2012 BCS standings: Arizona's upset helps vault them into BCS rankings

The shootout in Tucson that ultimately ended with an Arizona Wildcats 39-36 win over the USC Trojans helped shake up the BCS standings in a big way this week. The loss not only knocked USC out of the top 10 all the way down to 17th, the Wildcats have broken into the standings, settling in at No. 22 the week they head to Pasadena to take on the UCLA Bruins.

It was a big week for the Wildcats who had two rushers (Ka'Deem Carey and Matt Scott) eclipse the century mark against USC and wide receiver Austin Hill caught 10 balls for 259 yards, nearly five times as many yards as the next closest receiver. Some may wonder though why a team with three losses is ranked in the BCS at all but Kevin Zimmerman at Arizona Desert Swarm explains why the Wildcats deserve it:

Strength of schedule is the obvious reasoning. Arizona's three losses are all to top-15 teams in the BCS. The Wildcats fell to No. 4 Oregon, No. 11 Oregon State and No. 14 Stanford.

In fact, the Wildcats are the only team with three losses in the rankings. Zimmerman goes on to point out arguments about who the best team with three losses might be are a bit pointless.

It's often a silly argument to start, but the Arizona Wildcats are apparently the best three-loss team in the nation.

Arizona is the only team ranked in the BCS not ranked in the Harris or AP poll.