Victory was a foregone conclusion sometime around halftime, or earlier, depending on your perspective. Such was the nature of Alabama's dominance against Notre Dame in the Discover BCS National Championship.
The Crimson Tide's 42-14 win over the Fighting Irish, their third BCS title in four years, left no doubt in voters' minds as to which team deserved the No. 1 spot to end the 2012 season. Ohio State, despite finishing 12-0, checked in at No. 3 behind Oregon, which beat Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Only one point separated No. 4 Texas A&M, the only team to beat Alabama this season, and No. 5 Georgia. Louisville climbed eight spots to finish at No. 13 following the Cardinals' win over Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
Texas, Vanderbilt and Baylor were new entries in the final Power Rankings for the 2012 season.
Overall | Voters 1-5 | Voters 6-10 | Voters 11-15 | Voters 16-20| College Football Power Rankings - Week 15 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | PTS | COMMENT | |
| 1 | 1 Last Week: 2 | 500 | Alabama beat Notre Dame to win its third BCS title in four years. The 2012 Tide senior class finishes with a 49-5 record, and Nick Saban is the fourth coach in FBS history with four national titles, joining Bear Bryant, Frank Leahy and John McKay. | ||
| 2 | 3 Last Week: 5 | 468 | De'Anthony Thomas returned the opening kickoff for a TD and Oregon never looked back in its Fiesta Bowl win over Kansas State. Best of all for the Ducks, Chip Kelly will return to Eugene after another flirtation with the NFL. So too will Marcus Mariota. | ||
| 3 | -- Last Week: 3 | 437 | The expectations have been ratcheted up in Columbus heading into next season. Ohio State doesn't have any hardware to show for its 12-0 campaign, but the Buckeyes expect to be a player in the BCS title race in 2013. | ||
| 4 | 6 Last Week: 10 | 430 | Texas A&M was a revelation in its first season in the SEC, thanks to the extraordinary achievements of Heisman Trophy-winning QB Johnny Manziel, who became the fourth FBS player with 20 passing and 20 rushing TDs in a season. | ||
| 5 | 1 Last Week: 6 | 429 | If the ball had bounced a bit differently on Georgia's final drive in the SEC title game against Alabama, the Bulldogs might have represented the SEC in Miami. Several defensive standouts depart, but QB Aaron Murray will be back in 2013. | ||
| 6 | 5 Last Week: 1 | 416 | A season of remarkable achievement for Notre Dame ended on a sour note in Miami. Will the Fighting Irish be able to build on the gains made in 2012, or will they carry lingering effects of their Bama beatdown into 2013? | ||
| 7 | 1 Last Week: 8 | 393 | The glass half-empty Stanford fans will remember a controversial goal-line stop in South Bend. The glass half-full variety will point to a Pac-12 championship and the Cardinal's first Rose Bowl victory in 40 years. | ||
| 8 | 3 Last Week: 11 | 352 | South Carolina scored with 11 seconds remaining to beat Michigan in the Outback Bowl, matching last season's school record with its 11th win. The Gamecocks return the presumptive No. 1 pick in the 2014 NFL draft in defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. | ||
| 9 | 5 Last Week: 4 | 323 | Florida was MIA -- literally and figuratively -- in its Sugar Bowl loss to Louisville. Gators fans stayed away from New Orleans and the team looked listless in a 33-23 loss. Still, Florida made great gains in Will Muschamp's second season. | ||
| 10 | 3 Last Week: 13 | 320 | EJ Manuel joined WVU's Pat White as the only QBs to go 4-0 in bowl games during their careers after leading Florida State to a win over Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl. The Seminoles' offense surpassed the 2000 squad for most yards in a season. | ||
| 11 | 3 Last Week: 14 | 308 | Clemson's Chick-fil-A Bowl win over LSU improved the Tigers to 3-2 against SEC teams over the past two seasons, a bright spot for the ACC. The future figures to be even brighter, as QB Tajh Boyd will return to lead the Tigers' high-powered offense. | ||
