I guess this is my final ranking of the year. I mean, I could do one after the national championship, but I feel like the playoffs will determine those rankings. Plus, bowl season is coming and it is hard to judge teams after bowl games. Sometimes their best players do not play (preparing for the draft) or maybe a bunch of guys get healthy. Teams that feel like it was a letdown being in a smaller bowl might not be as amped up to play. So no, I will not be doing a ranking after all that stuff. So yeah, this is the last one until next year!
- Alabama (12-1)–The Crimson Tide beat Georgia and did it in an impressive way.
- Cincinnati (13-0)–The Bearcats defeated Houston with ease.
- Michigan (12-1)–Absolutely destroyed Iowa. I think I predicted it.
- Georgia (12-1)–One bad game, but I give them a pass, it was against Alabama. I think the playoff committee will try to keep them and Alabama opposite each other. So they may end up as #3 with Michigan at #2 and the Bearcats at #4. That would be my guess.
- Notre Dame (11-1)–I cannot see how they could jump ahead of anyone right now. Could the playoff committee decide that Alabama/Georgia was basically like a round-robin game and jump ND in there? Sure, but it would be kind of crazy. And there is no way you can leave out an undefeated Cincinnati WHO BEAT NOTRE DAME!
- Ohio State (10-2)
- Baylor (10-2)–They pulled off the big win over Oklahoma State.
- Oklahoma State (10-2)–They almost had the win, but got stopped at the 1 yard line. Craziness!
- Pitt (11-2)–ACC champs! They did what they do best against Wake Forest (and actually played some defense). Imagine if you combined Pitt’s offense with Penn State’s defense…
- Utah (10-3)–The Utes are playing great right now, I am moving them up pretty high. I thought for sure Oregon would change it up and win easily in a rematch. I was way wrong.
- Oklahoma (10-2)
- Ole Miss (10-2)
- BYU (10-2)
- Michigan State (10-2)
- Louisiana-Lafayette (12-1)–The Ragin’ Cajuns defeated App State for a second time.
- Wake Forest (10-3)
- Houston (11-2)
- Iowa (10-3)
- Oregon (10-3)
- NC State (9-3)
- Clemson (9-3)
- Kentucky (9-3)
- Arkansas (8-4)
- Utah State (10-3)–They crushed San Diego State.
- UTSA (12-1)–The Roadrunners almost blew a lead to Western Kentucky, but they held on and earned their first Conference USA championship.
Honorable Mention: Coastal Carolina (10-2), Appalachian State (10-3), Wisconsin (8-4), Minnesota (8-4), Texas A&M (8-4), San Diego State (11-2), Purdue (8-4), Army (8-3), Arizona State (8-4), Northern Illinois (9-4)
Hopefully the bowl games are announced soon so I can get my prediction post going. I actually was smart this year and have it started, I just need to plug in the teams and do my picks.
