Final 2013 BCS Rankings: Florida State And Auburn Finish Year On Top

The BCS was never much more than a result of the staples that have long ruled college football — tradition, formality and prestige. Pair teams that should play each other together in a bowl, sure, but make sure they’re also the biggest names.

Official BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Florida State Seminoles
2	Auburn Tigers
3	Alabama Crimson Tide
4	Michigan State Spartans
5	Stanford Cardinal
Scroll down for more

As the BCS sings its swan song, habits that seem old — like the SEC always being in the driver’s seat for the national title — are actually recent developments of the BCS era. But in 2013 it looked like there might be a chance to end the streak just before the BCS met its own end.

Then Michigan State stepped in the way. The Spartans topped Ohio State and the SEC’s Auburn will face Florida State in the national title game.

Not only that, but the SEC lands the No. 3 team in the country, Alabama, in another BCS bowl automatically, and ends the year occupying nearly half of the BCS’s top 10.

And so the BCS ends just like it was supposed to — granting 10 berths to 10 teams from the “power” conferences, though the AAC might have lost its claim to power long before it lost its “Big East” name.

The Big 10 and Pac-12 champions will meet in the Rose Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl will feature the Big 12’s champion. And the Sugar Bowl will get the replacement team of its dreams in Alabama. The BCS worked just like it should have, whether you liked it or not. We were just trying to make sense of it as it was handed down.

Some times we could, some times we couldn’t.

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The last-ever BCS rankings:

Final BCS Standings — December 8th

Rank	Team	BCS Score
1	Florida State Seminoles	.9957
2	Auburn Tigers	.9638
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	.9061
4	Michigan State Spartans	.8600
5	Stanford Cardinal	.8191
6	Baylor Bears	.7722
7	Ohio State Buckeyes	.7705
8	Missouri Tigers	.7256
9	South Carolina Gamecocks	.7152
10	Oregon Ducks	.5811
11	Oklahoma Sooners	.5756
12	Clemson Tigers	.5553
13	Oklahoma State Cowboys	.5233
14	Arizona State Sun Devils	.4416
15	UCF Knights	.4343
16	LSU Tigers	.4322

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Some thoughts:

• BCS Know How’s Projected BCS vs. Actual BCS Rankings
  • Not a great final showing, so be it! This is too much fun to be sad about.
• Again, we’re looking at a much different BCS Know How moving forward. We’ll figure it out after bowl season, which should actually be a ton of fun. Check out the non-BCS bowl schedule, too, if you’re looking for some interesting action.

2014 BCS Bowls

We take one more trip to the BCS this season, with five BCS bowls, 10 teams — fittingly all of which are from the “original” power six conferences that formed the basis for this change in championship crowning all those years ago. These pairings are according to multiple reports from early Sunday.

For more information on how the teams were selected, head over to the BCS Bowls page.

2014 BCS Schedule

	Rose Bowl January 1, 2014 5 p.m. ET
	Michigan State Spartans
vs.
	Stanford Cardinal
	—
	Fiesta Bowl January 1, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Baylor Bears
vs.
	UCF Knights
	—
	Sugar Bowl January 2, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Alabama Crimson Tide
vs.
	Oklahoma Sooners
	—
	Orange Bowl January 3, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Clemson Tigers
vs.
	Ohio State Buckeyes
	—
	BCS National Championship Game in Pasadena, Calif. January 6, 2014 8:30 p.m. ET
	Florida State Seminoles
vs.
	Auburn Tigers

Projected BCS Standings: Last BCS Rankings To Set Up Florida State & Auburn

It seemed like it was going to play out just like we hoped — drama, controversy and loud yelling until the day the BCS died. And then Michigan State had to ruin all that.

Projected BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Florida State Seminoles
2	Auburn Tigers
3	Alabama Crimson Tide
4	Stanford Cardinal
5	Michigan State Spartans
Scroll down for more

When Auburn took the SEC title during its Saturday matinee television spot, the debate started to ratchet up. If Ohio State won the Big Ten title, would they be headed to the BCS title game or could Auburn jump the Buckeyes?

