Baylor Remains at #6 in 2013 BCS Rankings

With just two teams above Baylor in the rankings playing this week and the Bears themselves preparing for OU on Thursday night, there wasn't much chance for positive upward movement. Still, the Bears still managed to gain some ground and are poised to take advance of this week's showdown.

By Mark C. Moore Nov 3, 2013, 7:36pm CST

Moments ago, ESPN confirmed what we all suspected going into this weekend: the Baylor Bears are still the #6 team in the country according to the BCS rankings. With the #1, 2, and 5 teams ahead of us also sitting idle, and #3 and 4 playing entirely overmatched opponents, barring an earth-shattering upset, there wasn't much chance of the Bears climbing any higher this week. So, just like a week ago, 5 teams stand above the Bears in the CFB pecking order as of this moment. All save one are in action this week with potentially huge matchups.

As it stands now, at least 1 of the teams above us has to lose this week when the #3 Oregon and #5 Stanford play Thursday night. On Saturday night, #1 Alabama welcomes the #13 LSU Tigers to Tuscaloosa for the biggest game of that day, which also sees #2 Florida State travel to Winston-Salem to face the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. #4 Ohio State is the lone top-5 team off this week and will return on November 16 at Illinois.

Were I to guess, Baylor's ceiling with a win over Oklahoma is probably #5. A Stanford win over Oregon, should it happen, drops the Ducks and probably raises the Cardinal to #3, despite the fact that Stanford is a 1-loss team. The only way the Bears rise higher than 5, I think, is by either demolishing OU in so impressive a fashion that we jump Ohio State in the human polls OR Alabama somehow falling to LSU. That combined with the outcome of the Stanford-Oregon game would open up two spots in the top 5 and truly throw us into delicious CFB chaos.

Below, as I've done before, are the schedules for each of the teams ranked 1-6 in the BCS as released this evening.

#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	7:00 PM CST
@ Mississippi St.	Sat 11/16	TBA
Chattanooga	Sat 11/23	1:00 PM CST
@ Auburn	Sat 11/30	TBA

#2 Florida St. Seminoles -- (8-0, 6-0 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	W 41 - 14
@ Wake Forest	Sat 11/09	11:00 AM CST
Syracuse	Sat 11/16	TBA
Idaho	Sat 11/23	TBA
@ Florida	Sat 11/30	TBA

#3 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

#4 Ohio State Buckeyes -- (9-0, 6-0 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	W 56 - 0
@ 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

We've talked about the major games in Baylor's schedule dozens of times, and we'll talk about them dozens more by the time everything is over. A resurgent Oklahoma State focused on running the ball and playing defense seems the biggest remaining obstacle to me, especially with the game in Stillwater. Ohio State looks ticketed for an eventual matchup with possibly the best defense in the country in the Michigan St. Spartans in the B1G Championship, but other than that, they've got nothing. Alabama faces Auburn and probably Missouri. After Stanford, Oregon gets whoever wins the Pac12 South in their championship game.

The next game on our schedule is this Thursday against the Oklahoma Sooners. Let's do this!