College Football Rankings Week 14: Consensus from Around the Web

The regular season in now over for most teams across the nation, and the only things left on the agenda are conference championship games and bowl selections.

With just two undefeated teams remaining in the FBS—only one of which is eligible for a bowl game—it seems all but certain we can reach a consensus on the No. 1 team in the nation.

But what about the plethora of high-quality one-loss teams? And let's not forget about the solid two-loss potential conference champions out there. Can we find a consensus for No. 2?

We've scoured the Internet to find the various polls and rankings out there, and we've lumped them all together right here.

The Bleacher Report College Football Writers' Poll

We'll start with our own, in-house Bleacher Report College Football Top 25 Poll.

This poll is put together with votes from the top college football writers right here on B/R and has seen similar trends this season to those of the AP and Coaches' polls. It's also going to give us a good reference point from which to start our search for an Internet consensus.

1. Notre Dame (13 first-place votes)

2. Alabama (3)

3. Georgia

4. Ohio State (2)

5. Oregon

6. Florida

T7. Kansas State

T7. LSU

9. Texas A&M

10. Stanford

11. South Carolina

12. Oklahoma

13. Florida State

14. Nebraska

15. Clemson

16. Kent State

17. UCLA

18. Boise State

19. Oregon State

20. Northern Illinois

21. Texas

22. Utah State

23. Oklahoma State

24. Michigan

25. Rutgers

(Others receiving votes: Northwestern, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Penn State, TCU, Mississippi State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, Arizona State, Fresno State, San Jose State, Cincinnati, Toledo)

The ESPNU Fan Rankings

Just for fun, we thought we'd add in the one poll in which anyone and everyone can vote. The ESPNU Fan Rankings are compiled using user-defined rankings.

Some have asked why we don't use the ESPN Power Rankings in place of the ESPNU Fan Poll. The answer is disappointing: ESPN doesn't release updated power rankings in time for us to include it.

Unfortunately, there is one major drawback to this poll: users can only select from 30 ESPN-selected teams to rank in order from 1 to 30.

Think Ohio should get a No. 25 spot? Too bad. It's not an option.

There's also the wildly biased votes you don't see in the more professional polls (no one is ranking Alabama No. 25 in the B/R poll, Coaches' Poll or AP Poll).

It's also monumentally silly to rank undefeated Notre Dame at No. 10 just because you hate Notre Dame, but you can rest assured it happens in this poll.

Just as an example, Washington received 117 first-place votes while Stanford received just 104.

The fan poll changes almost hourly (we're using the poll results as of 5:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, November 25), but seems to hold steady to its heavy ACC and Pac-12 bias while punishing the SEC at every opportunity.

1. Notre Dame

2. Alabama

3. Oregon

4. Georgia

5. Florida

6. Kansas State

7. Stanford

8. LSU

9. Texas A&M

10. Florida State

11. Clemson

12. South Carolina

13. Oklahoma

14. Nebraska

15. Oregon State

16. UCLA

17. Ohio State

18. Texas

19. Rutgers

20. Louisville

21. Michigan

22. Oklahoma State

23. Boise State

24. Kent State

25. Arizona

26. Washington

27. Mississippi State

28. Northern Illinois

29. Louisiana Tech

30. Utah State

The Associated Press College Football Poll

The AP is perhaps the largest and most prestigious college football poll in the nation.

It's also the most important poll that's not part of the BCS calculations these days (as the AP told the BCS not to use its poll following the 2004 season over concerns about maintaining the AP poll's integrity and independence).

The major talk around the nation right now regarding the AP poll is the fact that undefeated Ohio State is still eligible to be named national champions by the AP.

Will that happen? If Notre Dame takes care of business, probably not. But if the Irish falter to a once-beaten SEC champion, all bets are off.

1. Notre Dame (60 first-place votes)

2. Alabama

3. Georgia

4. Ohio State

5. Florida

6. Oregon

7. Kansas State

8. Stanford

9. LSU

10. Texas A&M

11. South Carolina

12. Oklahoma

13. Florida State

14. Nebraska

15. Clemson

16. Oregon State

17. UCLA

18. Kent State

19. Northern Illinois

20. Utah State

21. Michigan

22. Northwestern

23. Texas

24. Oklahoma State

25. Boise State

(Others receiving votes: San Jose State, Louisville, TCU, Penn State, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, San Diego State, Fresno State, USC, Arkansas State, Arizona, Cincinnati, Ball State, Mississippi State, North Carolina)

The USA Today Coaches' Poll

One of the two BCS “human polls” is the “Coaches' Poll” published by USA Today each week.

