Week 12 Rankings

Your Top 25:

Rk	Δ	Team	Pts
1	0	Alabama	69.3

Alabama's defense cements the Tide's position at #1, scoring a safety and nabbing three interceptions to beat the previously unbeaten Mississippi State 25-20.

2

0

Mississippi State

63.4

The magic may have ended for Mississippi State last night, as they lost their unbeaten record and control of the SEC West. But the 9-1 Bulldogs are only half a game behind Bama, and they still look like one of the best teams in the country. If they can find a little bit more magic, the Bulldogs can still go to both the SEC Championship Game and the Playoff.

3

+1

Ohio State

62.2

Ohio State held off the Golden Gophers of Minnesota in the snow, winning 31-24, but the Buckeyes' rise to #3 has more to do with Auburn's loss to Georgia.

4

+7

Georgia

60.4

Georgia cracks back into the Top Five after the Bulldog running game dominated Auburn. Both Nick Chubb and Todd Gurley had over 100 rushing yards in the 34-7 victory over the Tigers.

5

0

Baylor

60.0

Baylor stays put at #5 after a bye week.

6	+1	Marshall	59.9
7	+5	Wisconsin	59.7
8	+1	Oregon	58.4
9	-3	TCU	57.6
10	-2	Ole Miss	57.3
11	+2	Georgia Tech	55.3
12	-9	Auburn	55.1
13	+1	Michigan State	54.6
14	+2	Florida State	49.9
15	+5	Oklahoma	47.9
16	-6	Nebraska	47.5
17	+1	UCLA	46.7
18	-3	Georgia Southern	45.0
19	-2	LSU	44.4
20	+3	Kansas State	43.5
21	+11	Missouri	42.3
22	0	Duke	40.7
23	+4	Louisville	40.6
24	+4	Boise State	40.6
25	-6	Arizona State	40.4

See full rankings here.

Teams falling out of the Top 25:

• (#26) Clemson (lost at Georgia Tech 28-6)
• (#32) Florida (lost vs. South Carolina 23-20)
• (#35) Notre Dame (lost vs. Northwestern 43-40)

Teams worse than the average FCS team:

• (#128) SMU (lost vs. South Florida 14-13)
• (#129) Georgia State (bye)

Largest improvement in rank: +12 Buffalo buffaloed Akron, posting 310 rushing yards in a 55-24 win.

Largest drop in rank: -14 Rice was stampeded by the still-undefeated Thundering Herd, allowing Marshall to post 581 yards of total offense in a 41-14 loss.

Conference Rankings

Conference	Average
SEC	42.24
Big Ten	32.01
Pac-12	31.70
Big 12	31.55
ACC	31.06
Mountain West	20.99
Conference USA	20.01
American	17.25
Sun Belt	16.51
MAC	14.10

Games to watch next week:

(#10) Ole Miss at (#28) Arkansas (3:30 PM EST, CBS) We start, as we usually do, in the SEC West, but you can see what a relatively weak slate of games we have this weekend when Ole Miss-Arkansas is the best I can give you. The Razorbacks beat LSU this week, winning their first SEC game since Bret Bielema took over as head coach, and have a chance to go bowling after missing out the past two years. Ole Miss has lost their last two conference games, but still has an outside chance of winning the West. Does home-field advantage win this one for Arkansas, or will SEC teams start taking the Razorbacks more seriously after their W over LSU?

Line: Arkansas by 3

(#39) Boston College at (#14) Florida State (3:30 PM EST, ABC/ESPN2) Florida State managed to do it again, coming back from behind to beat Miami (FL), and the Math is grudgingly giving the Seminoles credit as they slowly rise in the rankings. But Boston College could provide the Noles with yet another test; the Eagles have the 12th best rushing offense in the nation, posting 264 yards per game. However, BC has had a schizophrenic year, upsetting USC at home in September but then losing to Colorado State two weeks later. The USC-beating version needs to show up to Tallahassee if they want a chance to pull off a second upset.

Line: Florida State by 1

(#29) USC at (#17) UCLA (8 PM EST, ABC) This year's version of the Battle for Los Angeles has major conference implications after Arizona State's loss to Oregon State has reopened the contest for the Pac-12 South. USC, UCLA, ASU, and Arizona are all bunched up at the top with two losses each. UCLA has already won the head-to-head against the two teams from the Copper State, and would go to the Pac-12 Championship Game with victories over USC and Stanford. USC has beaten the Wildcats but has lost to the Sun Devils; a win this week will give the Trojans a share of the divisional title, but may not be enough to send them to the Pac-12 Championship.

Line: UCLA by 8

(#20) Kansas State at (#41) West Virginia (Thursday 7 PM EST, Fox Sports 1) Kansas State is still vying for the Big XII title, but after last week's loss to Texas, West Virginia needs a miracle on the scale of the eight planets aligning (sorry, Pluto) just to get a share of the conference title. The Mountaineers can easily play spoiler though, and with West Virginia hosting, this game looks to be the most even matchup of the week.

Line: Even

(#23) Louisville at (#35) Notre Dame (3:30 PM EST, NBC) Notre Dame suffered an embarrassing overtime loss to Northwestern in South Bend this week, and now the 7-3 Cardinals look better than the 7-3 Irish. This game won't have any conference consequences--Florida State has locked up the Atlantic Division, and Notre Dame is merely ACC-adjacent in football--but both teams are looking to improve their resumes before the bowl season begins.

Line: Louisville by 2

(#27) Arizona at (#34) Utah (3:30 PM EST, ESPN) Back to the muddled Pac-12 South, where all but Colorado could end up representing the division in the conference championship. Utah, despite having three conference losses, could still represent the South iff (1) Utah wins this game against Arizona, (2) the Utes beat bottom-dwelling Colorado, (3) Arizona beats Arizona State, (4) UCLA beats USC, and (5) Stanford beats UCLA. Arizona's path is slightly easier and slightly similar; for the Cats to win, Arizona must beat (1) Utah and (2) Arizona State, (3) UCLA must beat USC, and (4) Stanford must beat UCLA. Bottom line: either team must win this game just to keep their hopes alive.

Line: Utah by 5.5