The Andrew Extravaganza

Time for my final football poll, and a few final thoughts as well.

My final Top 25 poll:

Final Rank	Initial Rank	Highest Rank	Team	Record	Last Game	Thoughts
1	11	1		13-1	41-14 Win over Ohio State in BCS Championship	Escaped the SEC with only one loss, 17-27 at Auburn. The offense looked sharper than it had all year, but the defense really dominated a potent Ohio State offense.
2	6	2		11-2	41-14 Win over Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl	After a bad 10-23 loss at Florida on Oct. 7, this team got its shit together and finished strong. Hammering the perennially overrated Fighting Irish was an excellent way to end the year. In a playoff scenario, LSU would be a feared opponent.
3	8	3		12-1	24-13 Win over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl	I would have liked to see this team play an elite team in its bowl to truly measure how good it is. Instead we saw it win against a pretty good Wake Forest team in a snoozer. Petrino's exit to the NFL means this team will not be a title contender next year.
4	NR	4		13-0	43-42 Overtime Win over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl	Two very ballsy calls by the coach to beat OU in OT. Another very good team that got fucked by the current bowl system.
5	2	2		11-2	32-18 Win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl	At times this year, the Trojans looked shakier than Michael J. Fox, but they managed to do just enough to make it to the Rose Bowl, and then they laid the wood to a good Michigan team.
6	4	1		12-1	14-41 Loss to Florida in the BCS Championship	This team looked invincible all year, but a 51 day layoff between Michigan and the title game left them rusty. They looked dog shit terrible against Florida.
7	NR	7		12-1	17-14 Win over Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl	I honestly have no idea if this team belongs in the top ten. Their record suggests they do, but they played two decent teams all year, losing 13-27 at Michigan, and then beating an Arkansas team that ended up losing its last three. I've always liked Wisconsin, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
8	3	2		11-2	17-14 Win over Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl	This team won and lost ugly. Getting smoked by Arkansas is one thing, but Auburn fans have to be regretting the 15-37 home loss to Georgia, that one cost them a Sugar Bowl invite.
9	10	5		11-2	38-35 Win over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl	Great, explosive offense, but a terrible, shitty defense.
10	9	7		11-3	42-43 Overtime Loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl	If not for a horrible screw job by the refs at Oregon, the record would be 12-2. The Fiesta Bowl was essentially theirs but for a hook an ladder play and then a ballsy two point conversion.
11	15	2		11-2	18-32 Loss to USC in the Rose Bowl.	11 might be unfair. They almost beat Ohio State, and USC didn't crush them too badly, but under Carr of late, this team plays soft down the stretch, and they annoy me.
12	1	1		10-3	26-24 Win over Iowa in Alamo Bowl	In a retooling year, they could have done much more had McCoy not been injured at Kansas State. The A&M loss was ugly. Gene Chizik's defense played unispired and the secondary got torched all year, so maybe it's best he's gone for Iowa State. Iowa State? Yeah, I'd say his rep lost some luster this year.
13	NR	13		11-2	38-3 Win over Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl	What little I was able to see of the Cougars, I was impressed, even in their loss at Boston College. This was a very good team that didn't get much press.
14	NR	3		11-2	37-10 Win over Kansas State in the Texas Bowl	Good story, but the hype behind this team was oppressive. Still, the Houston Bowl was beneath them. I think they have a bright future.
15	NR	3		10-4	14-17 Loss to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl	Opened with a beatdown at the hands of USC then delivered one of their own to Auburn. Good team, but they finished badly with three consecutive losses, to LSU, Florida, and Wisconsin.
16	7	7		10-3	45-10 Win over Texas A&M in Holiday Bowl	Good year, but they were supposed to challenge USC for the PAC 10; had they not stumbled at Arizona 20-24, they would have won the conference.
17	NR	11		11-3	13-24 Loss to Louisville in the Orange Bowl	Surprise winner of the ACC. They're good, but so was the rest of the conference. This was not an elite team worthy of a BCS game. The ACC was strong top to bottom, but the top was much lower than the other power conferences this year.
18	NR	12		10-3	25-24 Win over Navy in the Meineke Bowl	I really liked BC this year and thought they'd win the ACC. They had two bad losses at the hands of NC State and Miami.
19	14	6		10-3	14-41 Loss to LSU in the Sugar Bowl	Another year, another overhyped Irish team, another bowl loss. Compare Ty Willingham's start in South Bend to Charlie Weiss'; they're very similar, and not in a good way.
20	25	20		11-2	37-7 Win over Northern Illinois in the Poinsettia Bowl	Didn't see much of them this year. They beat Texas Tech in a down year. They didn't have to play BYU, so we missed out on a potentially great game.
21	21	21		9-4	20-10 Win over Tennessee in the Outback Bowl	Tennessee is the only quality win they have this year. Honestly, I don't know why I have them this high in my poll, but 21 through 28 have very little difference between them.
22	NR	22		10-4	39-38 Win over Missouri in the Sun Bowl	Good wins over Hawaii and USC. A good, but unexciting team.
23	23	8		9-4	10-20 Loss to Penn State in the Outback Bowl	Pretty much lost to every good opponent, but didn't slip up against the stiffs. Erik Ainge has grown on me and looked much more accurate toward the end of the season.
24	NR	24		11-3	41-24 Win over Arizona State in the Hawaii Bowl	Threw the ball all over the yard en route to QB Colt Brennan setting NCAA passing records. Still, they didn't have any impressive wins and lost to every quality opponent.
25	13	10		10-3	24-31 Loss to Georgia in the Peach Bowl	This was certainly a down year for the Hokies. They had a big win against a Clemson team that was ranked 10th at the time, but Clemson imploded as is their style and finished 8-5, so that wasn't so impressive afterall. They'll be better next year.