NCAA Football Top 25 Final Poll: Boise State No. 1, Alabama No. 2

Tyler StimsonJan 7, 2010

Tyler Stimson votes in the ESPN-U poll and the Bleacher Report poll.

(Team Records and pre bowl ranking in parentheses )

We finished the season with two unblemished teams, and Boise State looks likely to be left high and dry.

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This is my College Football Top 25 for the end of the college football season. Enjoy.

1. Boise State (3) 14-0 - Capped off a 14-0 season with a 17-10 Fiesta Bowl upset of what I believed, and many believed may have been the best team in the country; TCU. Their defense was incredible, and their offense did just enough to pull out the win.

Boise State did what Boise State does, the key play was a 29 yard fake punt-pass on 4th down that led to the deciding TD.

While this game was not nearly as memorable as their incredibly dramatic 43-42 OT win against Oklahoma in the same bowl four years ago, it was just as important for their program.

Boise State looks likely to be in the MWC in the next three or four years. And their season, (14-0) is good enough for a national championship. If someone wins all their games, even if their schedule was "weak," they are deserving. They played the hand they were dealt, and they played it perfectly.

Tell me, would Alabama have a better record with the same schedule? The answer is no. You can't do better than 14-0, and that's what Boise State did. Boise State, welcome to college football, where 14-0 just doesn't cut it. But it does cut it for me.

“It’s not about who we think is better. Most people probably think that both Texas and Alabama would manhandle Boise State on a neutral field. They might be right. It still doesn’t matter.

It’s about logic. It’s about common sense. It’s about fairness.

It’s the American dream. A stand should be taken. A message should be sent.

To all AP voters, please, please do the right thing. Vote Boise State No. 1.

It would give thousands of Idahoans an unexpected reason to smile and celebrate on an otherwise gloomy, frigid, winter day, but it would mean so much more.

It’s not about Boise State. It’s not about Alabama. It’s not about Texas.

It’s about integrity.

A Boise State/Alabama split National Championship would be a victory for equality, for underdogs, for reason, for America, and for all things good, right, and pure."

- Chris Golightly, Bleacherreport.com featured columnist for UNLV

from the article:
Alabama vs. Texas: The BCS Not-ional Championship Game

2. Alabama (1) (14-0) - Gets credit for barely beating a good Texas team 37-21 - that played without Colt McCoy. Regardless, Alabama is your 2010 national champions. But, who wouldn't love to have a plus-one right now? Alabama vs. Boise State for all the marbles. Too bad we have this archaic bowl system. We have to settle for two undefeated teams, where one is picked over the other because of conference prestige, computer rankings, and subjective human voting.

Regardless, Alabama is deserving of the No. 1 ranking, but, in this great country of ours, with two undefeated teams, it is only right and fair for there to be a split national championship. Alabama certainly did play a much tougher schedule than Boise. And they would rightfully be heavy favorites in any potential matchup. But I'd love Boise's chances of pulling off an historic upset. It's a shame that we again end the season with multiple teams having an argument for a national title.

Kudos to the Tide, for a great season, and their first national title since 1992. But in this voter's opinion, they will share that title with Boise State, who gets my No. 1 vote.

If Texas' freshman backup QB can do that to Bama's D in the second half, what would the most efficient passer in the entire country, Boise State QB Kellen Moore do?

3. Texas (5) (12-1) - Ended a great season with a very gutsy showing in the national championship game, ultimately losing 37-21. Considering how they lost Colt McCo trailed 24-6, and ended up making it a 24-21 game. I was very impressed by the Longhorns.

4. Florida (6) (12-1) - Had the most impressive bowl performance of any team, taking down No. 3 Cincinnati 51-24. And it wasn't even that close. Tim Tebow played like Peyton Manning and had his best statistical day ever as a QB.

Now, this was against an admittedly sub-par Cincinnati defense, but if Florida played Alabama again, do you think they would still get beat down like they did? I think not.