Turns out it didn’t matter. Michigan State surprised the nation, ending Ohio State’s 24-game winning streak and giving Auburn the chance to grab No. 2 in the very last BCS standings. With that, the title game is set. As are a few other of the yearly BCS scenarios we’ve come to love and count on each season.

Here’s what else we know so far:

• Stanford and Michigan State will be headed to the Rose Bowl after winning their respective conference titles
• Baylor will be going to the Fiesta Bowl after winning the Big 12 on a crazy day of conference action
• UCF will automatically claim a BCS bowl bid after winning the regular season AAC title, likely headed to the Fiesta Bowl
• Alabama will likely be automatically qualified for a BCS bowl by finishing third in the final BCS standings, thus eliminating all other possible SEC berths beyond Auburn. For more on this, visit the BCS Bowls page
• Teams likely eligible tomorrow for the at-large pool: Clemson, Oregon, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and possibly LSU
• For more, check out our final slate of projected BCS bowls

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Meanwhile, the BCS standings, after electing Florida State No. 1 and Auburn No. 2, will probably play out as expected. Alabama is likely to end the year at No. 3, followed by conference champions Stanford and Michigan State. Then expect Ohio State to land around No. 6 after its first loss in more than two years, followed by Baylor and Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina, and Oregon and Oklahoma State.

As for what to expect for tomorrow: We’ll get the Coaches’ Poll normal time, around noon ET. Then things will be quiet. We expect to have Jeff Sagarin’s BCS computer rankings early, but who knows for sure.

The Harris Poll will be withheld from public viewing until after the BCS pairings are announced to keep some “drama” but since most of the drama is gone, take that as you will.

Then, around 8:30, the numbers will start pouring in and the pairings will be announced and we’ll be on our way to the final BCS season.

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Remember, we’ll be here to take you through all of it, starting with tomorrow’s releases of the human polls, computer rankings and BCS. Follow along all day @BCSKnowHow and here to stay up to the second with projections, mathematical breakdowns of the computers, human polls and everything in between.

Here’s what the BCS standings will likely look like when they are released tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN:

Final Projected BCS Standings (December 8th)

Rank	Team
1	Florida State Seminoles
2	Auburn Tigers
3	Alabama Crimson Tide
4	Stanford Cardinal
5	Michigan State Spartans
6	Ohio State Buckeyes
7	Baylor Bears
8	Oklahoma Sooners
9	Missouri Tigers
10	South Carolina Gamecocks
11	Oregon Ducks
12	Oklahoma State Cowboys
13	Clemson Tigers
14	LSU Tigers
15	UCF Knights
16	Arizona State Sun Devils

On a programming note: Obviously things around here are going to change very soon. This has been a ton of fun to do. More on what’s next after the craziness of tomorrow. Thank you all!

Final Projected 2014 BCS Bowls — December 8

The BCS — at least the part that everyone hated with an undying passion — ends Sunday. But the bowl games, which could range anywhere from epic showdowns to embarrassing blowouts, will stretch into January.

BCS Bowl Projections
Bowl	Matchup
Title Game	Florida State vs. Auburn
Rose Bowl	Stanford vs. Michigan State
Sugar Bowl	Alabama vs. Oklahoma
Orange Bowl	Clemson vs. Ohio State
Fiesta Bowl	Baylor vs. UCF
Scroll down for more

When a BCS season ends like this one did, though, there isn’t much to say other than to just try as best as you can to relive the great games that filled the final week of the season.

It’s clear now that Auburn’s victory in the SEC championship game added to Ohio State’s loss to Michigan State will send the Tigers to the BCS title game. But where is everyone else headed? We project here:

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BCS National Championship Game: Florida State Seminoles (BCS No. 1) vs. Auburn Tigers (BCS No. 2)

Comment: Auburn waited all day to see if they’d either have to bite their fingernails or be a little less frazzled come Sunday when it came to their national title hopes. It turned out that Michigan State was ready to help the Tigers out, so Auburn will be walking into Pasadena with a chance to close out the BCS era with another SEC national championship. They’ll meet No. 1 Florida State, the only team to finish the year undefeated in regular season play.

Rose Bowl: Stanford Cardinal (Pac-12 champion) vs. Michigan State Spartans (Big Ten champion)

Comment: Stanford certainly looked the part of Pac-12 champion against Arizona State in the conference title game, and for that the Cardinal will be on their way to the Rose Bowl as Pac-12 champs. They’ll get the chance to take on Big Ten champions Michigan State, who closed out its season with a huge victory over Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, clinching their spot here.

Sugar Bowl: Alabama Crimson Tide (At-large selection) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (At-large selection)

Comment: Alabama will get the first look from the Sugar Bowl when it tries to replace its lost SEC champion in Auburn. Sure, the Orange Bowl will have a first shot to replace Florida State, but knowing the way the BCS bowls work, the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl are sure to work out a way to share the responsibility of getting their fans what they want. Oklahoma would be a nice pairing for the Sugar Bowl’s final BCS bow.

Orange Bowl: Clemson Tigers (At-large selection) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (At-large selection)

Comment: Clemson will be the first place the Orange Bowl will look when trying to replace Florida State, but the real question and big story here will be how the bowls treat Ohio State. The once-beaten Buckeyes looked ready for a trip to the BCS title game, but instead will be missing out on the chance to close out the BCS with a title. Instead, the Orange Bowl will have a chance to pick first and third, and could pick a variety of teams to square off with Clemson, but Ohio State looks like the pick.

Fiesta Bowl: Baylor Bears (Big 12 champion) vs. UCF Knights (AAC champion)

Comment: A final weekend of classic BCS football played right into Baylor hands. First, Northern Illinois dropped its final chance to secure a BCS bowl bid, opening up the door slightly for the Bears to get an at-large bid. But come Saturday night, Baylor was playing for it all — a Big 12 title opportunity after Oklahoma State faltered. And with a victory over Texas, Baylor is BCS bowl bound. They’ll likely get AAC champion UCF as the Fiesta Bowl will be saddled with the last pool choice pick, which in all likelihood will be the Knights.

Michigan State Stuns Ohio State To Claim Big Ten Automatic BCS Bid

Michigan State ended Ohio State’s 24-game winning streak in the Big Ten Championship Game and in turn clinch a spot in the Rose Bowl.

This will be Michigan State’s first-ever appearance in a BCS bowl and first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1988. Michigan State knocks Ohio State out of a potential spot in the BCS title game, giving the Auburn Tigers the inside track on keeping the title in the SEC.

In the meantime, Michigan State will likely be on its way to Pasadena to face off against Stanford, which punched its ticket earlier Saturday night.

Seventh 2013 BCS Rankings: Ohio State Holds Off Auburn For No. 2

The BCS just wont go down without a fight. Just more than a week ago we might have been wondering what would happen if we ended the season with four undefeated teams. Now we’re trying to piece together what just happened and explaining how a one-loss team is on the verge of making BCS history.

Official BCS Rankings
Rank	Team
1	Florida State Seminoles
2	Ohio State Buckeyes
3	Auburn Tigers
4	Alabama Crimson Tide
5	Missouri Tigers
Scroll down for more

After Alabama’s reign over college football was seemingly cut down by Auburn things got a bit wonky in the BCS.

Of course, this opened up the No. 1 spot for the first time this season, and fresh from an in-state victory over Florida, Florida State was more than happy to claim its spot atop these seventh BCS rankings.

Then things got interesting. Undefeated Ohio State was supposed to cruise to the No. 2 spot tonight. After all, no undefeated AQ conference team has ever been leapfrogged for a top-two spot in the BCS standings by a once-beaten team. But No. 3 Auburn made the No. 2 Buckeyes sweat for the second position tonight. And both teams will sweat for another week while we chew on the scenarios.

Auburn has Missouri to prepare for, Ohio State has Michigan State on its plate. Wins from both squads next weekend might set up a final chase for the No. 2 spot that will rival any of the best controversy the BCS has had to offer. We can sit back and enjoy it.

