The final AP Poll of the regular season doesn’t really surprise anyone – Florida State and Auburn are the only team with first place votes, and all likely will be the programs that head into the national championship game. The rest of the top 25 simply signifies the chances of other schools to make it to the other BCS bowls, unless some conference affiliation has already taken care of that.
Michigan State, for example, rise four places thanks to their win over Ohio State, will go to the Rose Bowl, where they will face Stanford, who rose a couple of places after dominating against Arizona State. Alabama will find themselves in a BCS Bowl, probably the Sugar Bowl, where they are most likely to face Oklahoma, rising to #11 after winning in Bedlam. Baylor, beating Texas to win the Big 12 for the first time ever, will go to the Fiesta Bowl, where they will most likely play against UCF, finishing in the top 16.
| 1 |
Florida State (56)
ACC
Record: 13-0
|
PV Rank
1 Points
1,496 |
|
| 2 |
Auburn (4)
SEC
Record: 12-1
|
3
1,444
|
|
| 3 |
Alabama
SEC
Record: 11-1
|
4
1,376
|
|
| 4 |
Michigan State
Big Ten
Record: 12-1
|
10
1,278
|
|
| 5 |
Stanford
Pac-12
Record: 11-2
|
7
1,217
|
|
| 6 |
Baylor
Big 12
Record: 11-1
|
9
1,185
|
|
| 7 |
Ohio State
Big Ten
Record: 12-1
|
2
1,130
|
|
| 8 |
South Carolina
SEC
Record: 10-2
|
8
1,099
|
|
| 9 |
Missouri
SEC
Record: 11-2
|
5
1,066
|
|
| 10 |
Oregon
Pac-12
Record: 10-2
|
12
880
|
|
| 11 |
Oklahoma
Big 12
Record: 10-2
|
18
878
|
|
| 12 |
Clemson
ACC
Record: 10-2
|
13
848
|
|
| 13 |
Oklahoma State
Big 12
Record: 10-2
|
6
797
|
|
| 14 |
LSU
SEC
Record: 9-3
|
14
726
|
|
| 15 |
UCF
The American
Record: 11-1
|
15
629
|
|
| 16 |
Arizona State
Pac-12
Record: 10-3
|
11
614
|
|
| 17 |
UCLA
Pac-12
Record: 9-3
|
17
544
|
|
| 18 |
Louisville
The American
Record: 11-1
|
19
525
|
|
| 19 |
Wisconsin
Big Ten
Record: 9-3
|
21
383
|
|
| 20 |
Texas A&M
SEC
Record: 8-4
|
22
282
|
|
| 21 |
Fresno State
Mountain West
Record: 11-1
|
24
227
|
|
| 22 |
Duke
ACC
Record: 10-3
|
20
201
|
|
| 23 |
Georgia
SEC
Record: 8-4
|
25
196
|
|
| 24 |
Northern Illinois
Mid-American
Record: 12-1
|
16
144
|
|
| 25 |
Notre Dame
Division I FBS Independents
Record: 8-4
|
28
76
|
How about Ohio State? It’s hard to believe they won’t get the at-large bid to the Orange Bowl where they’ll play Clemson. However, Oregon still have a shot of getting invited, but it’s safe to assume organizers will prefer the fan base and money that the travelling Buckeye fans bring with them, no matter where it’ll be.
It’s interesting to see Missouri finish behind South Carolina – both teams have the same number of losses (two), but the Tigers did lose to the Gamecocks in overtime, and voters remember the more recent losses, like Missouri eventually not having enough to beat Auburn in the SEC title game.
Duke didn’t take too much of a hit after losing to Florida State in a game that wasn’t remotely close from the second quarter, with the Blue Devils being able to get on the board for the first time only in the fourth quarter. orthern Illinois were also something of a hope for small schools, but their loss in the MAC championship game ended the BCS busting for this year. One can say Central Florida fill that role, but they’re still from a conference that used to be important and actually good.