5. TCU (2) - Lost a heart breaker to Boise State, 17-10. TCU was clearly the hotter team coming into the game. Since Oct. 17th, TCU's closest game had been a 55-28 beatdown of Utah, a game where they led 35-7 early in the second quarter.

But Boise State had a great defensive game plan, and intercepted Andy Dalton three times, taking back one for a TD. Despite all that TCU said publicly, they were not excited with a Boise State matchup. They faced them last year, and they wanted to take on a top 5 BCS school like Florida or Cincinnati.

TCU seemed to be hurt by the fact that they hadn't played in a close game since the Air Force game on October 10th. I think having to play in a close game after not doing so for two months definitely had an affect on the outcome of the game.

But one has to give Boise State credit; they out-coached TCU, and played incredible defense.

6. Cincinnati (4) (12-1) - Got decimated by Florida 51-24. They ended a dream season with a horrific chain of events. First, their head coach abandoned them to go to Notre Dame. Then, they got lambasted by a surprisingly motivated Florida team in the Sugar Bowl. But 12-1 is still a great season, and Cincinnati fans should be extremely proud of that.

7. BYU (8) (11-2) - Crushed Oregon State 44-20. BYU had an up and down season, but they absolutely mauled Oregon State in the Las Vegas bowl. They were up 37-7 before Oregon State scored some garbage time TDs.

BYU had four victories over top 25 teams this season. They finished their season by winning nine of their last ten games,with their only loss in that stretch coming to TCU. Needless to say, it was a great season for fans of BYU football. The MWC's 4-1 record in bowls, which is the best bowl performance by any conference in the country, validates this ranking.

8. Ohio State (9) (11-2) - Flattened Oregon 26-17. After an awful showing last year, the Big 10 went 4-3 in bowl games this year, including huge wins against Oregon, LSU, Miami, and Georgia Tech. Very impressive for the conference. Ohio State is very worthy of a top 10 ranking, but strange losses to USC at home, and Purdue slightly hold them back from being the highest ranked two-loss team.

9. Iowa (10) (11-2) - Dominated Georgia Tech 24-14. Finally someone slowed down Georgia Tech's option attack. Who better than Iowa's stingy defense? Iowa had a great season, good enough for a top 10 finish in the final polls.

10. Penn State (14) (11-2) - Held on to beat LSU 19-17, in a very poor weather game. But it was by far Penn State's best victory of their season, and their only victory over a top 25 opponent. With the Big 10's impressive bowl performance, that's good enough for a top 10 ranking.

11. Virginia Tech (15) (10-3) - Embarrassed Tennessee 37-14. A very impressive performance by the Hokies, who end up being the highest ranked team in the ACC. They will be a preseason top five or top 10 team next year.

12. Oregon (7) (10-3) - Lost in an upset to Ohio State 26-17 in the Rose Bowl. They had a great season in a very deep, yet mediocre year for the Pac-10. I still think the Pac-10 is a solid conference, but going 2-5 in bowls was shocking. However, they did draw some very tough matchups.

13. Utah (14) (10-3) - Dismantled Cal 37-27 in the Pointsetta Bowl. They only had three losses all season, all were on the road, and all were to top 12 teams (TCU No. 4, BYU No. 7, and Oregon No. 12) . Two of those games came down to the final seconds (Oregon and BYU).

14. Georgia Tech (11) (11-3) - Lost to Iowa 24-14 in a very disappointing offensive output. Georgia Tech got out to a 10-1 start, but then lost two of their last three games.

15. Nebraska (23) (10-4) - Shutout Arizona 33-0, capping off a 10 win season, due mostly to the dominating play of my Heisman winner, Ndamukong Suh. Nebraska had the best defense in all of college football, in my opinion. Granted, they did have one bad game (against Texas Tech), but they had to carry the team all year, with little help from the offense.

16. Mississippi (21) (9-4) - Beatdown Oklahoma State 21-7. They had a good season that failed to live up to lofty expectations. The loss of Michael Oher (the true life version from the movie, "The Blindside") certainly hurt them, but 9-4 in the SEC is still very good.

