I would have gotten this done earlier in the day, but I had "Party All The Time" by Eddie Murphy stuck in my head. Why that old gem? Well, my mom was singing it incessantly on Christmas Day as she was cooking and it's been in my head the last two weeks. Thanks, momma. And, what does Eddie think about those days now? If anyone brings it up around him, are they banned, beaten, burned at the stake?
The list below is my last ranking of the season. Soon I will do my first installment of a preseason poll for 2008-2009. And, for the record, I made this list before looking at the AP's final list. Promise.
Here we go.
25. Kentucky
If their bowl win made any statement, it's not a favorable one. They squeaked by a Florida State team that was missing 30-something players. With seniors at quarterback, running back and both starting wide receiver positions, I expected more than an 8-5 season from the offense.
24. Rutgers
Such a disappointing season for the Scarlet Knights. The offense was supposed to be better -- and it was. The defense wasn't as good as last year, but it still was solid. Any one know why Rutgers ended up with five loses?
23. Hawaii
After watching Hawaii stumble to the finish line, you can't argue that the Warriors would have to scrap and claw to beat any team on this list.
22. Arizona State
I know, it's a far fall for the Sun Devils. But a light load early on was completely upended by Oregon, USC and Texas down the stretch. Their last five games were far from impressive (wins over UCLA and Arizona were so-so). Maybe I'm bitter that I picked Arizona State to win the Holiday Bowl. However, it was a great 10-win season for Dennis Erickson and the future is bright.
21. Penn State
A young Nittany Lions team was able to finish the season on the proper note. Let's see if the team can stay out of the headlines for a while and gear up for a big 2008 run.
20. Wisconsin
With almost no depth at times on the offense, Wisconsin kept its run of recent success going, narrowly missing another 10-win campaign.
19. Cincinnati
A 10-win season for the Bearcats is fantastic. Transfer quarterback Ben Mauk had to be one of the country's most pleasant surprises.
18. Oregon
Quite the roller coaster of a season for the Ducks that ended on a somewhat high. Losing Dennis Dixon was a crushing loss that sent everything into a tailspin until Oregon met up with South Florida -- showing them there's life after DD.
17. BYU
The Cougars flew under the radar all season en route to an 11-2 campaign.
16. Illinois
This young team exceeded expectations and looks to be on the right path, but I think a BCS game against one of the country's best teams was a tough draw to finish up the season.
15. Florida
With such a young defense and some changes with the offensive philosophy, this season should be considered a success.
14. Auburn
Much like Virginia Tech, just a bit down on this list, an underachieving offense couldn't match the prowess of its defense. Yeah, the Tigers had four losses, but two came against two of the top teams in this list.
13. Michigan
Seeing Llyod Carr lifted off the field was one of the more special moments of the bowl season. If any team could play the "if" game, it would definitely be Michigan.
12. Boston College
About five months ago, things looked bleak with Tom O'Brien in Raleigh and Brian Toal sidelined for the season. But Matt Ryan, arguably the country's most important player to his team, engineered an 11 win season. And safety Jamie Silva should get a ton of credit as well.
11. Oklahoma
I was going rank OU No. 8, but I remembered what I said at the beginning of the season. Oklahoma is not a Top 10 team. I win (if we ignore the Texas A&M part). But there's good news for Oklahoma fans. The national title game doesn't return to Arizona for two years. So Sam Bradford, DeMarco Murray and all the other guys can rest easy knowing that if they make it to the title game in the next two years, it won't be in dreaded Glendale. Lot of recent bad memories in that town.
10. Tennessee
The Vols had such an up and down regular season saved by a strong showing in the SEC title game and a bowl victory. With Erik Ainge graduated, the near future of the Vols rests on the shoulders of Jonathan Crompton. But the offense survived a season with a young offensive line, so things could be OK in Knoxville.
9. Virginia Tech
Defensive coordinator Bud Foster has the mentality and edge the rest of the team needs. Until they adopt his attitude and ferocity, the Hokies will be left out of the national title dance -- and eventually out of the BCS dance.
8. Texas
The Longhorns found their stride at the end of the year, large in part to Jamaal Charles. Their dominant bowl win over Arizona State shows that Texas needs to be considered among the nation's best teams each season. Next year will be no different.
7. West Virginia
If one ounce of the WVU team that destroyed Oklahoma would have been on the field against Pitt, they would have been playing on Monday night. But Pat White returns, Steve Slaton appears to be coming back, Noel Devine is back...looking good for next year. And this guy says Steve Slaton is going to fight for his starting job next year? Not a chance.
6. Kansas
Kansas played a great game in the Orange Bowl. But the most impressive part is how a team so new to the BCS team acted like a group of veterans. But the bottom line is this: Throw Texas and Oklahoma into their regular season schedule and we're not talking about Kansas being in the Top 10.
5. Ohio State
We discussed some of the adjustments that Ohio State needs to make if they want to be No. 1 on this list at the end of the year.
4. Missouri
At least Georgia had the liberty of playing the BCS, something Missouri couldn't enjoy. And Arkansas was on the receiving end of their frustrations.
3. Georgia
I understand Georgia fans are upset, but if you don't win your conference division, how can you expect to be considered for the national title when the winner comes from your conference? However, the Dawgs are my early pick for next year's champion.
2. USC
Reasons USC cannot be No. 1:
A. No conference title game.
B. A loss to a horrid Stanford team.
C. They don't play in the SEC.
D. Proved little by beating a mediocre four-loss Illinois team.
1. LSU
The Tigers showed that, when healthy, they do what they want on either side of the ball. Ohio State boasts one of the nation's best lines and LSU had its way with the unit at times. And the No. 1 Ohio State defense? Well Matt Flynn had something to say about it with his four touchdown passes.
Comments (3)
I don't know, Adam. I can't see how Texas is ranked over Oklahoma. And Penn State's ranking is awfully generous.
I tend to put Georgia over USC, but that's sort of a coin toss because I don't think either bowl game told us squat about their abilities.
As far as conferences go, though, it sure looks like you are saying the Big 12 is the second best conference in the country?
Despite the bowl wins (and losses) you cant forget that OU beat Texas and Mizzou. And VT got beat by a big 12 team that wasnt even in the Big 12 title game, yeah OU got destroyed by WVU but that should speak to how good WVU is and not that OU was a lucky fraud all year or some such.
Ah, I'm just a jerk. OU should def. be ahead of Texas. Like I said, OU is just fine at 8, but I was toying with everyone.