Alabama climbs to No. 1 in Power Rankings after Week 12
Nobody really likes the game Mouse Trap. I mean, there might be some people out there who claim they like Mouse Trap, but if they’re being honest with themselves, they don’t. The idea of Mouse Trap is great; look at this beautiful Rube Goldberg machine where all the moving parts come together, one influencing the other to get that cage to drop down on the mouse. It doesn’t work that way.
It never worked that way. After the first time you play it and the boot doesn’t kick the bucket, or the diver just falls over, or the cage gets stuck halfway down the pole, you’re looking for other games to play. And Mouse Trap sits unplayed until another poor kid gets wowed by the allure of a game that will never really work right.
Will Muschamp exudes grace while Florida takes the next step forward
That was the BCS in a lot of ways. It made sense on paper: humans and computers working together to pick the best two teams to play for the title. But it required everything working in harmony. College football laughs at the idea of harmony. College football is built on chaos.
So now we have the playoff. And chaos is ever-present, wreaking havoc in the background like Casper’strouble-making relatives who were also ghosts. No machine is perfect. It just has to be good enough to relegate Mouse Trap to the back of the closet.
• ELLIS: Bowl Projections: Can Ohio State make the playoff?
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
PREVIOUS: 4
RECORD: 9-1
Last game: Beat Mississippi State, 25-20Next game: Saturday vs Western Carolina
2. Florida State Seminoles
PREVIOUS: 1
RECORD: 10-0
Last game: Beat Miami, 30-26Next game: Saturday vs. Boston College
3. Oregon Ducks
PREVIOUS: 3
RECORD: 9-1
Last game: Beat Utah, 51-27Next game: Saturday vs. Colorado
4. Baylor Bears
PREVIOUS: 6
RECORD: 8-1
Last game: Beat Oklahoma, 48-14Next game: Saturday vs. Oklahoma State
5. Mississippi State Bulldogs
PREVIOUS: 2
RECORD: 9-1
Last game: Lost to Alabama, 25-20Next game: Saturday vs. Vanderbilt
6. TCU Horned Frogs
PREVIOUS: 5
RECORD: 9-1
Last game: Beat Kansas, 34-30Next game: Nov. 27 at Texas
7. Ohio State Buckeyes
PREVIOUS: 8
RECORD: 9-1
Last game: Beat Minnesota, 31-24Next game: Saturday vs. Indiana
8. Michigan State Spartans
PREVIOUS: 10
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Beat Maryland, 37-15Next game: Saturday vs. Rutgers
9. Ole Miss Rebels
PREVIOUS: 12
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Beat Presbyterian, 48-0Next game: Saturday at Arkansas
10. Georgia Bulldogs
PREVIOUS: 15
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Beat Auburn, 34-7Next game: Saturday vs. Charleston Southern
11. Kansas State Wildcats
PREVIOUS: 14
RECORD: 7-2
Last game: Lost to TCU, 41-20Next game: Saturday at West Virginia
12. UCLA Bruins
PREVIOUS: 17
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Beat Washington, 44-30Next game: Saturday vs. USC
13. Arizona State Sun Devils
PREVIOUS: 7
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Lost to Oregon State, 35-27Next game: Saturday vs. Washington State
14. Arizona Wildcats
PREVIOUS: 19
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Beat Washington, 27-26Next game: Saturday at Utah
15. Wisconsin Badgers
PREVIOUS: 23
RECORD: 7-2
Last game: Beat Nebraska, 59-24Next game: Saturday at Iowa
16. Auburn Tigers
PREVIOUS: 9
RECORD: 7-3
Last game: Lost to Georgia, 34-7Next game: Saturday vs. Samford
17. Marshall Thundering Herd
PREVIOUS: 20
RECORD: 10-0
Last game: Beat Rice, 41-14Next game: Saturday at UAB
18. Colorado State Rams
PREVIOUS: 22
RECORD: 9-1
Last game: Beat Hawaii, 49-21Next game: Saturday vs. New Mexico
19. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
PREVIOUS: 24
RECORD: 9-2
Last game: Beat Clemson, 28-6Next game: Nov. 29 at Georgia
20. Nebraska Cornhuskers
PREVIOUS: 11
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Lost to Wisconsin, 59-24Next game: Saturday vs. Minnesota
21. Missouri Tigers
PREVIOUS: 25
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Beat Texas A&M, 34-27Next game: Saturday at Tennessee
22. USC Trojans
RECORD: 7-3
Last game: Beat Cal, 38-30Next game: Saturday at UCLA
23. Oklahoma Sooners
RECORD: 7-3
Last game: Beat Texas Tech, 42-30Next game: Saturday vs. Kansas
24. Duke Blue Devils
PREVIOUS: 16
RECORD: 8-2
Last game: Lost to Virginia Tech, 17-16Next game: Thursday vs. UNC
25. Utah Utes
RECORD: 7-3
Last game: Beat Stanford, 20-17 (2OT)Next game: Saturday vs. Arizona
Next five: Boise State, Notre Dame, Clemson, Louisville, LSU
• BECHT: Bubble Watch: Who's in, who's out of the playoff after Week 12?
