BCS rankings 2012: Notre Dame up to No. 3 in BCS Rankings

With former No. 1 Alabama losing, Notre Dame moved up one spot to No. 3 in the latest BCS rankings, but the Fighting Irish are still on the outside of the national championship picture.

Note Dame trails No. 1 Kansas State and No. 2 Oregon in the latest poll and could have a hard time making up the ground unless either the Wildcats or Ducks lose. All three teams have two regular season games remaining and with the deficit Notre Dame has to make up, it's unlikely they would be able to jump either Oregon or Kansas State if all three teams won out.

SB Nation's Notre Dame blog, One Foot Down took a closer look at the Irish's BCS chances.

The only thing that Notre Dame can do at this point is beat Wake Forest and USC. That's it. If Notre Dame can finish 12-0 they will still likely need Kansas State or Oregon to lose. If all three teams win out it is unlikely that Notre Dame will jump them in the polls. In addition the talking heads won't let the SEC go quietly into the night. It is what it is.

Notre Dame will host Wake Forrest before wrapping up the regular season with a road game against the USC Trojans. Their best chance at a berth in the national championship game may be with an Oregon loss. The Ducks face Stanford and Oregon State in the regular season then would likely face either UCLA or USC in the Pac-12 Championship game.

For now, all Notre Dame can do is win and see what happens.