Final Football Rankings

Sorry for the delay. Keep in mind that this ranking is not only my final ranking for the 2008 season, but also the pre-season ranking for the 2009 season. What about this do you think is wrong, what about this do you think is right? I feel fairly confident that this system had most teams about where they belonged by season's end, based on body of work, but also leaning a bit to how they played down the stretch.

Final Rank	Team	Final Record
1	Florida	12-1
2	Texas	12-1
3	Oklahoma	12-2
4	Utah	13-0
5	USC	12-1
6	TCU	11-2
7	Boise State	12-1
8	Virginia Tech	10-4
9	Florida State	9-4
10	Ohio State	10-3
11	Nebraska	9-4
12	Alabama	12-2
13	Penn State	11-2
14	Georgia	10-3
15	Oregon	10-3
16	Rice	10-3
17	Cincinnati	11-3
18	Mississippi	9-4
19	Texas Tech	11-2
20	Oregon State	9-4
21	California	9-4
22	Missouri	10-4
23	Iowa	9-4
24	Kansas	8-5
25	Tulsa	11-3
26	Rutgers	8-5
27	Wake Forest	8-5
28	West Virginia	9-4
29	Ball State	12-2
30	BYU	10-3
31	Michigan State	9-4
32	OK State	9-4
33	Northwestern	9-4
34	Western Michigan	9-4
35	Pittsburgh	9-4
36	Georgia Tech	9-4
37	LSU	8-5
38	Arizona	8-5
39	Maryland	8-5
40	Houston	8-5
41	Connecticut	8-5
42	South Florida	8-5
43	Louisiana Tech	8-5
44	Navy	8-5
45	North Carolina	8-5
46	Air Force	8-5
47	East Carolina	9-5
48	Boston College	9-5
49	Troy	8-5
50	Central Michigan	8-5
51	Kentucky	7-6
52	Vanderbilt	7-6
53	Clemson	7-6
54	Wisconsin	7-6
55	Southern Miss	7-6
56	Florida Atlantic	7-6
57	Colorado State	7-6
58	Notre Dame	7-6
59	Miami	7-6
60	South Carolina	7-6
61	Minnesota	7-6
62	Nevada	7-6
63	Buffalo	7-6
64	Fresno State	7-6

I really would like to hear your opinions on the poll. The purpose of the poll wasn't to have things right as the season went along, but to pit the two best teams in the championship game, and have teams ranked appropriately post-bowl season. I had OU-Florida in the title game (though I would have had Texas in the Big 12 title game-and therefore, probably, in the NC game had I been running things), and my top 5 has Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Utah, and USC. Compare this to the final polls and let me know what I got right, what I got wrong, and what is too jacked up to even discuss (you might say Rice and Nebraska: Rice won final 7 games and Nebraska won 6 of their last 7, only loss: Oklahoma).

Also of note: 3 mid-majors in the top 7. I don't expect that to happen again next year! Mostly because Utah will fall out and there isn't anyone to fill their spot in the top 5. Boise State could easily go 11-1. TCU getting to 10-2 is likely, though 9-3 wouldn't be disappointing with their schedule (@Texas Tech, @BYU, unfilled slot). Utah will be lucky to get to 9 wins with everything they are losing, players and coaches. For BYU to fill the spot in the top 10, they have to win at least four of the following 5 games (including the last 3): Oklahoma, Florida State, TCU, Utah, and bowl game. That'd put them at 12-1 (or better) after the bowl season. Anyone buying the possibility of that happening?