Mystery solved. It was Brian Kelly who voted Cincinnati No. 1 in the coaches' poll.

Kelly told reporters Sunday during a pep rally that he picked his own team first on his Top 25 ballot. On Saturday, when asked to make the Bearcats' case, Kelly said Cincinnati did not deserve to be ranked ahead of Texas if the Longhorns won. But he had a change of heart.

"Hey, we’re 12-0; show me why we can’t be number one,” Kelly said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “We won all our games. After watching Nebraska-Texas last night, I felt we’re as good as anybody.”

Of course, Kelly didn't say why he thought his team was better than Alabama. But it's his ballot, I suppose, and he can do what he wants.

Cincinnati won't get the chance to play for the national title, but had Texas lost instead of hitting that last-second field goal, the Bearcats would have gone to Pasadena to face Alabama. That's because Cincinnati moved ahead of TCU in the final BCS standings, finishing at No. 3.

“We were within one second of playing for a national championship,” Kelly told the Enquirer. “It was very difficult. It was a tough one at the end.”