| 12 | 5 Last Week: 7 | 274 | Collin Klein was held to a season-low 30 rushing yards and Kansas State's offense never got into a rhythm in its Fiesta Bowl loss to Oregon. The Wildcats still won 11 games and ascended to No. 1 in the BCS standings for the first time in their history. | ||
| 13 | 8 Last Week: 21 | 267 | Shortly after spurning advances from an SEC school and committing his future to Louisville, Charlie Strong led the Cardinals to their second BCS bowl win. Several starters, including QB Teddy Bridgewater, return to the lineup in 2013. | ||
| 14 | 5 Last Week: 9 | 255 | It didn't take long after LSU's Chick-fil-A bowl loss to Clemson -- ending a 19-game winning streak versus the ACC -- for the mass exodus from Baton Rouge to begin. The Tigers saw nearly their entire starting lineup on defense depart for the NFL draft. | ||
| 15 | 3 Last Week: 12 | 192 | Even with more time to prepare, Oklahoma had no better luck against Johnny Manziel than most teams. Texas A&M's freshman QB racked up a Cotton Bowl-record 516 yards in a 41-13 win. At least OU can take comfort in this: Manziel is no longer in the Big 12. | ||
| 16 | 3 Last Week: 19 | 189 | The longest bowl drought in the nation ended with Northwestern's win over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, its first postseason win since 1949. The Wildcats finished with 10 wins for just the second time in school history. | ||
| 17 | 1 Last Week: 18 | 170 | Utah State finished 2012 with a win over Toledo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and set a school record with its 11th win. The Aggies scored at least 38 points in each of their final seven games. | ||
| 18 | 8 Last Week: NR | 123 | Texas' offense came to life in the second half and the Longhorns' much-maligned defense, led by Alex Okafor (4.5 sacks), made stops they needed to in a 31-27 win over Oregon State in the Alamo Bowl. | ||
| 19 | 3 Last Week: 22 | 121 | Boise State had to work harder for its Las Vegas Bowl victory this season than in past years, but the Broncos' 28-26 win over Washington gave them their fifth straight 11-win season. | ||
| 20 | 5 Last Week: 15 | 106 | Oregon State fell out of the Pac-12 title race and contention for a BCS bowl after losses to Stanford and Oregon, but the Beavers' nine wins in 2012 represent a healthy recovery after combining for eight the previous two seasons. | ||
| 21 | 4 Last Week: 25 | 75 | From 1-12 two seasons ago to 11-2 in 2012, San Jose State capped off its remarkable turnaround with a 29-20 win over Bowling Green in the Military Bowl. QB David Fales finished third in the country in passing efficiency. | ||
| 22 | 4 Last Week: NR | 72 | Things are looking up at Vanderbilt under James Franklin. The Commodores' Music City Bowl win over NC State gave them their first nine-win season since 1915. | ||
| 23 | 6 Last Week: 17 | 64 | Northern Illinois' wild ride to a BCS bowl game came crashing into a wall in the form of Florida State's defense. QB Jordan Lynch completed 15 of 41 passes and rushed for a season-low 44 yards in a 31-10 loss. | ||
| 24 | 4 Last Week: 20 | 56 | Michigan's loss to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl left the Wolverines at 0-4 against ranked opponents in 2012 (Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State were the other losses), and they were outscored by an average of 11 points per game. | ||
| 25 | 1 Last Week: NR | 46 | Baylor's last two wins over Pac-12 teams in the Holiday Bowl, most recently against UCLA, include the following stat line: 116 points scored, 788 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. | ||
| Others receiving votes: Penn State (42), Cincinnati (22), Nebraska (18), Wisconsin (12), Tulsa (11), Oklahoma State (8), Syracuse (1) | |||||
 
 | |||||
ESPN Conversations
comments
