BCS Rankings: Projecting the Week 13 Standings After a Weekend of Chaos

It was an anarchist’s dream.

It was what every BCS hater had been waiting and praying for.

This weekend, the much-discussed “BCS Doomsday Scenario” finally struck college football.

After Stanford and Boise State went down last weekend, the college football gods took things a step further in Week 12, as three of the top five teams in the country—Oklahoma State, Oregon and Oklahoma—all watched their National Championship dreams crumble with shocking last-second losses.

I said it a month ago that we needed to be prepared for a possible LSU vs. Alabama National Championship Game rematch, and right now, that seems like exactly what we’re headed for.

Back in Week 8, when the BCS standings were first released, there were 10 undefeated teams, and at the time, everyone was worrying about how we were going to be able to pick two proper championship game participants if four or five teams finished undefeated.

Now, just five weeks later, that’s obviously not a problem we’ll have to worry about.

LSU has remained the only constant of the ever-changing BCS standings, as the Tigers have continued their reign of dominance at No. 1 for five straight weeks, as the wild game of college football chutes and ladders has unfolded behind them.

After all that’s gone on this weekend, it looks like the SEC West is about to emerge from the dust and take over the BCS rankings, as LSU, Alabama and Arkansas will now likely be the three top-ranked teams when the polls are released tonight.

That will surely make Friday’s bout between LSU and Arkansas a very highly anticipated and very hyped-up affair.

If the Tigers survive the test from the Razorbacks, and then beat Georgia in the SEC championship game, we’re likely going to see a rematch of the “Game of the Century” between LSU and Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game.

Still, if we’ve learned anything this season, there are no definites in college football.

Let’s not make the mistake of booking reservations for the Tigers and the Tide in New Orleans just yet, because there’s still a lot of football left to be played, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see things get even crazier in these final two weeks.

For now, though, here’s my best guess of how the shuffled up Week 13 BCS standings will look when they’re released later tonight.

1. LSU Tigers (11-0)

Week 12 Result: Beat Ole Miss 52-3

2. Alabama Crimson Tide (10-1)

Week 12 Result: Beat Georgia Southern 45-21

3. Arkansas Razorbacks (10-1)

Week 12 Result: Beat Mississippi State 44-17

4. Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-1)

Week 12 Result: Lost to Iowa State 37-31

5. Oregon Ducks (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Lost to USC 38-35

6. Virginia Tech Hokies (10-1)

Week 12 Result: Beat North Carolina 24-21

7. Stanford Cardinal (10-1)

Week 12 Result: Beat California 31-28

8. Oklahoma Sooners (8-2)

Week 12 Result: Lost to Baylor 45-38

9. Boise State Broncos (9-1)

Week 12 Result: Beat San Diego State 52-35

10. Houston Cougars (11-0)

Week 12 Result: Beat SMU 37-7

11. South Carolina Gamecocks (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat The Citadel 41-20

12. Kansas State Wildcats (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat Texas 17-13

13. Michigan State Spartans (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat Indiana 55-3

14. Georgia Bulldogs (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat Kentucky 19-10

15. Baylor Bears (7-3)

Week 12 Result: Beat Oklahoma 45-38

16. Michigan Wolverines (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat Nebraska 45-17

17. Wisconsin Badgers (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat Illinois 28-17

18. Clemson Tigers (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Lost to North Carolina State 37-13

19. TCU Horned Frogs (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat Colorado State 34-10

20. Penn State Nittany Lions (9-2)

Week 12 Result: Beat Ohio State 20-14

21. Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-3)

Week 12 Result: Lost to Michigan 45-17

22. Auburn Tigers (7-4)

Week 12 Result: Beat Samford 35-16

23. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-3)

Week 12 Result: Beat Boston College 16-14

24. Missouri Tigers (6-5)

Week 12 Result: Beat Texas Tech 31-27

25. Virginia Cavaliers (8-3)

Week 12 Result: Beat Florida State 14-13

Who's Out: Southern Miss, Florida State and Texas