The Coaches' Poll makes up one-third of the BCS rankings and polls 60 FBS head coaches (although this year, only 59 coaches vote after USC's Lane Kiffin gave up his voting rights after being caught in a lie about how he voted his Trojans at season's start).

The Coaches' Poll has shown similar movement over the past two weeks, and we're beginning to see a general consensus develop—at least at the top.

1. Notre Dame (56 first-place votes)

2. Alabama (2)

3. Georgia (1)

4. Oregon

5. Florida

6. LSU

7. Kansas State

8. Texas A&M

9. Stanford

10. South Carolina

11. Oklahoma

12. Florida State

13. Nebraska

14. Clemson

15. Boise State

16. UCLA

17. Oregon State

18. Northern Illinois

19. Kent State

20. Northwestern

21. Texas

22. Utah State

23. Louisville

24. Michigan

25. Rutgers

(Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State, San Jose State, Vanderbilt, Fresno State, TCU, San Diego State, Cincinnati, Arizona State-Arkansas State, Mississippi State, Middle Tennessee State, Central Florida-Louisiana Tech, Arizona, Toledo, Baylor-USC)

Note: The Coaches' Poll bars coaches from voting for teams under NCAA sanction. Central Florida appears because the NCAA has not yet ruled on its appeal of sanctions.

The Harris Interactive College Football Poll

The other part to the human element of the BCS is the poll from the fine folks at Harris Interactive.

Harris Interactive polls current and former media types, as well as former coaches, players and administrators.

Again, we're seeing Notre Dame and Alabama in the top two spots, and unanimity isn't far away.

The Harris Poll had 115 voters this week, and counts for one-third of the BCS rankings.

1. Notre Dame (109 first-place votes)

2. Alabama (6)

3. Georgia

4. Oregon

5. Florida

6. Kansas State

7. LSU

8. Stanford

9. Texas A&M

10. South Carolina

11. Oklahoma

12. Florida State

13. Nebraska

14. Clemson

15. Oregon State

16. UCLA

17. Boise State

18. Kent State

19. Northern Illinois

20. Texas

21. Northwestern

22. Utah State

23. Michigan

24. Louisville

25. Oklahoma State

(Others receiving votes: Rutgers, TCU, San Jose State, Vanderbilt, USC, San Diego State, Fresno State, Baylor, Mississippi State, Louisiana Tech, Cincinnati, Arizona State, Syracuse, Tulsa, Central Florida, Toledo, Arizona, East Carolina, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe, Washington)

Note: The Harris Poll bars voters from voting for teams under NCAA sanction. Central Florida appears because the NCAA has not yet ruled on its appeal of sanctions.

The Bowl Championship Series Rankings

And last, but certainly not least is the poll to end all polls: the Bowl Championship Series rankings.

The BCS combines the aforementioned Harris Interactive and Coaches' Poll with a collection of six computerized ranking systems.

The mysterious computerized systems are a closely guarded secret, and no one outside of the BCS itself (and the six organizations that run the systems) really knows how it works.

Suffice it to say, it's some advanced formula taking into account strength of schedule, opponents' win percentage, opponents' opponents' win percentage, how great the SEC is, and all nonsensical stuff like that.

The BCS drops the highest and lowest rankings from the six computer polls, and then averages the remaining rankings to get the final third of the BCS puzzle.

These rankings are the final determining factor of which team plays in which BCS bowl at season's end, with No. 1 and No. 2 facing off in the BCS National Championship Game.

1. Notre Dame

2. Alabama

3. Georgia

4. Florida

5. Oregon

6. Kansas State

7. LSU

8. Stanford

9. Texas A&M

10. South Carolina

11. Oklahoma

12. Nebraska

13. Florida State

14. Clemson

15. Oregon State

16. UCLA

17. Kent State

18. Texas

19. Michigan

20. Boise State

21. Northern Illinois

22. Northwestern

23. Oklahoma State

24. Utah State

25. San Jose State

Building a Consensus

Now all we have to do is come up with a general consensus—easier said that done for some teams.

The teams at the top have all separated themselves from the pack, so it's easy to pick the top five in the nation. With an allowance for polls that rank Ohio State, the top five teams in the BCS are the top five non-Buckeye teams in every single poll.

Notre Dame is obviously a unanimous No. 1 team, and Alabama seems to be leading the way as a consensus No. 2. But what about Florida and Oregon?

How about the other impressive one-loss teams?

