The latest edition of the BCS standings isn’t just the last one for the 2013 College Football season, but the final top 25 we’ll ever get to see, as the sport moves on to a playoff system instead of polls + computer rankings to determine the two teams to make the national championship game. By the way, no surprise there, as Florida State and Auburn finish at 1-2, heading to play for the Crystal ball.

Alabama took the number 3 spot, which sends them into the Sugar Bowl where they’ll face Oklahoma, rising to #11 after their win over Oklahoma State. Ohio State dropped five spots to #7 after losing in the Big Ten championship game to Michigan State, rising to #4, not enough to play for the national title, having to settle for the Rose Bowl, where they’ll play against #5 Stanford.

BCS		Harris Poll			USA Today			Computer Rankings
RK	TEAM	AVG	PVS	RK	PTS	%	RK	PTS	%	AVG	A&H	RB	CM	KM	JS	PW	%
1	Florida State	.9957	1	1	2617	.9970	1	1550	1.0000	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	.990
2	Auburn	.9638	3	2	2527	.9627	2	1486	.9587	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	.970
3	Alabama	.9061	4	3	2405	.9162	3	1414	.9123	3	4	3	6	3	5	3	.890
4	Michigan State	.8600	10	4	2242	.8541	4	1342	.8658	5	5	4	7	5	4	4	.860
5	Stanford	.8191	7	5	2102	.8008	7	1188	.7665	3	3	6	3	4	3	5	.890
6	Baylor	.7722	9	6	2058	.7840	5	1275	.8226	9	6	7	10	12	8	8	.710
7	Ohio State	.7705	2	7	2048	.7802	6	1211	.7813	7	7	5	4	8	10	9	.750
8	Missouri	.7256	5	9	1850	.7048	9	1088	.7019	6	8	9	5	6	7	6	.770
9	South Carolina	.7152	8	8	1866	.7109	8	1108	.7148	8	10	8	8	9	6	7	.720
10	Oregon	.5811	12	12	1499	.5710	12	887	.5723	10	11	11	11	10	13	11	.600
11	Oklahoma	.5756	17	10	1517	.5779	10	913	.5890	12	12	12	12	15	9	12	.560
12	Clemson	.5553	13	11	1512	.5760	11	899	.5800	13	16	10	14	14	15	10	.510
13	Oklahoma State	.5233	6	13	1430	.5448	13	845	.5452	14	13	13	13	22	11	17	.480
14	Arizona State	.4416	11	17	909	.3463	17	602	.3884	11	9	16	9	7	14	13	.590
15	UCF	.4343	16	15	1098	.4183	15	658	.4245	15	15	14	15	19	12	14	.460
16	LSU	.4322	15	14	1267	.4827	14	719	.4639	17	18	18	18	13	17	16	.350
17	UCLA	.3703	18	18	907	.3455	18	520	.3355	16	14	19	16	11	16	15	.430
18	Louisville	.3199	19	16	1091	.4156	16	611	.3942	23	23	15	20	NR	23	23	.150
19	Wisconsin	.2365	21	19	673	.2564	19	408	.2632	20	20	20	24	23	19	22	.190
20	Fresno State	.1675	23	20	579	.2206	20	344	.2219	26	NR	22	21	NR	24	NR	.060
21	Texas A&M	.1663	24	21	471	.1794	21	247	.1594	21	24	25	NR	17	20	19	.160
22	Georgia	.1594	22	23	318	.1211	24	135	.0871	18	19	NR	19	16	21	18	.270
23	Northern Illinois	.1572	14	22	408	.1554	23	149	.0961	19	NR	17	17	NR	18	21	.220
24	Duke	.1134	20	24	291	.1109	21	247	.1594	25	NR	21	23	NR	22	NR	.070
25	USC	.0672	NR	NR	53	.0202	NR	33	.0213	21	17	24	22	18	NR	24	.160

The only new face in the top 25 are USC, enjoying Texas finding their way out again after a 20-point loss to Baylor in what turned out to be the Big 12 championship game. It won’t get them into a big bowl game, having to play Fresno State in a rare Las Vegas Bowl with two ranked teams.

Central Florida finish at #15, which is good enough to give them their first ever BCS bowl. I’m pretty sure the folks at the Fiesta Bowl wanted a slightly more interesting matchup than Baylor and UCF, but things will change next year with the introduction of the playoff system.

Northern Illinois and Fresno State, always threatening to be the BCS busters this year, fell just before the finish line, with the Huskies falling all the way down to #23, while the Bulldogs dropped to #20, both teams finishing the season with one loss.

Duke still remain in the top 25 despite getting obliterated in the ACC championship game by Florida State, although it’s hard to find too many people who actually think they belong in the top 25 this season, enjoying a weak year in the ACC and a very easy schedule, that had them avoid both Florida State and Clemson.

In a different year, this would have made an excellent playoff, and a bit of a debate as well – one undefeated team, Florida State, without anything to worry about. Then come Auburn, Ohio State, Michigan State, Baylor and Alabama to claim their place in the final four. Who would have gotten left out? Going by the final week and the tradition of later losses being more painful and effective on the voters, Ohio State would have gotten left out, while Alabama would have deserved to be booted as well because they didn’t win their conference.

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