I placed these teams according to their resumes as the AP voting instructions encourage.  I tried to ignore their previous rankings and judge these teams based on their body of work as a whole.  As a result, you might see some swings that might be unusual.  I don't think "previous ranking" is a strong criterion of how far up/down a team should go.

What do you think?

1.Florida – I think they win this by a TD or more.  Only loss is a 1 point loss to Ole Miss.  Beat FSU, Georgia, LSU, Bama, and OU.  Best resume in the land, but they can thank FSU, LSU, and Ole Miss for improving down the stretch.

2. USC – Best team in the land.  Whipped Oregon, Ohio St, and Penn St.  Also beat Cal.  Narrow loss to Ore St.  Resume is hurt by the Big11 NOT the Pac10.

3. Utah – WORKED over ‘Bama on the road.

4. Oklahoma – I think they get embarrassed early and come back to make it a closer loss.  Would rank them lower if I could.  Best win is now TCU!  Wins over Cincy, Texas Tech, and Okie St.  Could change depending on how BCS game is played.

5. Texas – To me, they showed they were closer to Ohio St than they were to the teams mentioned vida supra.  Best wins are Oklahoma, Ohio St, and Okie St.   If any of these teams beat anyone else of significance I would rank them over OU.  And I’m not impressed with Ohio St or the Big11.  Actually, I’m not impressed with the Big 12 either so their victories earlier in the year are less impressive now.

6. TCU – This is a bit of a reach but I don’t think Bama deserves # 6.  There best win is Boise St., narrowly lost to Utah, and kept OU to a low score.

7. Oregon – May be a bit of a surprise/reach…Probably the most impressive victories in the final few games.  Lost early to Boise St., USC, and Cal who are now all ranked.  A great example of not giving up on a season.  Perhaps…these Ducks are a mightier opponent then USC next year.

8. Penn St – Best wins are Ore. St, Mich. St., and Ohio St.

9. Alabama – Lost to Florida and Utah…best win is over 3-loss Georgia…Clemson, LSU, and Auburn had disappointing seasons.

10. Boise St. - Best win is Oregon, but Oregon was down to their 5th QB and the Broncos had a cheap shot.  Narrow loss to TCU makes them higher than I would have liked.  Needs better OOC games if they want the glory.

11. Ole Miss – Best wins are Florida and Texas Tech…losses to Wake Forrest and South Carolina prevent this from being higher.  Wake Forrest and Vandy were ranked when Ole Miss lost to them but have since tanked.  Also have a narrow loss to Bama.

12. Oregon St – With the rise of Utah, USC, Oregon, and Cal, the Beavs W’s and L’s both look better.  They also narrowly beat Pitt in the SunWind Bowl.  Early loss to ‘furd hurts the most but at least they played people in their OOC games.

13. Virginia Tech – I hate the ACC due to too many teams who can beat/lose to anyone.  Best wins are Cincy and Georgia Tech.  Beat Maryland and BC when they were ranked.

14. Georgia – Best wins are LSU and Mich St (!) after ASU and Auburn went belly up.

15. Texas Tech – Best win is a narrow victory over Texas at home on the play of the year…deserves to drop due to poor OOC schedule and Big12 choke job.

16. Georgia Tech – Best win is Georgia.  Also beat BC and Florida St.  Lost badly to LSU to further confuse things.

17. Cal – Best wins are Mich St. and Oregon…L’s to Maryland and UofA hurt the most.  Miami win counts more than most wins vs. 6-loss teams since the ACC is so convoluted and 4/6 losses were to ranked teams (including Florida).  I can’t believe they were behind BC, E. Carolina, and WVU going into the bowls.  A true sign the Pac-10 was not down but hated.

18. Florida St – All 4 loses were to teams who were ranked at some point in the season.  Best win is Va Tech.  Deserved better bowl opponent than Wisconsin and, if this happened, would have likely been ranked a little higher.

19. Ohio St. – Best win is Mich. St.  Blew out ranked teams who then sucked down the stretch.  Like Mich. St., the best part of their resume is that they lost to highly ranked teams.

20. Cincy – Best win is Pitt.  Lost to UConn (in football).

21. Pitt – Best wins are Iowa and South Florida.  Lost to Bowling Green and to Rutgers by 20.  If Oregon St rises, then Pitt can’t fall that much.

22. Michigan St – Best win is 3 point win over Iowa.  Other than that, the best part of their resume is that they lost to ranked teams.

23. Ok. St. – Best win is Missouri.  Narrow loss to Texas and a 9-point loss to Oregon keep them ranked.

24. Iowa – Best win is Penn St.  Also beat South Carolina who beat Ole Miss.  4 L’s were by 12 points combined.  Behind MSU only because they lost to 7-loss Illinois and Northwestern.  Struggled with justifying the ranking of 4 Big11 teams, but I also felt the Big12 shouldn’t have 5 ranked teams since the Big12 plays nobody in OOC games and they got exposed in the Bowl games.

25. LSU – Hard team to read.  Best win is Georgia Tech…but they lost by a lot to Georgia and also lost to Arkansas.  Very poor OOC schedule and 7 home games make me suspicious.

Other Teams Considered:

Missouri – Best win is Northwestern. Over-rated!

West Virginia – Lost early in the season on the road in OT to 7-loss Colorado.  Also lost to E. Carolina, Cincy, and Pitt.  Would have ranked them if E. Carolina would have beaten Kentucky.

BYU – Best win is over 8-loss UCLA.  Lost to Zona by 10.

Ball St – Best win is Northwestern in Week 1.  Lost to 5-loss Buffalo.  Plays Tulsa at 5 pm tonight.  Even if they win by 50 I’m not ranking them.