Dec 1, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Dec 1, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver DeAndrew White (2) holds the SEC sign after winning the 2012 SEC Championship game against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Georgia Dome. Alabama won 32-28. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports
College football is over until bowl season starts, so we’ve got our second to last top 25 poll of the season for everyone.
25. Louisville The Big East champs have to be in the top 25 right?
24. Michigan But the Big 10 champs don’t have to be.
23. Texas The Longhorns will leave the regular season with a bitter taste in their mouths. They got crushed by their two toughest opponents, Oklahoma and Kansas State and finished the year on a two game losing streak.
22. UCLA They had two chances to knock off Stanford, and they couldn’t do it. They had an unexpectedly solid year, though.
21. Northern Illinois Sorry, one win over Kent State isn’t getting you into a BCS game.
20. Penn State Bill O’Brien for coach of the year.
19. San Jose State Why not? They move up because of teams that lost in front of them. Their only losses are to Stanford by three and Utah State. They beat BYU and Louisiana Tech to end the year.
18. Utah State The Wac Champions only losses were by three to BYU and two to the Big 10 champs, Wisconsin.
17. Oregon State The Beavers took out their anger over losing the Civil War by destroying some DII school by a bunch of points.
16. Cincinnati I don’t know if they’re the best team in the Big East, or the 16th best in the country, but I have to go on my previous rankings. Last week I had them behind UCLA, Kent State, and Texas. All three of those teams lost, so the ‘Nnati moves up.
15. Clemson It pains me to have them this high, but, you know, whatever. Four in a row.
14. Vanderbilt Yes, Vandy. I had them 15th last week, so logically they’d jump up a spot with a little fluctuation in front of them.
13. Florida State The ‘Noles almost lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship game, which had about five fans on hand to watch the contest. The only people happier than those in Tallahassee today are the Orange Bowl organizers. A potential GT, Northern Illinois game had to have those guys freaking out.
12. Oklahoma The Sooners had title dreams when the season kicked off. Now they’ll be lucky to be selected to a BCS game.
11. Kansas State The Wildcats knocked off Texas, and despite having their title hopes dashed, they’re BCS-bound.
10. Oregon Why do I have this team 10th in my top 25? Preseason, they had the 57th toughest schedule in the nation. At the end of the year, that number has certainly dropped with Southern Cal’s fall from glory. They pretty much blew out everyone they beat, but just two of their opponents remain in the top 25 and against those two, the Ducks have just one win.
9. Stanford The Cardinal did what it had to do knocking off UCLA for a second straight week. They’ll destroy… or, uh… play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
8. Texas A&M Johnny Manziel and the Aggies took everyone by storm this year, especially after their upset of Alabama on the road. They’ll be tough team for whoever they face in the bowl game, and whoever they play next year.
7. Georgia The Bulldogs lost a close one to the Crimson Tide, but they’re still a top ten team (despite having one win over a team worth mentioning and playing one of the easiest schedules of any SEC team this, and last, year).
6. South Carolina I might be the only one of FanSided’s college editors to have this team in the top 10, but they deserve it. Their only losses were to top 10 teams on the road, they destroyed the SEC East champions (who are also in the top 25), and made Clemson’s offense crap its pants on the road.
5. LSU The Tigers, fair or not, don’t have a shot at a BCS bowl game, and they probably won’t even play in the Cotton or Capital One Bowls. Those bids will most likely go to Texas A&M and Georgia.
4. Florida The Gators finished the season with one loss, and, despite their loss to Georgia, they’ll now almost assuredly play in the Sugar Bowl.
3. Ohio State Dear God. That Big 10 was a mess this year. The Buckeyes will have their shot to win the conference next year, but for now all they can do is hope the AP gives them a bogus title.
2. Alabama The Crimson Tide were helped by horrible clock management at the end of the SEC championship. Still, they won the right to stomp.. or… uh… play Notre Dame in the BCS Title game.
1. Notre Dame We now know who they’ll have to pull the upset over in order to bring a title home to Touchdown Jesus. What we don’t know is if they can pull that upset off.