BCS Rankings Week 12: Georgia and Teams Still Not Getting Respect

It's practically a weekly ritual—the BCS standings come out on Sunday night, at which point the Rodney Dangerfields of college football, without fail, rise up to cry foul about where they're ranked and why.

Okay, so maybe that's not quite how it works, but still, there's always something about the BCS rankings that's bound to grind somebody's gears. These three teams would seem to have the most to gripe about when looking at the latest breakdown.

Georgia

So the Bulldogs whip the stuffing out of a ranked Auburn team and they move up one spot? And they're two places behind South Carolina, despite being ahead of the Gamecocks in the SEC East?

I get that Georgia lost to USC in September, but let's not forget that the game was decided by just three points and, more importantly, that the Gamecocks have gotten worse over the course of the season, due to injuries (Marcus Lattimore) and dismissals (Stephen Garcia), while the Dawgs have only improved since that fateful day between the hedges.

But I guess we shouldn't expect the BCS to take any of that into account, eh? Because, well, numbers never lie...

Nebraska

And now, I'm about to contradict myself, at least partially.

How is that, you ask? By suggesting that Nebraska, ranked 16th in the BCS, deserves to be ahead of No. 15 Michigan State despite the fact that the Spartans, not the Cornhuskers, lead the Legends Division of the Big Ten.

Whatever that means.

The big difference, of course, is that Big Red actually beat the team ahead of it—and quite convincingly so, if a 24-3 win is to be considered convincing. I understand the harm done by a blowout loss to Wisconsin, a team Sparty beat, and Northwestern, another team that Sparty will probably beat in a couple weeks.

But if decisive head-to-head results matter to the BCS, then shouldn't Nebraska, with its two losses, be somewhere ahead of two-loss Michigan State?

Houston

Now, as far as teams with no losses, of which there are currently three, there remains one outside of the Top 10.

Can you guess who it is? I'll give you a hint: It's not LSU or Oklahoma State.

Still stumped? Check the Conference USA standings, where you'll see Houston rolling along at 10-0 overall, but at No. 11 in the BCS.

I certainly understand that the Cougars' strength of schedule is, well, not good and that the computers don't take into account point totals and margins of victory.

But the human polls can and often do take these things into account.

Unless, of course, you're Houston and you've got the best quarterback in the country in Case Keenum and you've posted 73 points in two of your last three games.

Who am I kidding, though? Of course No. 10 Boise State's a better team...

Rank	Team	BCS Average
1	LSU	.9933
2	Oklahoma State	.9642
3	Alabama	.9099
4	Oregon	.8755
5	Oklahoma	.8400
6	Arkansas	.7974
7	Clemson	.6935
8	Virginia Tech	.6755
9	Stanford	.6747
10	Boise State	.5959
11	Houston	.567
12	South Carolina	.528
13	Kansas State	.497
14	Georgia	.453
15	Michigan State	.439
16	Nebraska	.382
17	Wisconsin	.333
18	Michigan	.295
19	TCU	.252
20	Southern Mississippi	.245
21	Penn State	.230
22	Baylor	.136
23	Texas	.120
24	Auburn	.079
25	Florida State	.071