17. Wisconsin (Unranked) (10-3) - Beat Miami 20-14. Only gave up one offensive TD , responding well to Miami's opening kickoff return for a TD.

18. LSU (13) (9-4) - Lost to Penn State 19-17. LSU had four close, tough losses to four top 16 teams. They didn't beat a single top 25 team, but they were good enough to be in my top 20.

19. Pittsburgh (21) (10-3) - Beat North Carolina 19-17, in a defensive struggle. They had a great season, and came just short of playing in a BCS bowl. Dion Lewis had an incredible season, running for 1,799 yards as a freshman.

20. USC (24) (9-4) - Shutdown Boston College 24-13, ending the worst season in recent memory for USC, and for the Pac-10. But 9-4 is still good enough for a top 20 ranking.

21. Clemson (Unranked) (9-5) - Finished a great season with a solid 21-13 bowl win over Kentucky, after coming up just short of a BCS bowl bid and ACC championship game win. CJ Spiller was the best all-purpose player in college football this year.

22. Oklahoma (Unranked) (8-5) - Ended a massively disappointing season with a 31-27 victory over a very good Stanford team. They lost four games by a combined 12 points, including narrow defeats to No. 5 Texas, No. 7 BYU, and No. 15 Nebraska. They also destroyed Oklahoma State 27-0 in the last week of the regular season.

23. Navy (Unranked) (10-4) - Destroyed Big 12 opponent Missouri 35-12 in their bowl game. They had a great year; it would've been even better if they had pulled off an upset of No. 8 Ohio State at the beginning of the year, which they nearly did.

24. Air Force (Unranked) (8-5) - Dismantled Houston 47-20 in the Armed Forces Bowl. Air Force had a great season, and could've been 12-1 with a few breaks here and there. Their No. 1 passing defense, won the battle against the No. 1 passing offense in the country, picking off Case Keenum six times. They finished 8-5 in one of the tougher conferences in the country, and had four very close losses to TCU, Utah, Navy and Minnesota.

25. Oregon State (17) (8-5) - Got steamrolled 44-20 by a BYU team that was on a mission. It was a very good season for Oregon State, who came just four points from playing in the Rose Bowl and a Pac-10 title.

Conference Breakdown

1. SEC (four)

1. MWC (four)

1. BIG TEN (four)

4. PAC-10 (three)

4. ACC (three)

4. BIG 12 (three)

7. BIG EAST (two)

8. WAC (one)

Conference Power Rankings

1. SEC —Is there really any doubt? Even with a resurgent Big 10, there is little challenge to the SEC's complete dominance right now. Four straight national championships.

2. MWC —Clearly best Non-BCS conference, is the second best conference in the country. I'm sure you may have doubts, but remember Utah-Alabama last year? That's right. They went 4-1 in their bowls, beating Fresno State, Oregon State, Cal, and Houston, and only losing to Boise State.

3. Big Ten — Has depth, and had a surprisingly good showing in the bowls, with four victories over ranked opponents: Oregon, LSU, Georgia Tech, and Miami. They also had two extremely close losses: Northwestern and Minnesota. It was a very good showing for the Big Ten.

4. Big 12 — In a down year, the Big 12 had a solid showing in the bowls, and Texas showed so much heart by nearly coming back against Alabama. Oklahoma and Nebraska showed up and beat two quality Pac-10 teams.

5. ACC - Got absolutely owned by the SEC in the last week of the season. But had a solid season, but failed to show up for the bowl season, posting a 3-4 record.

5. Pac-10 —There is so much depth and parity in this conference. But they failed to show up in their bowl games. Still a solid conference, but they definitely did not have a good showing against some very tough bowl opponents.

5. Big East - Had an okay bowl showing, but against weak competition. Two of their top three teams (Cincinnati and West Virginia) lost convincingly in their bowl games.

Major Conference Bowl Record Standings