matchup against in-state rival Georgia.

As impressive as the Clemson win was, this Georgia Tech team isn't good enough to be a highly ranked three, or possibly four, loss team.

Falling: Baylor

Baylor comes in at No. 25, the final team to make this week's BCS rankings.

Their position is probably safe for one more week since they play an awful Kansas Jayhawks team. However, that might be the end of the run.

The Bears' final three games are against Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas.

That's too tall an order, even for the dynamic Robert Griffin III.

Baylor should finish the year without a BCS ranking.