Ohio State moves up to 3rd in AP Top 25 for Week 12

With Ohio State's coaches spread across the United States putting in face time with the coaches of some of the best talent in the country, the teams in front of them in each of the major polls were in action. Alabama soundly dismissed LSU (to the dismay of OSU faithful everywhere) and Florida State absolutely walloped Wake Forest to officially clinch a spot in the ACC title game. But something funny happened to Oregon on the way to their return to the second spot in the BCS standings...

Needing a late push to even make things appear superficially closer than they actually were, the Ducks fell at the hand of the Stanford Cardinal, 26-20. For the second time in as many seasons, David Shaw and company had the Ducks' offense's number – and perhaps more impressively, the Cardinal offense had their way with what had been a very effective Oregon D.

The beneficiaries? Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes. The Bucks slide up from 4th to 3rd in this week's AP Top 25 poll. Fourth ranked Baylor is nipping on the Buckeyes' heals, however, with just 7 points separating the two. Though Alabama and Florida State, the two obstacles in front of them in the BCS standings (of which the AP is not a component) preventing the Buckeyes from qualifying for their fourth ever BCS title game berth, have relatively easy road maps from here to a national championship game appearances of their own, all Ohio State can control is the games that they play.

With a road trip to Illinois, a home date against Indiana, and then a road trip to Ann Arbor before a Big Ten Championship Game tilt against either Michigan State, Nebraska, or Minnesota, the Buckeyes have to survive and advance – but they'll also need some help along the way.