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Baylor Rises to #6 in 2013 BCS Rankings

Week 2 of the 2013 BCS has arrived, and the Baylor Bears jumped all the way to #6 in the country in the rankings announced tonight on ESPN, behind only Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, Ohio State, and Stanford.

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

With the Missouri Tigers falling from the ranks of the unbeaten this weekend and the Miami Hurricanes less than impressing, your Baylor Bears managed to jump two spots in the second week of the 2013 Bowl Championship Series rankings. Five teams remain above the Bears, who now occupy the #6 spot I predicted for them last week. This is the highest ranking in program history, breaking the mark set just a week ago, and we're not done yet. Baylor is off this coming week and will return to action next Thursday, November 7, against the 10th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, fresh off their home victory this weekend against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Unfortunately, Missouri losing is only a surprise in when it happened, not that it happened. I think most assumed they would lose eventually to Alabama, removing themselves from our path. If they didn't, they'd have to beat the Crimson Tide to avoid that fate, removing a different team (potentially) from the equation. Either way, we were going to pass one of those two teams. Still, they are likely to meet up with the Tide down the road in the SEC Championship Game, raising the possibility that both teams could end up with a loss (should Mizzou win that game). That could help.

Even at #6 now, we're still going to need help if we have aspirations for the national championship. With Stanford playing Oregon the same night we take on OU, another team will have to fall. That's good. We're also likely, as our strength of schedule improves, to pass B1G's Ohio State Buckeyes, placing us in fourth should we continue winning as we have. That means we'll need 2 of the top 3: Alabama, Oregon, or Florida State, to lose to have any chance at playing for the Crystal Football (in addition to, obviously, winning out ourselves). Here are the schedules for every team above us in the rankings released tonight:

#1 Alabama Crimson Tide -- (8-0, 5-0 in SEC)


Crimson Tide Football Schedule

@ Virginia Tech Sat 08/31 W 35 - 10
@ Texas A&M Sat 09/14 W 49 - 42
Colorado St. Sat 09/21 W 31 - 6
Mississippi Sat 09/28 W 25 - 0
Georgia State Sat 10/05 W 45 - 3
@ Kentucky Sat 10/12 W 48 - 7
Arkansas Sat 10/19 W 52 - 0
Tennessee Sat 10/26 W 45 - 10
LSU Sat 11/09 TBA
@ Mississippi St. Sat 11/16 TBA
Chattanooga Sat 11/23 TBA
@ Auburn Sat 11/30 TBA

#2 Oregon Ducks (8-0, 5-0 in Pac12)


Ducks Football Schedule

Nicholls Sat 08/31 W 66 - 3
@ Virginia Sat 09/07 W 59 - 10
Tennessee Sat 09/14 W 59 - 14
California Sat 09/28 W 55 - 16
@ Colorado Sat 10/05 W 57 - 16
@ Washington Sat 10/12 W 45 - 24
Washington St. Sat 10/19 W 62 - 38
UCLA Sat 10/26 W 42 - 14
@ Stanford Thu 11/07 8:00 PM CST
Utah Sat 11/16 TBA
@ Arizona Sat 11/23 TBA
Oregon St. Fri 11/29 6:00 PM CST

#3 Florida State Seminoles (7-0, 5-0 in ACC)


Seminoles Football Schedule

@ Pittsburgh Mon 09/02 W 41 - 13
Nevada Sat 09/14 W 62 - 7
Bethune-Cookman Sat 09/21 W 54 - 6
@ Boston College Sat 09/28 W 48 - 34
Maryland Sat 10/05 W 63 - 0
@ Clemson Sat 10/19 W 51 - 14
N.C. State Sat 10/26 W 49 - 17
Miami Sat 11/02 7:00 PM CDT
@ Wake Forest Sat 11/09 TBA
Syracuse Sat 11/16 TBA
Idaho Sat 11/23 TBA
@ Florida Sat 11/30 TBA

#4 Ohio State Buckeyes (8-0, 4-0 in B1G)


Buckeyes Football Schedule

Buffalo Sat 08/31 W 40 - 20
San Diego St. Sat 09/07 W 42 - 7
@ California Sat 09/14 W 52 - 34
Florida A&M Sat 09/21 W 76 - 0
Wisconsin Sat 09/28 W 31 - 24
@ Northwestern Sat 10/05 W 40 - 30
Iowa Sat 10/19 W 34 - 24
Penn St. Sat 10/26 W 63 - 14
@ Purdue Sat 11/02 11:00 AM CDT
@ Illinois Sat 11/16 TBA
Indiana Sat 11/23 TBA
@ Michigan Sat 11/30 TBA

#5 Stanford Cardinal (7-1, 5-1 in Pac12)


Cardinal Football Schedule

San Jose St. Sat 09/07 W 34 - 13
@ Army Sat 09/14 W 34 - 20
Arizona St. Sat 09/21 W 42 - 28
@ Washington St. Sat 09/28 W 55 - 17
Washington Sat 10/05 W 31 - 28
@ Utah Sat 10/12 L 21 - 27
UCLA Sat 10/19 W 24 - 10
@ Oregon St. Sat 10/26 W 20 - 12
Oregon Thu 11/07 8:00 PM CST
@ USC Sat 11/16 TBA
California Sat 11/23 TBA
Notre Dame Sat 11/30 TBA

#6 Baylor Bears (7-0, 4-0 in Big 12)


Bears Football Schedule

Wofford Sat 08/31 W 69 - 3
Buffalo Sat 09/07 W 70 - 13
ULM Sat 09/21 W 70 - 7
West Virginia Sat 10/05 W 73 - 42
@ Kansas St. Sat 10/12 W 35 - 25
Iowa St. Sat 10/19 W 71 - 7
@ Kansas Sat 10/26 W 59 - 14
Oklahoma Thu 11/07 6:30 PM CST
Texas Tech Sat 11/16 TBA
@ Oklahoma St. Sat 11/23 TBA
@ TCU Sat 11/30 TBA
Texas Sat 12/07 TBA

In all honesty, Baylor might have the most remaining landmines, or "outs', of any of the teams above. With UCLA down, Oregon faces Stanford next Thursday, and that's about it until the Pac12 Championship. Substitute the SEC Championship and you have the same thing with Alabama and LSU, though Auburn is a potentially tricky matchup in the Iron Bowl. FSU meets Miami this coming week, then Florida in the last week of the season before the ACC meets to decide its winner. If Ohio State doesn't win out, I'll laugh and laugh and laugh.

Your Baylor Bears face Oklahoma next Thursday, then have three of the next four teams against programs that should be ranked when we play them. The last game of the season will be at home against the Texas Longhorns, the same team we all once left for dead after BYU and Ole Miss ripped them to shreds and that is now undefeated in Big 12 play. They're not ranked yet, but I think they will be.

So there you have it. Let us rejoice in the rise of our team to the precipice of the elite. The Baylor Bears are the #6 team in the country!