NCAA 2012 Week 13 Top 25

The BCS Championship Game will be Notre Dame against the SEC Champion, while Oregon can't even dream about the Rose Bowl.  A BCS at-large bid is likely, but it's a bitter pill for Oregon for the THIRD straight year.

Upsets have left the bottom of the Top 25 with some strong teams from non-BCS conferences.  Some contenders (like Oregon State and Texas) still play, so next week's rank may see some differences, but for now we have an odd situation, where we have more teams from the WAC (3) in the Top 25 than teams from the Big Ten (2), Big East (0), and Mountain West (2).

Top 25 [Last week's position]
1.  Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-0) [1] : USC played them tough, but the Irish advance to the BCS Championship Game with one of the toughest defenses in the NCAA
2.  Ohio State Buckeyes (12-0) [2] : They finish the season unbeaten, but a talented slew of underclassmen give them confidence for next year
3.  Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1) [3] : The best one-loss team must still beat Georgia to advance to the BCS Championship
4.  Oregon Ducks (11-1) [4] : They don't play in the Pac-12 Championship, so this is as far as they go
5.  Georgia Bulldogs (11-1) [6] : They play Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.  At stake, Georgia's first trip to a BCS title game
6.  Kansas State Wildcats (10-1) [7] : They still have to play one more game, but unless Georgia loses big against Alabama, this is as high as they go
7.  Florida Gators (11-1) [9] : They bruised Florida State to solidify a solid BCS at-large bid
8.  Texas A&M Aggies (10-2) [10] : They padded Johnny Manziel's numbers for a Heisman bid.  Hopefully the voters will ignore most of the second half when they place their votes
9.  Florida State Seminoles (10-2) [5] : Tough loss to Florida sends them into the ACC Championship Game with something to prove
10. LSU Tigers (10-2) [11] : The Tigers round out an SEC domination of the Top Ten, as they hold half of the spots
11. South Carolina Gamecocks (10-2) [13] : They clobbered Clemson to help the SEC sweep against the ACC this past weekend
12. Stanford Cardinal (10-2) [15] : A solid victory in the Pac-12 title game might propel them into the Top Ten
13. Clemson Tigers (10-2) [8] : The loss to South Carolina was not how they wanted to end the season, especially since they missed a shot at the ACC Championship Game, too
14. Oklahoma Sooners (9-2) [14] : They still have a game to play, and it might be for the Big XII title
15. Northern Illinois Huskies (11-1) [17] : If they beat Kent State in the MAC Championship Game, could a leap into the top twelve be possible?
16. Boise State Broncos (9-2) [16] : They play for a possible conference title this week
17. Utah State Aggies (10-2) [19] : The WAC champ continues to climb as they enjoy their first year ever in the Top 25
18. UCLA Bruins (9-3) [12] : The Bruins were spanked in their first outing against Stanford.  Can they turn around and win in the rematch?
19. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-2) [NR] : The Huskers earned a place in the Big Ten title game and regained a spot in the Top 25
20. Kent State Golden Flashes (11-1) [23] : They may need a good performance (win or lose) against Northern Illinois to keep two MAC teams in the Top 25
21. San Jose State Spartans (10-2) [NR] : A third WAC team enters the Top 25 with a commanding victory over Louisiana Tech
22. Fresno State Bulldogs (9-3) [NR] : They played themselves into a share of the Mountain West title
23. UCF Golden Knights (9-3) [NR] : They won a place in the Conference USA title game
24. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (9-3) [20] : Disappointing loss to San Jose State puts their Top 25 existence in jeopardy, with some strong teams just outside
25. USC Trojans (7-5) [18] : Yes, they have five losses, but they have played well in all of their games, and few teams have faced a tougher schedule

On the Edge:  Michigan Wolverines (8-4), Northwestern Wildcats (9-3), Tulsa Golden Hurricanes (9-3), Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-2), Penn State Nittany Lions (8-4), North Carolina Tar Heels (8-4), Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-4), BYU Cougars (7-5)

Dropped:  Oregon State Beavers [#21], Texas Longhorns [#22], Wisconsin Badgers [#24], Louisville Cardinals [#25]

Conference races
All divisions are set, and you can see the winners in this week's picks column, as I pick all of the conference championship games.  Most of the conferences without championship games are still in contention, though.

Big XII:  Texas lost their chance when TCU beat them.  Kansas State has the advantage.  If they beat Texas, they win the conference.  If Texas wins and Oklahoma wins, the Sooners capture the title.  Losses by both Kansas State and Oklahoma gives the Wildcats the title.

Big East:  Rutgers can win in the de facto conference title game against Louisville.  While a Rutgers loss would put three teams on top (four if Cincinnati win), it would likely be Louisville crowned in that case.  A Cincy loss makes a three-way tie where each team has a 1-1 record against the co-leaders.  A Cincy win puts four teams on top, but only Rutgers and Louisville would have 2-1 records against the others; Syracuse and Cincy lost two games.  In the case of a tie, the Big East uses the highest BCS rank, which would be Louisville if they beat Rutgers.

Mountain West:  A Boise State loss against Nevada knocks them out.  If Boise loses, the two co-leaders are Fresno State and San Diego State.  Since Fresno beat the Aztecs, they'd win the conference.  If Boise wins, the three co-leaders each have a 1-1 record against the others.  Again, the highest BCS rank would break the tie, and that will be Boise.

Sun Belt:  This week's game between Middle Tennessee and Arkansas State is the de facto conference championship, as they are the current co-leaders.

WAC:  Utah State already won this one