My Top 25

Here's the thing: If you were to come to me tomorrow and say, "Joel, you must decide, arbitrarily, which two teams will play for the National Championship," I would say, "Florida State and Alabama." Honestly, right now I think that Florida State is heads and shoulders above everyone else, and that they have an offense as good as Oregon's and a defense better than Alabama's.

On the other hand:

STANFORD	W vs 3 Oregon	W vs 12 UCLA	W vs 21 Arizona State	W vs 22 Washington	W @ 33 Oregon State	L @ 64 Utah
ALABAMA	W vs 25 LSU	W @ 31 Virginia Tech	W @ 34 Texas A&M	W vs 37 Mississippi	W vs 54 Tennessee	W vs 82 Colorado State	W vs 99 Arkansas	W @ 102 Kentucky	W vs 124 Georgia State

Stanford has four wins better than Alabama's best win.  Is this enough to offset a bad loss at Utah, the 64th best team in the country?  I don't know.  But I bet that these will be things that the selection committee will consider in the years to come.  (And how much credence should we give to the fact that Stanford beat San Jose State by 21 points, and San Jose State beat Colorado State by 7 points, and Alabama beat Colorado State by 25 points?  None? Some? Does this mean that we should favor Stanford by 4 over Alabama?  Or does it mean absolutely nothing at all?)

1) Florida State (9-0, 7-0, +22)

2) Stanford (8-1, 6-1, +21)

3) Oregon (8-1, 5-1, +15)
4) Alabama (9-0, 6-0, +15)
5) Ohio State (9-0, 5-0, +12)

6) Baylor (8-0, 5-0, +11)

7) Clemson (8-1, 6-1, +10)
8) Northern Illinois (9-0, 5-0, +9)
9) Fresno State (9-0, 6-0, +9)

10) Missouri (9-1, 5-1, +8)

11) Auburn (9-1, 5-1, +8)
12) UCLA (7-2, 4-2, +7)

13) UCF (7-1, 4-0, +7)
14) Michigan State (8-1, 5-0, +5)

15) Miami (FL) (7-2, 3-2, +4)

16) South Carolina (7-2, 5-2, +4)

17) Oklahoma (7-2, 4-2, +3)
18) Louisville (8-1, 4-1, +3)
19) Ball State (9-1, 6-0, +3)

20) Oklahoma State (8-1, 5-1, +3)

21) Arizona State (7-2, 5-1, +3)
22) Washington (6-3, 3-3, +3)
23) Georgia (6-3, 4-2, +2)
24) Minnesota (8-2, 4-2, +1)

25) LSU (7-3, 3-3, 0)

Wisconsin (7-2, 4-1, 0)

Buffalo (7-2, 5-0, -1)

Houston (7-2, 4-1, -2)

Duke (7-2, 3-2, -2)
Texas (6-2, 5-0, -2)
Virginia Tech (7-3, 4-2, -2)
Arizona (6-3, 3-3, -3)
Oregon State (6-3, 4-2, -3)
Texas A&M (7-2, 3-2, -3)

Nebraska (7-2, 4-1, -4)

 Notre Dame (7-3, 0-0, -5)
Mississippi (6-3, 3-3, -5)
East Carolina (7-2, 5-1, -5)
Cincinnati (7-2, 4-1, -5)

Louisiana-Lafayette (7-2, 4-0, -5)

Michigan (6-3, 2-3, -7)

Brigham Young (6-3, 0-0, -7)

Rice (6-3, 4-1, -7)

Rutgers (5-3, 2-2, -8)

Georgia Tech (6-3, 5-2, -8)
Toledo (6-3, 4-1, -8)

USC (7-3, 4-2, -8)
Penn State (5-4, 2-3, -9)

Iowa (6-4, 3-3, -9)

North Texas (7-3, 5-1, -9)
Texas Tech (8-3, 5-3, -10)

Texas State (5-3, 1-2, -10)
Bowling Green (6-3, 4-1, -10)
Tennessee (4-6, 1-5, -11)
Boise State (6-3, 4-1, -11)
Old Dominion (7-3, 0-0, -11)
Ohio (6-3, 3-2, -12)

Middle Tennessee (6-3, 4-1, -12)
San Diego State (5-4, 4-1, -12)

Marshall (5-3, 3-1, -13)
Syracuse (5-4, 3-2, -13)
Maryland (5-4, 1-4, -14)

Vanderbilt (5-4, 2-4, -14)
Utah (4-5, 1-5, -15)
Washington State (4-5, 2-4, -15)
Boston College (5-4, 2-3, -15)

North Carolina (4-5, 3-3, -16)

Kansas State (5-4, 3-3, -17)
San Jose State (5-4, 4-2, -18)
Tulane (6-4, 4-2, -18)
Wake Forest (4-6, 2-5, -18)

Pittsburgh (5-4, 2-3, -18)
Western Kentucky (6-4, 2-3, -18)
Arkansas State (5-4, 3-1, -18)
Utah State (6-4, 5-1, -18)
Florida  (4-5, 3-4, -19)
Mississippi State (4-5, 1-4, -19) 

TCU (4-5, 1-5, -19)
Navy (5-4, 0-0, -19)

Indiana (4-5, 2-3, -20)

South Alabama (3-4, 1-2, -21)

Colorado State (5-5, 3-2, -21)
West Virginia (4-6, 2-5, -22)
Louisiana-Monroe (5-5, 3-2, -22)
Wyoming (4-5, 2-3, -22)
Northwestern (4-5, 0-5, -22)
UTSA (5-5, 4-2, -22)
North Carolina State (3-6, 0-5, -23)
UNLV (5-5, 3-3, -24)
Troy (5-5, 3-3, -25)
Illinois (3-6, 0-5, -26)
Colorado (3-6, 0-6, -26)

Louisiana Tech (4-5, 3-2, -26)
SMU (3-5, 2-2, -27)
South Florida (2-6, 2-2, -27)
Central Michigan (3-6, 2-3, -28)

Akron (3-7, 2-4, -30)
Florida Atlantic (3-6, 2-4, -30)
Arkansas (3-7, 0-6, -31)

Memphis (2-6, 0-4, -32)

Kansas (2-7, 0-6, -32)

Kentucky (2-7, 0-5,  -32)

New Mexico (3-6, 1-4, -33)

Army (3-7, 0-0, -34)

Nevada (3-7, 2-5, -34)

Tulsa  (2-7, 1-4, -37)

UAB (2-7, 1-4, -37)

Virginia (1-8, 0-6, -38)

Connecticut (0-8, 0-4, -39)

Temple (1-8, 0-5, -39)

Kent State (2-8, 1-5, -41)

Iowa State (1-8, 0-6, -42)

California (1-9, 0-7, -42)

Purdue (1-8, 0-5, -42)

Massachusetts (1-8, 1-4, -43)

Western Michigan (1-8, 1-4, -45)
Air Force (2-8, 0-6, -46)

Florida International (1-8, 1-4, -46) 

UTEP (1-8, 0-5, -47)

New Mexico State (1-9, 0-0, -47)

Southern Miss (0-8, 0-4, -47)

Eastern Michigan (2-9, 1-6, -48)
Georgia State (0-9, 0-4, -49)
Idaho (1-9, 0-0, -51)
Hawaii (0-9, 0-6, -53)
Miami (OH) (0-9, 0-5, -54)