The rest of the BCS falls mostly into place as expected. Alabama claims No. 4 with SEC title game-bound Missouri rounding out the top-five. Oklahoma State, in the driver’s seat for a AQ bid for the Big 12, is in at No. 6, and Pac-12 title game combatant Stanford is in at No. 7. South Carolina, Baylor, Arizona State and Michigan State are setting themselves up for BCS eligibility while Oregon and rounds out the top 12.

Northern Illinois is just a win away from a second straight BCS buster bowl bid after entering the top 14 and seeing Fresno State lose at the most inopportune time.

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It’s all come down to one week. Not sure if we’re ready to say goodbye without one final blowout weekend.  Be sure to stay tuned to BCS Know How and @BCSKnowHow throughout the coming week for all the latest analysis and news.

Here’s the seventh BCS rankings of 2013:

BCS Standings Week Seven — December 1st

Rank	Team	BCS Score
1	Florida State Seminoles	.9948
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	.9503
3	Auburn Tigers	.9233
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	.8539
5	Missouri Tigers	.8428
6	Oklahoma State Cowboys	.7629
7	Stanford Cardinal	.7069
8	South Carolina Gamecocks	.7037
9	Baylor Bears	.6623
10	Michigan State Spartans	.6529
11	Arizona State Sun Devils	.5833
12	Oregon Ducks	.5321
13	Clemson Tigers	.5201
14	Northern Illinois Huskies	.4812
15	LSU Tigers	.4213
16	UCF Knights	.3838

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Some thoughts:

• BCS Know How’s Projected BCS vs. Actual BCS Rankings
  • 1-9 great, 10 not good, 11-12 good.

USA Today Coaches’ Poll Week 14: Florida State Takes Over

Florida State claims the USA Today Coaches’ Poll No. 1 spot after Alabama’s loss, while Auburn gains major ground on Ohio State, leaving the possibility for a title game bid for the Tigers well open.

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USA Today Coaches’ Poll – December 1

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Florida State Seminoles	1546	.997
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	1462	.943
3	Auburn Tigers	1437	.927
4	Alabama Crimson Tide	1333	.860
5	Missouri Tigers	1315	.848
6	Oklahoma State Cowboys	1248	.805
7	Baylor Bears	1100	.710
7	South Carolina Gamecocks	1100	.710
9	Michigan State Spartans	1037	.669
10	Stanford Cardinal	1034	.667
11	Clemson Tigers	853	.550
12	Oregon Ducks	843	.544

2013 BCS AQ Conference Profiles: Big Ten

BCS Know How is taking you through the six automatic-qualifying BCS conferences in preparation for the 2013 season. Our easy-to-digest previews continue with the Big Ten. Scroll down to see our profiles of the other conferences.

Conference: Big Ten Conference (Big Ten, B1G)

Active Since: 1896

Current Member Schools:

Leaders Division: Nebraska Cornhuskers, Michigan Wolverines, Iowa Hawkeyes, Northwestern Wildcats, Michigan State Spartans, Minnesota Golden Gophers
Legends Division: Illinois Fighting Illini, Indiana Hoosiers, Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Purdue Boilermakers, Wisconsin Badgers (12)

2013 Bowl Affiliations and Tie-Ins: Rose Bowl (BCS), Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, Gator Bowl, Heart of Dallas Bowl, Outback Bowl, Capital One Bowl (8)

2012 Results:
Conference Champion — Wisconsin Badgers
Conference Runner-up — Nebraska Cornhuskers
BCS Bowl Results: 2013 Rose Bowl — Stanford 20 vs. Wisconsin 15
Overall Bowl Record: 2-5

Heisman Hopefuls: Ohio State QB Braxton Miller, Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez, Nebraska RB Ameer Abdullah, Michigan QB Devin Gardner

BCS Know How’s 2013 Predictions:
Conference Champion — Ohio State Buckeyes
Conference Runner-up — Nebraska Cornhuskers
BCS bids: Ohio State — Rose Bowl
Heisman Finalists — Braxton Miller

Preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll: Alabama Favored to Repeat Again

The longest standing, largely unchanged vestige of the Bowl Championship Series, the USA Today Coaches’ Poll crowned Alabama as the preseason favorite to capture the final BCS title.

