I have not posted in a while, but now that one of college football's craziest seasons is over I felt it necessary to write a yearly wrap up. First thing's first the official FINAL TRUE TOP 25...
1. LSU Tigers - The Tigers do deserve the top spot with there only two losses coming by a total of 4 points in a total of 6 overtimes. The ultimate question is was Ohio State really the second best team in the country when the played for the title, this year just screams for a playoff.
2. West Virginia Mountaineers - The 2 losses to USF and Pitt killed their title hopes, but no teams offense was more explosive throughout the year. West Virginia bounced back big after the Pitt loss to destroy Big 12 champions Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, so they are over Georgia and USC because of their season resume' which is what I am basing this entire top 25 on.
3. Georgia Bulldogs - Along with USC they were one of the hottest teams down the stretch and a very young one at that. It would have been nice to see them play a more challenging team than Hawaii in there bowl to really gauge where the Dawgs are at, instead we wait till next season, which can't come fast enough UGA Fans.
4. USC Trojans - It seems like the Trojans are always the most talented team in the nation, but only in certain years when all the intangibles are there, along with complete health. The Stanford loss really hurts them in this top 25, but it was worse for their title hopes this year.
5. Ohio State Buckeyes - This year has to have been dejecting for the Buckeyes after losing there second straight title game to an SEC opponent, not to mention that Superdome crowd rubbing it in, I mean how long did that SEC Chant go on? Losses to LSU and Illinois are solid, but the rather weak rest of there schedule drops them to here, Akron, Youngstown State, Etc.
6. Missouri Tigers - Without question the most snubbed team of the year not getting to a BCS Bowl. Oklahoma was there kryptonite handing them there only two losses of the year. They would have been in the upper echelon of teams if they could have gotten over the Sooner hump.
7. Kansas Jayhawks - What a great year for Kansas, their best of all time. Beating Virginia Tech was a shocker to many, they should it wasn't them that should have been out of the BCS for Missouri, rather another team I'll get to later. A weak non-conference schedule with only one loss is one of the reasons they were not considered for the title game.
8. Virginia Tech Hokies - After the tragedy at Virginia Tech this football team was able to give the campus some relief winning the ACC title. There 3 losses were to LSU, Boston College and Kansas, all very solid teams. The Hokies are the class of a continually weakening ACC.
9. Oklahoma Sooners - The youth of this team was shown in their losses to Colorado and Texas Tech, against West Virginia they just ran into a better team and got blown out for the first time all year.
10. Boston College Eagles - It was a wonderful ride for Matt Ryan and the Eagles, winning the schools 8th consecutive bowl game, reaching number 2 in the nation and up next, Ryan being the first quarterback selected in NFL Draft.
11. Cincinnati Bearcats - It was a wild ride for the Bearcats this year, there three losses came by a combined 16 points. They were just a drive away from beating West Virginia and taking command of the Big East. If Ben Mauck is granted more eligibility, next year will be exciting for Cinci, if not they may regress in the way Rutgers did this year.
12. Texas Longhorns - The Longhorns bounced back to beat Arizona State in the holiday bowl but losses to Kansas St and Texas A&M held them back this year and other than a close loss to Oklahoma the rest of the games they won on there schedule are not overly impressive. With other teams on the rise in the Big 12, Texas may actually be slipping.
13. Arizona State Sun Devils - The Sun Devils were great against the teams they should have beaten, but they could not to take the next step, losing to USC, Oregon and Texas.
14. Tennessee Volunteers - The Vols had a crazy year, beating Georgia, almost taking down LSU in the SEC title and winning ten games (6 in the tough SEC). It's fitting for them to be in the middle of these rankings.
15. Oregon Ducks - If it were not for the injury to Dixon, this team would have been in the title game, it took them too many games to find there next quarterback in Justin Roper, but when they did, their offense exploded the way we were us to seeing it with Dixon. The future is bright for the Ducks, the key will be replacing Jonathan Stewart at RB, a probable first round NFL Draft pick.
16. Auburn Tigers - The new spread offense helped them beat Clemson in their bowl game, which begs the question, why didn't they use it more all year? Tuff losses early on in the year to South Florida and Mississippi St put these Tigers in a hole early but after that there only other losses were to Georgia and LSU, putting them in the second tier of the SEC.
17. Florida Gators - Tim Tebow could not do it all this year for the Gators, there losses were to Michigan, Georgia, LSU and Auburn and if they had a bit more defense in those games the Gators may have been the ones in the title game. If the D grows up this team will be one of the best contenders next year.
18. Clemson Tigers - Clemson beat the teams they should have but could not beat Virginia Tech, Boston College and Auburn. This team who can compete with anyone was clearly the 3rd best team in the ACC, after them there is a huge falloff, including Virginia.
