The Final Rankings

I actually quit doing my little formula rankings as no one really seemed to like it and it was a ton of work to keep up on. I think the final rankings are actually pretty good. My final top 25 would have looked like this:

1) Bama
2) Boise State: how can you argue that an undefeated team should not be #2? They beat two conference champions that played in BCS games.
3) Texas: their only loss was to #1 without their 4-year starting QB playing.
4) Florida: their only loss was to #1 and they pounded the "#3" team in the country in their bowl game.
5) TCU: they only had one loss and that was to an undefeated BCS-bowl game winning 2nd ranked team and they beat 3 other top 25 teams including two massacres against MWC foes BYU and Utah.
6) Ohio State: you can't lose to Purdue and be in the top 5, I'm sorry, plus they lost at home to a team not ranked in the top 20, beating two other top 10 teams makes up for that somewhat, but the overall resume, with two losses, is not better than TCU's.
7) Iowa: they went 2-0 against the top 10 and won a BCS game against a team formerly in the top 10, I still don't believe they are a great team, but no one else proved to be better than them ON THE FIELD, they easily could have ended up 7-6 but managed to find ways to beat inferior opponents.
8) Cincinnati: won the Big East, 2-1 record against the top 25 but got pummeled by the 1 legitimately great team on the schedule, i.e. Cincy is not a great team.
9) Virginia Tech: the loss to North Carolina AT HOME is a little puzzling but other than that they played with Bama for 3 quarters, lost a close one at G-Tech but beat fellow ranked foes Nebraska and Miami in consecutive weeks and destroyed C-USA champion East Carolina and next year's SEC East winner-maybe-Tennessee.
10) BYU: they played 7 bowl teams-who went 5-2 in their bowl games-and amassed a 5-2 record against those teams, finished with a 2-1 record against top 25 teams and blasted Oregon State right out of the top 25 in their bowl game. The blowout loss at home to Florida State is still baffling. Oregon had a slightly tougher road but also had a worse record, so I give the nod to the Cougars based on the Ducks eking out wins over Utah AND Oregon State with BYU eking out a win over Utah but demolishing Oregon State, BYU also finished the season on a 5-game win streak against 4 bowl teams, Oregon lost 2 of their last 5 while also playing 4 bowl teams.
11) Oregon: two of their 3 losses were to top 10 teams, though they were beaten fairly soundly in both of those games. They sport wins over 2 top 25 teams plus Stanford on the road, they blew out Cal when they still had Jahvid Best (i.e. were still a top 25 team), 42-3, played 9 bowl teams and went 6-3 against them, their 9 bowl opponents went 5-4 in their bowl games.
12) Penn State: I just couldn't put the 3rd best Big Ten team ahead of the Pac 10 champ, plus they played 3 top 25 teams and went 1-2 against them, with the lone win coming in a nailbiter against LSU after yet another coaching brain lapse in the final minute. Next year they play at Bama, at Iowa, and at Ohio State with 9 other games they should win, I'll start giving them some respect if they finish 11-2 with that schedule.
13) Georgia Tech: certainly not a bad year; won the ACC and beat Virginia Tech, but other than that the resume is fairly light, lost their bowl game fairly handily to a 2nd place Big Ten team and went 5-3 against their bowl-eligible opponents.
14) Nebraska: there are just a handful of teams that played better down the stretch than Nebraska, and Arizona definitely isn't one of them, but you have to take into account the entire season and the 9-7 loss at home to Iowa State as well as the beatdown they took at the hands of Texas Tech is a bit embarrassing, still they went 4-1 in the North, played Va Tech to a draw on the road losing on a late field goal, and gave Texas all they wanted and Zona more than they could handle. Next year their schedule is a joke, so I'm sure they'll end up in the top 10.
15) Wisconsin: they played 8 bowl teams and went 5-3, they weren't spectacular, but they were a very sound team. They played 3 ranked teams and went 1-2. They won 5 of their last 6.
16) Pitt: they are another fairly unspectacular team with a fairly unspectacular resume, lost 2 road games and a home game to a top 10 team in Cincinnati. Went 5-2 against bowl teams on their schedule, which means they lost to a non-bowl-eligible team: come on, it isn't that hard to get bowl eligible...
17) LSU: they played 7 bowl teams and went 3-4. They played 2 top 5 teams and lost both plus lost to another team in the top 10 (not my top 10, but the AP and Coaches top 10), all 3 games by 10 or less. All this says is: they aren't a top 15 team, but they are close.
18) Central Michigan: they played 6 bowl teams and went 4-2. They also played 7 of their 12 regular season games on the road, played a conference championship game and a bowl game and still only lost twice. That's impressive. They should have gotten more love from the voters!
19) Utah: they played 3 ranked teams and lost to all 3 and played 6 bowl-eligible teams and went 3-3 against them. The offense came on late which gives confidence going in to next year, but they have a ton on defense to replace and some important WRs and OL.
20) Navy: they nearly beat Ohio State in Columbus and played Pitt tough on the road. Went 3-3 against 6 bowl opponents. I was impressed with how they destroyed Missouri in the bowl, perhaps one of the top 5 dominating performances of the bowl season.
21) USC: they beat the Rose Bowl champ on the road with a freshman QB, but also got blown out by Oregon and Stanford (at home). Played 8 bowl teams and went 5-3. You can't really rank them higher than this: it's their fault they have a freshman QB, so you can't give them EXTRA credit for having mild success with him.
22) Miami: they started 3-1 with the most brutal schedule in the country. They played 9 bowl teams and went 5-4, including going 2-1 against top 15 teams.
23) Texas Tech: they killed Nebraska and Oklahoma. They played at Texas and made a game of it, lost by 1 at Houston, got killed by A&M, and lost a close one at Oklahoma State. Played 7 bowl teams and went 3-4. Not a bad year.
24) West Virginia: played 8 bowl teams and went 4-4, with all 4 losses coming on the road. They don't really have any great wins though either.
25) Ole Miss: they probably should be higher, but they played TWO I-AA opponents, and I punish that harshly. They played 7 bowl teams and went 3-4. They also finished 4 games out of first place in their division (and they didn't even have to play Florida).