Final Regular Season Rankings

December 6, 2009

The college football season unofficially came to an end today. There is still one game left to be played before we hit the bowl season and that is the Army-Navy game next Saturday. After that, the 2009 college football season will officially have ended, with only 68 teams earning a chance to play one last game in a special bowl.

The BCS Standings that ultimately matter will be released tomorrow in a televised event on FOX. ESPN will then host the Bowl Selection Show Special at 8pm where the matchups of all 34 bowls will be released.

Today was championship weekend along with a few teams still finishing their regular seasons. My Texas Longhorns pulled off a huge win today with the dramatic 13-12 win over Nebraska that kept me out of my seat and pacing with a thumping heart. They will advance to play for the national championship on January 7.

In the SEC, it was supposed to be the game of the year between No.1 Florida and No. 2 Alabama in only the 4th time ever that the BCS No. 1 and BCS No. 2 faced each other in a non-bowl game. Arguably, the Texas-Nebraska game was better than this as Alabama displayed complete domination of the nation's top ranked team in a 32-13 victory over Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators. Florida could not establish a run game and abandoned it early that proved to be costly for the offense as Tebow cannot be your drop back pocket passer and that's what he unsuccessfully tried to become against Alabama today. Big win for Alabama. They will advance to play for the national championship on January 7 as the No. 1 team facing off against No. 2 Texas in what, like the SEC title game should have been, should be a defense battle.

I was pulling for Clemson and Pittsburgh today to pull off major upsets of top ten teams. The snowy weather in Pittsburgh was supposed to slow down Cincinnati's offense, but when things cleared up in the second half, Cincy's offense caught fire while Pitt's defense fell apart and blew a 21 point lead and it came down to one point. A botched snap on a slick field by Pitt cost them a point and they watched their 44-38 lead with a minute left disappear when Tony Pike hit Armon Binns for a long touchdown and Cincy got the extra point to win the game in a de facto Big East Championship Game.

In the ACC Title game, I thought Clemson had what it took defensively to stop Georgia Tech. When these two teams played in September, Clemson was down 24-7 at halftime but made some big adjustments to stop Georgia Tech's triple-option offense in the second half only to lose the game 30-27 on a last second field goal. I thought Clemson would be able to use those adjustments again today while scoring against Georgia Tech's defense at the same time. Tech's defense had been bad all year, but just like what it came down to in September, turnovers by Clemson as Kyle Parker threw two interceptions just like he did in September and that was the game in the 39-34 win by Georgia Tech to claim the ACC's spot in the BCS. Clemson RB and Heisman candidate CJ Spiller had a field day though against Tech's defense rushing for 233 yards on 20 carries and 4 touchdowns, but it wasn't enough as Clemson's defense did not execute tonight and the blown coverage on Demaryius Thomas's 70 yard touchdown reception may have also been the difference.

Boise State took care of New Mexico 42-7 to finish their undefeated season as they're happy Texas pulled off the win over Nebraska that likely gives Boise an at-large invitation to a BCS Bowl Game. Arizona also took care of its business to finish USC's miserable season by beating the Trojans 21-17 in the Coliseum and West Virginia won a close one 24-21 over Rutgers.

The surprises today were East Carolina's upset of Houston in the C-USA Championship Game and Washington's beatdown of California to end the regular season. Washington QB Jake Locker upped his draft stock with an outstanding performance passing 248 yards on 19 of 23 and 3 touchdowns while also rushing for 77 yards and 2 more touchdowns.
For Houston, they could not run the ball against East Carolina and had too many turnovers. Case Keenum ended up throwing the ball 75 times and getting picked three times, but he did pass for a C-USA title game record 527 yards and 5 touchdowns. Throwing the ball 75 times, anyone is bound to make a few mistakes so you can't pin the loss on Keenum's interceptions. James Cleveland for Houston had a big day with 241 receiving yards, but it wasn't enough. Houston's defense couldn't stop East Carolina. And another thing, how fair is it to have a championship game on your home field like East Carolina did today? All championships should be played at neutral sights. In close games like this, the crowd does sometimes play a factor. It could have been different. As a follower of Houston, I'm somewhat embarrassed by this loss.

But let's forget about it now, even though my heart is still going after Texas's thrilling victory. Actually, I don't think it was all that thrilling, more like gut wrenching. My heart died in the 4th quarter, and all of a sudden came back. Heart of a champion lies in Austin, Texas.

And now my end of the regular season rankings. I will release one last set of rankings for the final college football rankings of the 2009 season after the national championship game.

My College Football Top 25, End of Regular Season Rankings
1. Alabama (2)
2. Texas (3)
3. TCU (4)
4. Florida (1)
5. Boise State (6)
6. Cincinnati (5)
7. Ohio State (7)
8. Oregon (8)
9. Georgia Tech (13)
10. Virginia Tech (9)
11. Iowa (11)
12. Penn State (12)
13. LSU (12)
14. BYU (15)
15. Miami (16)
16. Pittsburgh (14)
17. Oklahoma State (22)
18. Utah (NR)
19. Stanford (21)
20. Arizona (NR)
21. West Virginia (25)
22. Nebraska (24)
23. Wisconsin (NR)
24. USC (17)
25. Central Michigan (NR)
Dropped from my Rankings: Oregon State, Houston, California, Clemson

BCS National Championship Game
January 7, 2010 in the Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA
Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Texas Longhorns
(Footnote: Texas is undefeated in Pasadena)

Heisman Trophy Watch
My Leaderboard
1. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
2. Toby Gerhart, RB, Stanford
3. CJ Spiller, RB, Clemson
4. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama
5. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
6. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
7. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame
8. Dion Lewis, RB, Pittsburgh
9. Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State
10. Case Keenum, QB, Houston
Who should not win: Tim Tebow, QB, Florida