College Football Rankings - Final

Before I get to the rankings, let me first note that these rankings are not based solely on wins and losses. Beating a team does not automatically move you ahead of that team in the rankings. These rankings are a measure of overall performance over the course of the entire season, and movement in the rankings is not based on winning or losing, but how the team played in comparison to how they were expected to perform. For example, in TCU's final regular season game, they beat New Mexico by 49 points, but didn't see any jump in the rankings. That is because they were expected to win that game by 51 points, so they played just as well as expected. If they had instead won the game by a single point, they would have dropped significantly, even with a perfect record. With that said, here are the final college football rankings of the season, with each team's name followed by its overall record, its rating, and its previous ranking.

1. Oregon (12-1) -37.98 (1)

2. Stanford (12-1) -37.30 (2)

3. Boise State (12-1) -34.58 (3)

4. Alabama (10-3) -32.46 (6)

5. Auburn (14-0) -30.95 (5)

6. Ohio State (12-1) -26.38 (7)

7. Oklahoma (12-2) -24.31 (9)

8. TCU (13-0) -22.96 (4)

9. Arkansas (10-3) -22.78 (12)

10. Oklahoma State (11-2) -22.67 (18)

11. Florida State (10-4) -22.51 (15)

12. LSU (11-2) -22.39 (21)

13. Wisconsin (11-2) -22.13 (8)

14. Arizona State (6-6) -21.67 (10)

15. Virginia Tech (11-3) -20.23 (11)

16. South Carolina (9-5) -20.03 (24)

17. USC (8-5) -19.46 (14)

18. Florida (8-5) -19.06 (NR)

19. North Carolina State (9-4) -18.45 (NR)

20. Mississippi State (9-4) -18.36 (NR)

21. Nevada (13-1) -18.24 (13)

22. Missouri (10-3) -17.61 (20)

23. Arizona (7-6) -16.75 (16)

24. Nebraska (10-4) -16.71 (17)

25. Notre Dame (8-5) -16.06 (NR)

Dropped out:

Oregon State (5-7) -15.86 (22)

Utah (10-3) -15.78 (23)

Texas A&M (9-4) -15.34 (19)

Hawaii (10-4) -9.60 (25)

Ranked teams by conference:

SEC: 7

Pac 10: 5

Big 12: 4

ACC: 3

WAC: 2

Big 10: 2

MWC: 1

Ind: 1

As I stated above, Oregon remains the best team in the country despite losing the so-called "national championship" game. If you were expecting a drop, it's there, but you may not see it. Going into the bowl season, Oregon had a lead of 3.23 points over #2 Stanford, but after their loss to Auburn, who is obviously a very quality opponent, the lead over Stanford dropped to 0.68.

Alabama jumped Auburn in the final rankings despite losing to them this season, but if you look at their final games, it's easy to see why. Based on the rankings, Alabama was expected to beat Michigan State by 14 points in the Capital One Bowl, but won by 42, a difference of 28. Auburn was expected to lose by 8, and ended up winning by 3, a difference of only 11. As Auburn's one-point win in November showed, these two teams were very evenly matched overall.

Another big surprise in the final rankings is the 4-spot drop of undefeated TCU, who beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl in a game that supposedly showed that they belong on the national stage. The Horned Frogs became a victim of the Big 10's failure in bowl games, as each of the conferences losses weakened every team, along with those who had played them, especially recently. The four teams that passed them all had big wins over quality opponents in bowl games, while TCU's 2-point win over Wisconsin, who appears to have been overrated, doesn't look as good by comparison.

Oklahoma State finally reached the top 10 after they finally earned a win over an opponent who finished the season in the top 25. Along with in-state rival Oklahoma, the Cowboys look to be among the favorites to win the new, smaller Big 12 next season.

LSU's big bowl win over Texas A&M in Texas was enough to finally prove to me that they are a good team. Their only real quality win previous to this was their upset victory over Alabama, which ended the Crimson Tide's championship repeat hopes.

Arizona State was one of three teams in the final regular season rankings, all from the Pac 10, that did not get to participate in a bowl game. All 3 dropped behind teams that had stellar performances in the big games, but even though ASU only won 6 games next year, they should be the favorite to win the new Pac 12 South and play against either Oregon or Stanford for the initial Pac 12 title.

Despite losing its bowl matchup with Florida State, the South Carolina Gamecocks were able to ride the strength of the SEC to an 8-notch rise in the final rankings. As one of the 3 teams to beat Alabama, and one of the closest opponents to Auburn this year, South Carolina's 5 losses are not as bad as they sound.

Florida finished as a ranked team after winning the Outback Bowl in Urban Meyer's final game as coach of the Gators. They finished the season 8-0 against teams outside my top 25, but 0-5 against the top 25, which puts them right on the line between the two.

NC State finished the year with a 23-7 upset of previously-ranked West Virginia in the Champs Sports Bowl, which allowed the ACC to finish the year with 3 ranked teams, while leaving the Big East with none, further proof that the BCS system needs a little revision.

Mississippi State vaulted into the rankings with the 38-point victory over Michigan in the Gator Bowl, giving the SEC 7 ranked teams, more than 25% of the teams ranked overall. The huge win proved again that the SEC is a stronger conference than the Big 10.

Even with an impressive win over Boise State in the regular season, Nevada's 7-point win over a weak Boston College team was not very impressive, and almost cost them a spot in the top 25 for the first time all year. Nevada may not be as strong next year, with Colin Kaepernick leaving the Wolf Pack and Boise State, their strongest opponent, leaving the WAC.

After losing in the Big 12 Championship game and failing to earn the accompanying BCS berth, Nebraska decided not to show up in its Holiday Bowl matchup with Washington, a rematch of a game that Nebraska won 56-21 in the regular season.

Notre Dame inched close to the rankings with wins over Utah and USC near the end of the regular season, then beat Miami by 16 in the Sun Bowl to sneak into the top 25 for the first time this season. Next year may be the best year for Fighting Irish football in many years.

NBA Player of the Day

Derrick Rose - CHI - 29 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 10-20 FG, 9-9 FT

Rose scored 11 points in the decisive 3rd quarter as Chicago came back from a halftime deficit to beat the Detroit Pistons, who were playing under a cloud amid rumors that many members of the team may be traded within the next few days. Rose's performance marks the third straight day that a top 6 MVP candidate won the Player of the Day award.

Predictions - 11 Jan

Upset picks are in italics.

NBA

Bucks at Hawks - Hawks by 5

Pacers at 76ers - 76ers by 4

Kings at Wizards - Wizards by 4

Spurs at Timberwolves - Spurs by 9

Suns at Nuggets - Nuggets by 5

Knicks at Trail Blazers - Trail Blazers by 4

Cavaliers at Lakers - Lakers by 17

College Basketball

Rutgers at (9) Connecticut - UConn by 16

(10) BYU at Utah - BYU by 11

(14) Texas at Texas Tech - Texas by 10

Auburn at (15) Kentucky - Kentucky by 35

(16) Illinois at Penn State - Illinois by 6

(21) Wisconsin at (24) Michigan State - Michigan State by 3

Prediction Results - 10 Jan

College Football: 0/1 (.000) 57/86 overall (.663)

NBA: 1/3 (.333) 266/370 overall (.719)

College Basketball: 2/2 (1.000) 242/286 overall (.846)

Upsets: 1/2 (.500) 55/93 overall (.591)