2011 SportsRatings Top 25 - Final Rankings - Alabama #1, LSU #2

The SportsRatings Weekly Top 25 is a subjective ranking of the top 25 college football teams in the style of the AP or USA/Coaches poll. Our rankings properly reflect head-to-head results and give additional consideration to teams who have victories over other top 25 teams.

The SEC claims not just the top spot, but the top two spots in our final rankings, a feat it almost accomplished in 2007 when we put LSU #1 and Georgia #3.

Though LSU's résumé is better in terms of just wins and losses—they split head-to-head, and LSU has five top 25 wins to Alabama's three—we don't rank like a BCS computer for our subjective Top 25. Like anyone else, we look at where the games we played (a split, in this case), when the games we played (advantage, Alabama), and most importantly, the final scores (BIG advantage, Alabama).

In other words, a 21-0 shutout trumps a 9-6 overtime game. Alabama is the 2012 SportsRatings National Champion. It's their 2nd title in three years, as it will be with the AP and everyone else come tomorrow.

WIth LSU #2, the SEC caps an incredible five-year run with four champions (we gave it to Utah in 2008) and with Arkansas moving up to #5 on our list, has a conference finish reminiscent of 1971 when Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Colorado finished #1, #2, and #3 in the AP. The Razorbacks, who beat Kansas State 29-16 in the Cotton Bowl, trail #3 Oklahoma State—who had four top 25 wins to offset an overtime loss to Iowa State—and #4 Boise State, who lost only by missing a field goal for the 2nd straight season.

A trio of Pac-12 teams follow: #6 Oregon, who beat #7 Stanford, who beat #8 USC. The Trojans in turn beat the Ducks, but Oregon deserves to be on top for their big win over the Cardinal, and USC at the bottom due to their loss to ASU (who ended up 6-7). Oregon beat Wisconsin 42-35 to move up three slots, while Stanford fell to Oklahoma State 41-38 in overtime to drop two. USC was ineligible for post-season play and remained at #8.

#9 South Carolina, 30-13 winners over Nebraska, is the fourth SEC team in the top ten. 1-loss Houston also had a big win over a Big Ten team—30-13 over Penn State—and makes the jump into the top ten.

SportsRatings Top 25 - Final Rankings (all games of 2011 season)
lw	#	Team	Rec	Losses/important wins
2	1	Alabama	12-1	L LSU 9-6ot  w@LSU 21-0, Ark 38-14, @PennSt 27-11
1	2	Louisiana State	13-1	L Alabama 21-0    w@Ala 9-6ot, Ark 41-17, Ore 40-27, @WVA 47-21, @GA 42-10
3	3	Oklahoma State	12-1	L@IowaSt 37-31ot  w=Stanford 41-38ot, OK 44-10, KState 52-45, Baylor 59-24
4	4	Boise State	12-1	L TCU 36-35  w@Georgia 35-21
6	5	Arkansas	11-2	L@LSU 41-17, @Alabama 38-14  wSCarolina 44-28, =KansasSt 29-16
9	6	Oregon	12-2	L USC 38-35, @LSU 40-27  w@Stanford 53-30, =Wisconsin 45-38
5	7	Stanford	11-2	L Oregon 53-30, =OKst 41-38ot  w@USC 54-46ot
8	8	Southern Cal	10-2	L@ArizSt 43-22, Stan 54-46ot  w@Oregon 38-35
10	9	South Carolina	11-2	L Auburn 16-13, @Ark 44-28  w@Georgia 45-42, Clemson 34-13, =Neb 30-13
14	10	Houston	13-1	L SMiss 49-28  wPennSt 30-14
11	11	Michigan	11-2	L@Iowa 24-16, @MichSt 28-14  wNebraska 45-17, =VTech 23-20ot
12	12	TCU	11-2	L SMU 40-33ot, @Baylor 50-48  w@BoiseSt 36-35
7	13	Wisconsin	11-3	L@OhioSt 33-29, @MSU 37-31, =Ore 45-38  wNeb 48-17, PennSt 45-7, =MSU 42-39, =NIU 49-7
17	14	Michigan St	11-3	L@NotreDame 31-13, @Neb 24-3, =Wisc 42-39  wWisc 37-31, Mich 28-14, =GA 33-30ot
15	15	Baylor	10-3	L@TexAM 55-28, @Kst 36-35, @OKst 59-24  wOklahoma 45-38, TCU 50-48
21	16	Oklahoma	10-3	L TxTech 41-38, @OKst 44-10, @Baylor 45-38  w@KansasSt 58-17
13	17	Kansas State	10-3	L Oklahoma 58-17, @OKst 52-45, =Ark 29-16  wBaylor 36-35
20	18	Southern Miss	12-2	L@UAB 34-31, @Marshall 26-20  w@Houston 49-28
25	19	West Virginia	10-3	L@Syracuse 49-23, Louisville 38-35, LSU 47-21  w=Clemson 70-33
16	20	Nebraska	9-4	L Nwest 28-25, @Wisc 48-17, @Mich 45-17, =SCar 30-13  wMichSt 24-3, @PennSt 17-14
18	21	Clemson	10-4	L@NCst 37-13, @GTech 31-17, @SCar 34-13, =WVA 70-33  w@VirgTech 23-3, =VirgTech 38-10
19	22	Virginia Tech	11-3	L Clem 23-3, =Clem 38-10, =Mich 23-20ot
22	23	Georgia	10-4	L SCar 45-42, BoiseSt 35-21, LSU 42-10, =MSU 33-30ot
23	24	Penn State	9-4	L@Wisc 45-7, Nebraska 17-14, Alabama 27-11, @Houston 30-14
--	25	N. Illinois	11-3	L@Kansas 45-42, @CMich 48-41, =Wisc 49-7
		out:
24	--	Arkansas State	10-3	L@Illinois 33-15, =NoIllinois 38-20, @VirgTech 26-7

