BCS Rankings: Overrated Teams Heading for a Fall

The college football season is headed down to the wire, but there’s still plenty of time for teams whose rankings have floated too high to have their bubbles burst. This trio is in for an unwelcome reality check in the coming weeks:

Michigan State Spartans

The highest-ranked team in the Big Ten, No. 14 Michigan State has its work cut out for it to maintain that spot in the standings. They close the regular season with a dangerous road game at Northwestern, a far better team than its 6-5 record.

Even with a win in Evanston, the Spartans will have to face (in all probability) Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. Michigan State has beaten two ranked teams at home (including the Badgers, 37-31), but on a neutral field in Indianapolis they won’t have the offensive weapons to repeat that performance.

Clemson Tigers

Coming off a ghastly 37-13 loss at NC State, things are about to get even worse for Clemson. They close the regular season by visiting arch rival South Carolina, the nation’s 12th-ranked team.

Even if Tajh Boyd and the offense can bounce back from last week’s abysmal showing and upset the Gamecocks, Virginia Tech looms in the conference title game. Don’t expect a repeat of the Tigers’ 23-3 win from October, as Clemson is off its game offensively and won’t make a dent in the Hokies’ potent D.

Penn State Nittany Lions

Regardless of what one thinks of the Nittany Lions program right now, the Nittany Lions players deserve credit for pulling together and winning a very tough road game against Ohio State on Saturday. However, even the nation’s third-best scoring defense won’t be enough to save Penn State in a road meeting with mighty Wisconsin.

The Badgers have a defense that can slug it out with PSU’s (seventh in points allowed), plus a dominant offense (44.8 points per game, fifth-best in the country). In Madison, where no team has come within 30 points of the Badgers this season, Matt McGloin and the Nittany Lions have no hope of outscoring Wisconsin.