BCS Rankings Week 12: Kansas State No. 1 After Alabama Upset; Oregon No. 2

The Kansas State Wildcats vaulted to No. 1 in the new BCS rankings for 2012 after former No. 1 Alabama fell to Texas A&M in Week 12.

If the new rankings hold up, Kansas State would play No. 2 Oregon for the 2012 BCS Championship.

The Crimson Tide were at No. 1 for four straight weeks since the 2012 BCS standings were released in Week 8. Alabama fell to fourth in the latest rankings.

The Wildcats and the Ducks both moved up a spot after Alabama was upset by Texas A&M in Tuscaloosa.

Undefeated Notre Dame, the only other unbeaten, moved up to No. 3 in the Week 12 rankings. The Fighting Irish would be left out of the National Championship if both Kansas State and Oregon win out.

Notre Dame won’t move up the rankings without a loss by one of the top two teams, ESPN BCS guru Brad Edwards wrote.

"Right now I've got Oregon playing Kansas State in the final, and unless one or both of them lose, I don't see that changing," Edwards said. "If Notre Dame wins out and the Ducks or Wildcats lose, the Irish will move into the title game."

Jerry Palm of CBS Sports and collegebcs.com agrees.

“Notre Dame is not going to jump (Oregon and Kansas State) without their help,” Palm said, according to the Associated Press. “They’re way too far behind in the polls. The voters are not on board with Notre Dame.”

Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly made his case for Notre Dame playing in the national championship should his squad remain unbeaten, pointing to the team’s stingy defense behind Heisman Trophy candidate Manti Te’o.

''Each team has their own distinctions. The distinction of this football team is it's the No. 1 scoring defense in the country,'' Kelly told a conference call, the AP reported. ''It's proven that against very, very good teams all year. . . . If you look at national championship-caliber football, you've got to look at a defense, and so that's why we feel strongly that our football team has put themselves in the discussion. We'll let others decide, but I think we've played our way into the discussion.''

Here are the full 2012 BCS rankings for Week 12, courtesy of bcsfootball.org: