BCS Rankings: BCS Shakeup as Oregon, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma Lose

Those that are afraid of the number 13 suffer from triskaidekaphobia. After this week in NCAA football, the number 12, as in Week 12, may have just as many victims.

As the dust settles, Week 12 teams that are in a position to potentially play LSU in the BCS championship game are falling faster than presidential candidates who lose a primary.  LSU did their best to keep the ticket to the big game in their wallet with a 52-3 win over Mississippi.

It was bad enough when No. 2 Oklahoma State laid a 5,000-pound egg at Iowa State to lose any shot at a spot in the game Friday night. The upset bug hit No. 7 Clemson earlier on Saturday when they were outclassed by a 5-5 North Carolina State team 37-13.

But then in a matter of 10 minutes Saturday night, both No. 4 Oregon and No. 5 Oklahoma got voted off the island by losing as well. 

Oregon lost to USC at home when the Ducks missed a field goal to tie late in the game.  The final score was 38-35. 

Oklahoma thought they had the game in the bag when they scored a TD to pull within a point at 38-37 against Baylor with just 51 seconds left.  They set up to go for the two-point conversion
and the win.  But an illegal procedure put the ball back five yards and they kicked the extra point to tie and go to overtime. 

Evidently, the Sooners forgot to pack their defense when they went to Baylor.  Junior QB Robert
Griffin III moved the ball down the field and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass with just eight seconds left.  Griffin ended up 21-for-34 for 479 yards and four touchdowns.

Those that argue against a replay of the LSU/Alabama game are eating antacids like candy now.

So where does that leave the BCS? 

With the losses of the No. 2, 4 and 5 schools, No. 3 Alabama will have an almost death grip on the second spot in the voting which will be announced tomorrow.  The question is, given the upsets we saw this week, can they keep that spot?  They struggled with a very good Georgia Southern team (9-1 coming into the game) winning 45-21 with several scores late.  They face a tough Auburn team next week in what is always a grudge match. 

Given the lead the Tide have over the rest of the remaining field, only a loss to Auburn can prevent them from getting a ticket to the big game.  They will not be in the SEC Conference championship because even a one loss LSU would have the tie breaker over the Tide.

By default, Arkansas moves up to No. 3.  That is particularly interesting given that they will be visiting No. 1 LSU next week to finish up the regular season.  Has anyone noticed that the top three teams in the country are all in the SEC West? 

That means one of two things. Either the BCS has been bought and paid for by the SEC or those teams are REALLY good.  The only loss that the Razorbacks have suffered was at Alabama 38-14. 

The team has wins over No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 15 Auburn and No. 9 South Carolina.

Virginia Tech will likely move up to No. 4.  They may be jumped by Stanford because they have not played a very strong schedule.  They do have a win at then No. 21 Georgia Tech 37-26 but lost to the only other ranked team they played at home to then No. 13 Clemson 23-3.

Stanford could be No. 4 or No. 5. They have wins over then No. 25 Washington and No. 20 USC in overtime.  But they looked totally outclassed at home against Oregon last week 53-30.

The other question is how far will each of the defeated teams this week fall?  The only team that lost to a legitimate club was Oklahoma.  Baylor was ranked No. 22 in the BCS at 6-3.  A loss by Oklahoma State to Iowa State will hurt them although that game was on the road.  Oregon does not have that excuse.  They lost at home against USC.

It looks very much like the championship game will be an all SEC affair.  But what will Week 13 bring in the form of more upsets?

That is what I think.  Tell us what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits http://fryingpansports.com and hosts the Internet radio version of News, Notes and Rumors M-Th at 6 PM EST on http://mooheadradio.com/2.0/.  He has also published several novels on http://www.eBooks-Library.com/Contemporary/
(select William E. Smith in the author list) and a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/.