College Football: End of Year Rankings

Here's the deal: Ohio State getting beaten should not have been as big a surprise as it was. OSU had played against two teams in the top 25: Michigan and Texas. Michigan was a close game, and they'd played Texas when Colt McCoy was quite new. That said, here's the final top 26.

1. Boise State. 13-0. A team can only win the games it plays, and BSU did just that. Do I think they'd be favored against Florida? No. However, they weren't against Oklahoma, either.
2. Florida. 13-1. Tough schedule and only one loss.
3. Louisville.
4. USC. 11-2. Two last-second losses in a great conference. Great Rose Bowl win.
5. LSU. 11-2. Two close losses in a great conference. Nice Sugar Bowl win in front of the home crowd.
6. Ohio State. 12-1. Only one loss, but didn't look competitive.
7. BYU. 11-2. If it seems odd that I've ranked my alma mater this high, go watch the games against Oregon and TCU again.
8. Michigan 11-2.
9. Wisconsin. 12-1. The weakest of the one-loss teams, Wisconsin had few quality opponents.
10. Cal. 10-3. The best of the three-loss teams. I considered putting them ahead of Wisconsin.
11. West Virginia. 11-2.
12. TCU. 11-2. The hangover loss to Utah is the only real blemish.
13. Rutgers. 11-2. Yes, the top of the Big East really was that good.
14. Texas. 10-3. Imagine if Colt McCoy hadn't been hurt against K-State---they could be in the top five.
15. Auburn. 11-2. Strange to consider an SEC team as the worst of the two-loss category.
16. Oklahoma. 11-3. No glaringly bad losses, but clearly not better than Texas.
17. Hawai'i. 10-3. If they always played at home, they'd be in the top half-dozen. Colt Brennan = Crazy Good.
18. Virginia Tech. 10-3. Strongest team from an unusually weak ACC.
19. Tennessee. 9-4.
20. Arkansas. 9-4.
21. Boston College. 10-3. Beat BYU in overtime.
22. Georgia. 9-4. Half of the SEC is on this list. A conference of cheaters, but they've got some good football.
23. Penn State. 9-4.
24. Wake Forest. 10-3. ACC champions ain't what they used to be.
25. Oregon State. 9-4. Beat USC, good game against Boise State.
26. Notre Dame. 10-3. Weakest of the three-loss teams. Once again, though, #26 was too close to #25 for me to feel good about leaving them out.

Honorable mention: The rest of the Pac-10 (except Stanford), the Big East's bowl wins (5-0, albeit against weaker teams), Navy, Houston, and Central Michigan.

Dishonorable mention: the fight between FIU and University of Miami players (the only thing uglier than FIU's actual play), Oregon's new helmets.