 

Michigan remained #11 after edging Virginia Tech in overtime, 23-20, and TCU stayed at #12; the Horned Frogs were a few points from being undefeated and the only team to beat Boise State, but their bowl win over Louisiana Tech doesn't count for much.

Wisconsin and Michigan State, like LSU and Alabama, each beat the other once and thus are ranked side-by-side, with the Badgers given the edge for their résumé. They lost to Oregon and dropped six places, but hold three lopsided wins over top 25 teams in addition to a narrow win over the Spartans. Michigan State edged Georgia in triple overtime and rose three positions .

A trio of Big Twelve teams are intertwined from #15 to #17. Baylor beat Oklahoma, who had throttled Kansas State, who had edge Baylor by a point. Baylor's two top 25 wins top both the other teams, and the Sooners' 58-17 win puts them ahead of Kansas State, who lost to Arkansas in their bowl. Baylor and Oklahoma were paired with unranked opponents for their bowls, and both won, Baylor in a crazy 67-56 shootout over Washington.

Southern Miss rode their win over Houston to a #18 ranking, but two losses to unranked teams (one of them with a very losing record) hurts their cause. West Virginia had the biggest win of the bowl season, a 70-33 crushing of Clemson, and jumps the most, from #25 to #19.

Every team from #20 to #24 lost their bowl game but remained in the rankings because they were still had the best résumés out there:

• #20 Nebraska fell from #16 after losing to South Carolina; the Cornhuskers have 4 losses but wins over Michigan State and Penn State
• #21 Clemson was humiliated by West Virginia, but since they beat Virginia Tech twice we rank the 9-4 Tigers ahead of the 11-3 Hokies
• #22 Virginia Tech lost to Michigan in overtime and fell 3 spots
• #23 Georgia fell one spot after losing in triple overtime to Michigan State. All four of their losses are to top 25 teams
• #24 Penn State fell one spot after losing to Houston; all four of their losses, like Georgia, are to top 25 teams

That leaves one spot, and we gave it to Northern Illinois for knocking off former #24 Arkansas State. Though the Huskies have two very bad losses, they beat 10-3 Arkansas State, and beat two of the six other 4-loss teams that won their bowl games (Toledo and Ohio).

Other candidates were 10-3 BYU and 10-3 Cincinnati—neither of whom beat anyone good—and 8-5 Auburn, who lost 5 times to top 25 teams and also beat South Carolina. All five of their losses were by fairly big magnitudes, and they fell to #21 Clemson and #23 Georgia. We opted for a 3-loss team that knocked a current top 25 member out decisively.