For that, we'll need to balance one poll against the rest while trying to reconcile the BCS rankings with common sense.

It's also worth noting here that Ohio State and Penn State are ineligible to receive votes in the Coaches' Poll, the Harris Poll and the BCS, so take that into consideration when viewing their final “consensus” rankings (Central Florida was ineligible but has appealed its sanctions, so until a final ruling is made, the Knights are technically eligible).

We've also added in the teams “also receiving votes” in every poll. The lowest ranking is a tie for No. 43.

So let's begin, shall we?

From the Bottom Up

Starting at the bottom of the rankings (equivalent to No. 26 and below), we'll list the poll average for every team that has at least one vote in at least one poll.

The number of polls each program has appeared in out of our six poll selections in parentheses.

Louisville: 24.200 (5 poll appearances)

Rutgers: 25.200 (5)

San Jose State: 28.000 (5)

TCU: 28.750 (4)

Vanderbilt: 29.000 (4)

Penn State: 29.000 (2)

San Diego State: 31.333 (3)

Fresno State: 32.000 (4)

Texas Tech: 32.000 (1)

Mississippi State: 33.000 (5)

Louisiana Tech: 33.667 (3)

Arizona State: 34.667 (3)

USC: 35.000 (3)

Washington: 35.000 (2)

Arizona: 35.250 (4)

Cincinnati: 35.500 (4)

Tulsa: 35.500 (2)

Middle Tennessee State: 36.000 (1)

Baylor: 37.000 (2)

Arkansas State: 37.333 (3)

Ball State: 38.000 (1)

North Carolina: 38.000 (1)

Syracuse: 38.000 (1)

Central Florida: 38.500 (2)

Toledo: 39.333 (3)

East Carolina: 43.000 (1)

Louisiana-Monroe: 44.000 (1)

The Consensus Top 25

No. 1: Notre Dame (1.000 average poll position—first in every poll)

No. 2: Alabama

No. 3: Georgia

No. 4: Oregon

No. 5: Florida

No. 6: Kansas State

No. 7: LSU

No. 8: Ohio State

No. 9: Stanford

No. 10: Texas A&M

No. 11: South Carolina

No. 12: Oklahoma

No. 13: Florida State

No. 14: Nebraska

No. 15: Clemson

No. 16: Oregon State

No. 17: UCLA

No. 18: Kent State

No. 19: Boise State

No. 20: Texas

No. 21: Northern Illinois

No. 22: Michigan

No. 23: Northwestern

No. 24: Utah State

No. 25: Oklahoma State

What Does It All Mean?

Well, we've determined that Notre Dame is the No. 1 team in the nation—just in case you weren't sure yet.

And Alabama is a unanimous No. 2, with Georgia close behind as a pretty solid No. 3. But that's where the clarity ends.

Florida is clinging to the No. 4 spot, which is an important position, given the “3-4 Rule” in the BCS rankings (which means the highest-ranking team not otherwise qualifying between the No. 3 and No. 4 teams receives an automatic BCS berth). But Florida is only No. 4 in the BCS; the Gators are No. 5 in every other poll.

Oregon, on the other hand, averages a full half-point ahead. And if Stanford goes on to win the Pac-12 Championship Game next weekend, who knows how that could affect the computer rankings?

Now throw in the added wrench of the lone team to beat Florida—current No. 3 Georgia—potentially losing in the SEC Championship Game, and you can start to see how Oregon can start to make up the gap in the computer rankings—right where the Ducks need help.

Just for Fun...

Finally, just for kicks and giggles, we thought we'd add in a little conference fun to our consensus rankings.

The Big 12 leads the way with 80 percent of teams ranked in what amounts to the top 52 FBS teams in the nation.

The Pac-12 is next with two-thirds of its teams ranked.

Somewhat surprisingly, the SEC is tied with the Big East with 50 percent of conference members appearing on the list (of course, the ranked SEC teams average No. 13 while the Big East teams average No. 35).

The worst conferences in terms of number of ranked teams are the Sun Belt (20 percent) followed closely by the ACC (25 percent) and Mountain West (30 percent).

When comparing rankings of conference teams, the aforementioned SEC leads all conferences with an average ranking of 13.429. The Big Ten comes in second at 19.4.

The Sun Belt and Conference USA are at the bottom of the pile with C-USA edging out the Sun Belt for last place, 46.250 to 48.500.

While all this information probably won't solve the argument of whether or not conference A Is better than conference B, it may give a glimpse into the minds of the voters around the nation and their perceived biases.

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