Week 12 College Football Picks: Penn State and Ranked Teams That Will Fall Flat

With just a couple weeks remaining in the college football season, the BCS rankings are becoming less trivial and more vital in terms of the positioning of teams for a BCS Bowl berth.

With that said, there is still plenty of time for movement in the standings.

While many of the top teams are facing the bottom-feeders this week, the middle and lower portion of the Top 25 features several teams with tough matchups.

Here are three ranked teams that will take a tumble in the standings with losses in Week 11.

No. 23 Texas Longhorns

After two consecutive games with offensive outbursts, the Texas Longhorns offense went silent last week in a 17-5 loss to Missouri. The loss dropped Texas to No. 23 in the polls, and they are very much in danger of falling outside the rankings.

They will host the No. 13 Kansas State Wildcats in what is sure to be a major test.

Kansas State very nearly knocked off the No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowboys in a shootout last week, and they will be looking to improve to 9-2 on Saturday. The Longhorns' inexperienced quarterbacks may have trouble against Kansas State's defense in what should be a low-scoring game.

While Texas is at home, the Wildcats are simply better at this point and should come out on top.

No. 18 Michigan Wolverines

Regardless of what happens over the next two weeks, this season should be considered a success for the 8-2 Michigan Wolverines. In their first year under head coach Brady Hoke, they have made huge strides, and they are still in the running to play for the Big Ten Championship.

Unfortunately for them, so are the No. 16 Nebraska Cornhuskers, whom they will host on Saturday.

Both Michigan and Nebraska are a game behind Michigan State in the Legends Division, but the Wolverines are essentially two games out due to tie-breakers. With the exception of a hiccup against Northwestern, Nebraska has been great lately on both sides of the ball and should be able to win this weekend.

No. 21 Penn State Nittany Lions

While there a lot more important things than football going on at Penn State right now, there is still a season that needs to play out. The Nittany Lions lead Wisconsin by one game in the Leaders Division with two games remaining, so they control their own destiny.

Penn State will face an Ohio State squad that has underachieved, but has managed to beat the likes of Illinois and Wisconsin.

Neither Penn State nor Ohio State play particularly exciting games, so this should be a fairly slow-paced affair. Ultimately, the fact that the Buckeyes are on home field and that Penn State is going with Matt McGloin at quarterback will work in Ohio State's favor.