In the final season of the BCS the Crimson Tide will begin the season as the prohibitive favorites to ride the Coaches Poll, Harris Interactive Poll and computers into the final BCS title game before the system shuts down one last time.

Ohio State comes in at No. 2, taking three first-place votes to Alabama’s 58, while No. 6 Texas A&M grabs the last first-place tally. Oregon, Stanford and Georgia round out the top five.

Here we investigate the preseason poll by vote share, the statistic that the BCS will use to calculate the nation’s top teams during the last eight weeks of the college football year.

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Preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll – August 1

Rank	Team	Votes	Share of Vote
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	1545	.996
2	Ohio State Buckeyes	1427	.921
3	Oregon Ducks	1397	.901
4	Stanford Cardinal	1262	.814
5	Georgia Bulldogs	1250	.806
6	Texas A&M Aggies	1215	.784
7	South Carolina Gamecocks	1136	.733
8	Clemson Tigers	1047	.675
9	Louisville Cardinals	1010	.652
10	Florida Gators	930	.600
11	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	872	.563
12	Florida State Seminoles	844	.545

Projected BCS Rankings: Stanford and Wisconsin Prosper in Seventh BCS Standings

Update: The seventh BCS standings have been released, check them out HERE.

Being down is certainly not the same as being out. If this weekend taught us anything, it should be this.

Auburn and Nevada, both down double-digits in the second half, came all the way back to capture victories over conference rivals — and in Nevada’s case pulled one of the upsets of the season by beating the non-AQ darling Boise State Broncos.

Add a somewhat unexpected victory by Arkansas over LSU and an entertaining edition of the Bedlam game, and rivalry weekend did not disappoint.

But what does it all mean for tomorrow’s BCS standings?

Well, although it won’t be anything truly drastic, changes are certainly in store.

The most important developments start at the spot Boise State had been in possession of these past few weeks — No. 4. With losses by the Broncos and LSU, Stanford is in line to take over that spot.

Now normally moving up two spots is not huge deal in the BCS standings if it isn’t a move into the top two spots — but in this case, its of the utmost importance.

As the highest ranking team from an automatically qualifying BCS conference that will not receive its own conference’s automatic BCS bid, and ranked in the top four, Stanford would be guaranteed a BCS bowl bid.

Poised to take over the next spot at No. 5, Wisconsin is also very interested in maintaining the pecking order from last weekend — as the BCS standings will be used to break a three-way tie created by the Badgers, Ohio State and Michigan State after victories on Saturday and send the winner to the Rose Bowl.

With a cushion to work with, Wisconsin is likely to be ahead of the pack come tomorrow’s standings, and when the final BCS standings are released.

That cushion will certainly come in handy, as Ohio State is likely to land in that No. 6 spot right behind the Badgers, likely making up some ground on the Badgers with some added support from the human side. But with no more games to be played in the Big Ten race, it’s all but over.

After that it’s going to start to get a little messy. The section of the standings that was the domain of one-loss BCS conference teams is sure to be a muddled mess come tomorrow.

Most importantly, that group will include Oklahoma and not Texas A&M or Oklahoma State — giving Oklahoma the Big 12 South title that it needs in order to continue its quest for a BCS bowl bid.

Boise State, who was poised to take over the No. 3 spot with a victory over Nevada, will also likely be in this group, and almost certainly headed for the Boise, Idaho-hosted Humanitarian Bowl.

Arkansas should lead the group of two-loss squads, with their losses coming at the hands of Auburn and Alabama, with Michigan State, Oklahoma, LSU and Missouri tagging along in that same general area.

And as an added bonus, the distance between Oregon and Auburn should continue to be paper thin.

So with all of that in mind, here’s what the BCS standing will likely look like when they are released tomorrow at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN:

Projected BCS Standings – BCS Week Seven (November 28th)

Rank	Team
1	Oregon Ducks
2	Auburn Tigers
3	TCU Horned Frogs
4	Stanford Cardinal
5	Wisconsin Badgers
6	Ohio State Buckeeys
7	Arkansas Razorbacks
8	Michigan State Spartans
9	Boise State Broncos
10	Oklahoma Sooners
11	LSU Tigers
12	Missouri Tigers