19. Hawaii Warriors - Hawaii took care of business and won out there schedule and deservedly went to a BCS Bowl. The problem was there weak schedule did not prepare them enough for on of the hottest teams in the country in Georgia. Boise State last year may actually have been the worst thing that could have happened for this team because no one was going to take the champion of the WAC lightly again.
20. Michigan Wolverines - The Wolverines sent Lloyd Carr out the right way, but that loss to Appalachian state still stings. This was a very talented team that couldn't put it all together till it was too late, but kudos to them for recovering and playing out the season when they could have easily shut it down early.
21. Texas Tech Red Raiders - The Red Raiders closed out the season strong with wins over Virginia and more impressively Oklahoma. Michael Crabtree is amazing, hopefully he will stay in school all 4 years and go after some college football records.
22. Illinois Fighting Illini - This team had a great a year, but it was not a year worthy of going to a BCS Bowl and USC promptly proved that. Missouri beat Illinois this year, the Tigers should have been the ones playing USC.
23. Penn State Nittany Lions - Penn State was just a little below the upper echelon of the Big 10 this year and there losses except for Ohio State were all by less than a touchdown.
24. South Florida Bulls - The Bulls had a meteoric rise to number 2 this year but could not handle the pressure, the loss to Oregon was the worst in their history but wins over Auburn, West Virginia and the fact that they beat 3 conference champions this year put the Bulls in the top 25.
25. Brigham Young Cougars - The Cougars are in the Top 25 because of only two losses, but in the AP and the coaches poll, this team is ranked way to high, there wins are just not overly impressive.
The Next 5...
26. Oregon State Beavers
27. Wisconsin Badgers
28. Virginia Cavaliers
29. Mississippi State Bulldogs
30. Wake Forest Deamon Deacons
Next Years Conference Contenders...
ACC - Virginia Tech, Clemson Sleeper - Wake Forest
Big East - South Florida, West Virginia Sleeper- Pittsburgh
Big 10 - Ohio State, Wisconsin, Illinois Sleeper - Indiana
Big 12 - Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma Sleeper - Oklahoma St.
Pac 10 - USC, Oregon Sleeper - Arizona
SEC - Georgia, Florida, Auburn, LSU Sleeper - Alabama
BCS Bowl Projections...
National Title - USC v Oklahoma
Orange Bowl - Virginia Tech v South Florida
Fiesta Bowl - Missouri v Georgia
Rose Bowl - Oregon v Ohio State
Sugar Bowl - Florida v West Virginia
All comments and criticisms are greatly appreciated!

Damaris Lewis
Deanna Clover



Comments (8) Add A Comment
Floridacan't be higher than Michigan, they were exposed...............
MICHIFAN64
Total Comments (222)
Here's the reason..
Florida's losses... MIchigan (6) Georgia (12) Auburn (3) LSU (4)
Michigan's losses... App State (2) Oregon (32) Wisconsin (16) Ohio State (11)
There always going to be teams in any rankings that may have beaten another team ranked higher. The first one that comes to mind easily for me is South Florida beat Auburn but I have USF ranked 8 spots below them even though they have the same record. Congrats on the win, but these rankings are based on overall body of work.
theusfbull
Orlando , FL
Total Comments (8)
head to head trumps everything you just described..........
MICHIFAN64
Total Comments (222)
Further more, had Michigans coaches opened the playbook fromm the begining of the seaso, I believe we would be talking about the NC game.................
MICHIFAN64
Total Comments (222)
Head does not trump what I said, regardless of what you think, it's OVERALL BODY OF WORK that should matter when it comes to rankings, The fact that you are even talking about what could have been a national championship is a bit insane, this is the same team that lost to a former D 1-AA school and got smashed in a non conference game against Oregon, The Big 10 is down please stop having illusions that Michigan's problems were all about coach Carr, because they weren't, while they had top 25 talent, they most certainly did not have National Championship talent. See Loss to Ohio State who got trounced in the title game.
theusfbull
Orlando , FL
Total Comments (8)
#3? Man..........
The True #7
Ocean Springs , MS
Total Comments (318)
How about Les Miles going to Michigan? ...........oh wait. never mind.
LSUianoka
Alpine , UT
Total Comments (37)
I admit I am biased and really like your rankings and predictions! But this is balanced by all the disrespect that WVU gets elsewhere. There is also the need for distinction between a loss and a blowout! That said, WVU LOST to USF and LOST to PITT. OK got BLOWNOUT by WVU!!! SO I am very confused when a team that is BLOWNOUT by another team is consistently ranked higher across the boards?
don_latete
Chesapeake , VA
Total Comments (2)
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