NCAA Football Power Rankings, Week 13

If one can define such a thing in the NCAA, the regular season is mostly over. We've still got conference championships and Army-Navy, but most teams know where they stand. That said, the Big 10 title game will be quite important, featuring teams #3 and #4 in my rankings. Depending on what the committee says this week, that game could become a de facto play-in game for the 3rd or 4th playoff position. I'd say Alabama should be safely in the playoff, moving up to #2 in my rankings, ahead of even undefeated Iowa.

I don't talk much about the FCS (formerly Division 1-AA), but I do include their games in my rankings, since most FBS teams have at least one game against an FCS opponent. In case you didn't know, they have a real playoff, and have for years. I saw there were 11 games this week, which struck me as too few for the last week of the regular season, but a peculiar number for the first week of playoffs. I did some digging, and learned that not every conference participates in the FCS playoffs, including the SWAC. Perhaps this wasn't news to you, but it was to me.

Missouri lost their last game and finished 5-7, but there are not enough 6-win teams to fill out all the bowls this year. Everyone around here has their fingers crossed one of those lowest-tier bowls will give Gary Pinkel one final game. Missouri certainly didn't earn it, but I'll take it if it happens.

What if LSU had won their canceled week 1 game against McNeese State?
LSU would move from #28 to #16 with that win, still nowhere near the playoff. But more interestingly, I would have Alabama ranked #1 ahead of Clemson. McNeese State is 10-0 and in the final 8 of the FCS playoffs, so their strength, and therefore LSU's and Alabama's, could continue to increase.

1	Clemson	12-0
2	Alabama	11-1
3	Iowa	12-0
4	Michigan State	11-1
5	Oklahoma	11-1
6	Ohio State	11-1
7	North Carolina	11-1
8	Stanford	10-2
9	Northwestern	10-2
10	Houston	11-1
11	Notre Dame	10-2
12	Florida State	10-2
13	Florida	10-2
14	Oklahoma State	10-2
15	TCU	10-2
16	Ole Miss	9-3
17	Oregon	9-3
18	Navy	9-2
19	Temple	10-2
20	Western Kentucky	10-2
21	Utah	9-3
22	Michigan	9-3
23	Baylor	9-2
24	Memphis	9-3
25	Georgia	9-3
26	BYU	9-3
27	USC	8-4
28	LSU	8-3
29	Toledo	9-2
30	Bowling Green	9-3
31	Mississippi State	8-4
32	Wisconsin	9-3
33	Miami (FL)	8-4
34	Pittsburgh	8-4
35	Texas A&M	8-4
36	Tennessee	8-4
37	San Diego State	9-3
38	UCLA	8-4
39	Washington State	8-4
40	Appalachian State	9-2
41	Arkansas	7-5
42	Marshall	9-3
43	California	7-5
44	Southern Mississippi	9-3
45	Georgia Southern	8-3
46	South Florida	8-4
47	Ohio	8-4
48	Louisiana Tech	8-4
49	Penn State	7-5
50	West Virginia	7-4
51	Arkansas State	8-3
52	Air Force	8-4
53	Texas Tech	7-5
54	Boise State	8-4
55	Northern Illinois	8-4
56	Louisville	7-5
57	Cincinnati	7-5
58	Western Michigan	7-5
59	Auburn	6-6
60	NC State	7-5
61	Arizona State	6-6
62	Central Michigan	7-5
63	Duke	7-5
64	Washington	6-6
65	Arizona	6-6
66	Utah State	6-6
67	Middle Tennessee	7-5
68	Akron	7-5
69	New Mexico	7-5
70	Indiana	6-6
71	Colorado State	7-5
72	Virginia Tech	6-6
73	Connecticut	6-6
74	Minnesota	5-7
75	Nebraska	5-7
76	Illinois	5-7
77	Tulsa	6-6
78	Missouri	5-7
79	East Carolina	5-7
80	Kansas State	5-6
81	Nevada	6-6
82	Kentucky	5-7
83	Virginia	4-8
84	South Alabama	5-6
85	San Jose State	5-7
86	Texas	4-7
87	Vanderbilt	4-8
88	Buffalo	5-7
89	Georgia State	5-6
90	Florida Intl	5-7
91	Old Dominion	5-7
92	UTEP	5-7
93	Syracuse	4-8
94	Maryland	3-9
95	Rutgers	4-8
96	Colorado	4-9
97	Georgia Tech	3-9
98	Rice	5-7
99	Iowa State	3-9
100	South Carolina	3-9
101	Idaho	4-8
102	Louisiana Lafayette	4-7
103	Wake Forest	3-9
104	Troy	3-8
105	Ball State	3-9
106	Boston College	3-9
107	Fresno State	3-9
108	New Mexico State	3-8
109	Texas State	3-8
110	Purdue	2-10
111	Oregon State	2-10
112	Florida Atlantic	3-9
113	Kent State	3-9
114	SMU	2-10
115	Tulane	3-9
116	Miami (OH)	3-9
117	UNLV	3-9
118	Texas San Antonio	3-9
119	Massachusetts	3-9
120	Hawaii	3-10
121	Wyoming	2-10
122	Army	2-9
123	Charlotte	2-10
124	North Texas	1-11
125	Kansas	0-12
126	Louisiana Monroe	1-11
127	Eastern Michigan	1-11
128	UCF	0-12

2015 History and #1s

Week 1 Everybody who was 1-0
Week 2 Texas A&M
Week 3 Ohio State
Week 4 Northwestern
Week 5 Northwestern
Week 6 Florida
Week 7 Iowa
Week 8 Michigan State
Week 9 Clemson
Week 10 Clemson
Week 11 Clemson
Week 12 Clemson