Florida, SEC Top Final 2008 Official Championship Game Ratings

After stating their case on the field Thursday night, the Florida Gators finish No. 1 in the final Official Championship Game Ratings (OCGR) of the season. Texas, which survived a scare from Ohio State, finishes in the No. 2 spot. The team without a blemish, Utah, rounds out the top three.

(OCGR Creator note: If the complete OCGR was used this season, Texas would have played in the Big 12 Championship and there would have been different bowl matchups for at least 12 bowls. These two things might have changed the ratings at season's end and could have changed the top two. Remember, the main purpose of the OCGR is to determine the two most deserving teams based on the entire season to play in the championship game, which would be played after the bowl games.)

(Ratings as of Jan. 9 [End of Season])

Rank	Team	Record	OCGR	PvWk
1	Florida	13-1	83.94	1
2	Texas	12-1	77.79	2
3	Utah	13-0	73.12	5
4	USC	12-1	72.40	6
5	Oklahoma	12-2	69.57	3
6	TCU	11-2	64.22	9
7	Penn State	11-2	63.75	4
8	Alabama	12-2	61.76	7
9	Boise State	12-1	59.29	8
10	Georgia	10-3	57.96	NR
11	Texas Tech	11-2	54.43	11
12	Oregon	10-3	50.23	NR
13	Cincinnati	11-3	49.15	12
14	Virginia Tech	10-4	47.07	14

(Dropped from ratings: No. 10 Ohio State, No. 13 Ball State, and No. 15 East Carolina)

Throughout the season, the SEC and Big 12 fought to determine the best conference in the country. After Florida's win over Oklahoma, the SEC jumped the Big 12 to claim top honors. Though the ACC appeared to have struggled, they ended up rounding out the top three for the 2008 season.

(Conference strength through games played on Jan. 8 [End of season])

Rank	Conference	OOC Record	Rating
1	SEC	43-13	0.6586
2	Big 12	42-13	0.6520
3	ACC	41-17	0.6248
4	Big East	33-14	0.6142
5	MWC	28-13	0.5959
6	Big Ten	33-18	0.5618
7	Pac-10	19-17	0.5515
8	WAC	19-23	0.4720
9	Conference USA	22-32	0.4535
10	Independents	18-28	0.4319
11	MAC	12-35	0.4293
12	Sun Belt	14-28	0.4083

To view last week's OCGR, click here.

To view the OCGR home page for more insight behind the OCGR and this week's ratings using the new formulas and ranges, click here.

If you would like more information about the OCGR or my proposals to change the bowl structures and include a plus-one, please leave me a comment and I will get back to you.