clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Final Regular Season Polls: Sooners Leap

It looks like the voters are totally on board with an Oklahoma-Alabama Sugar Bowl, because they sure filled out their ballots to accomodate it.

Sooners done did us a solid.
Sooners done did us a solid.
Brett Deering

First the AP, which doesn't actually matter. The Sooners jumped seven places to slide in a mere two points behind Oregon but still ahead of Clemson. (Yes, I know I said yesterday I didn't think they'd jump that far. I was wrong.) Were the AP the poll that mattered as far as rankings go, Oklahoma going to the Sugar wouldn't even be controversial, and even Clemson's selection to to the Orange over Oregon would only be the slightest of indignities.

Rank Team Record Votes Previous
1 Florida State (56) 13-0 1,496 1
2 Auburn (4) 12-1 1,444 3
3 Alabama 11-1 1,376 4
4 Michigan State 12-1 1,278 10
5 Stanford 11-2 1,217 7
6 Baylor 11-1 1,185 9
7 Ohio State 12-1 1,130 2
8 South Carolina 10-2 1,099 8
9 Missouri 11-2 1,066 5
10 Oregon 10-2 880 12
11 Oklahoma 10-2 878 18
12 Clemson 10-2 848 13
13 Oklahoma State 10-2 797 6
14 LSU 9-3 726 14
15 UCF 11-1 629 15
16 Arizona State 10-3 614 11
17 UCLA 9-3 544 17
18 Louisville 11-1 525 19
19 Wisconsin 9-3 383 21
20 Texas A&M 8-4 282 22
21 Fresno State 11-1 227 24
22 Duke 10-3 201 20
23 Georgia 8-4 196 25
24 Northern Illinois 12-1 144 16
25 Notre Dame 8-4 76 NR
Dropped from Rankings: Texas (23)
Others Receiving Votes: USC 74, Iowa 48, Miami (FL) 47, Vanderbilt 25, Texas 22, Cincinnati 11, Bowling Green 10, Washington 9, Rice 7, North Dakota State 4, Minnesota 2

Meanwhile, in the coaches' poll (which does matter), the Sooners moved up five spots and surpassed both Oregon and Clemson... and Clemson is ahead of the Ducks. If the BCS standings effectively reflect the coaches' poll, and our projections of the bowl selections are correct, then once again -- for the seventh time in the eight years since the BCS title game was separated from the four anchor bowls -- there will be no eligible AQ conference team able to complain that they were passed over for a BCS bid.

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS FIRST PLACE VOTES PREVIOUS RANK CHANGE HI/LOW*
1 Florida State
Seminoles
13-0 1550 62 1 1/12
2 Auburn
Tigers
12-1 1486 0 3 1 2/NR
3 Alabama
Crimson Tide
11-1 1414 0 4 1 1/4
4 Michigan State
Spartans
12-1 1342 0 9 5 4/NR
5 Baylor
Bears
11-1 1275 0 7 2 4/NR
6 Ohio State
Buckeyes
12-1 1211 0 2 4 2/6
7 Stanford
Cardinal
11-2 1188 0 10 3 4/13
8 South Carolina
Gamecocks
10-2 1108 0 7 1 6/20
9 Missouri
Tigers
11-2 1088 0 5 4 5/NR
10 Oklahoma
Sooners
10-2 913 0 15 5 8/18
11 Clemson
Tigers
10-2 899 0 11 4/11
12 Oregon
Ducks
10-2 887 0 12 2/12
13 Oklahoma State
Cowboys
10-2 845 0 6 7 6/20
14 LSU
Tigers
9-3 719 0 14 6/19
15 Central Florida
Knights
11-1 658 0 17 2 15/NR
16 Louisville
Cardinals
11-1 611 0 16 6/17
17 Arizona State
Sun Devils
10-3 602 0 13 4 13/NR
18 UCLA
Bruins
9-3 520 0 19 1 10/22
19 Wisconsin
Badgers
9-3 408 0 21 2 14/NR
20 Fresno State
Bulldogs
11-1 344 0 22 2 13/NR
21 Duke
Blue Devils
10-3 247 0 20 1 20/NR
21 Texas A&M
Aggies
8-4 247 0 25 4 6/25
23 Northern Illinois
Huskies
12-1 149 0 18 5 18/NR
24 Georgia
Bulldogs
8-4 135 0 NR 5/NR
25 Miami
Hurricanes
9-3 73 0 NR 6/NR
Dropped from Rankings: Cincinnati (23), Texas (24)
Others Receiving Votes: Cincinnati 47, Vanderbilt 40, USC 33, Iowa 30, Texas 27, Rice 23, Bowling Green 12, Notre Dame 8, Minnesota 6, Ball State 2, Nebraska 1, Virginia Tech 1, Washington 1

Upshot? The path is clear to Phoenix, as it's looking more and more like the Big 12 will not only gain two slots in the BCS but will, by rankings, be utterly deserving.