Good review of where the colleges are...

As is often the case, ESPN is on top of the college spring practice scene, and more importantly, where teams are leaning as we look ahead to the fall. This piece by their Pac-12 man (and college go-to-guy!) Ted Miller does a great job surveying the landscape and looking at the BIG PICTURE in FBS football, as of March 2015!

Also, Heather Dinich writes a really great piece about where the current thinking is regarding out-of-conference scheduling - why the Big 12 schools are taking a risk (SMU, Lamar, and Rice? Really, Baylor?), while the Big Ten has the right idea (in my mind) with their 1910 plan - 1 major non-conference game, 9 conference games, 1 championship game, 0 FCS patsies scheduled. 

Perfect. 

No one's demanding you play a top ten school every week, big boys. Remember, there is no preseason in college football. Your first warm-up game counts! When Boise played "at" Ole Miss in August last year and lost, that game counted against them - it took a semi-perfect run of the table in October and November to get them back into New Year's Six contention. You lose that first game, you're in trouble - so if your first game is against the Little Sisters Of The Poor, Ohio State, I'll grant you that. 

Just not the other two non-cons, okay? Play real teams.

Finally, there's a nice piece (also by Heather Dinich) which discusses the College Football Playoff system's successes and failures last year with the movers and shakers, decides that the former far outweighs the latter (and that they were burned by the constant 'tinkering' of the BCS formats), and that there won't be any changes in the near future to the CFP process. Four teams. Committee, some advance polls (maybe slight adjustments as to the when and how often), and no changes. The key word in the article is patience.

Our "FINAL" college football rankings for the 2014 season!

As the college season comes down to its final game next Monday evening, it's time to present our final tiers and rankings for the 2014 football season. (The asterisk by A1 and A2, of course, mean that the winner of the CFP title game will be A1, and the other team A2. At the moment, though, we have Oregon first.) The tiers don't always fall neatly into groups of six: for example, the top four and TCU seem to be a full step ahead of the next group of schools, so we didn't force a sixth team into that "A" tier. 

Here we go...

FOLLOWING FOOTBALL - FINAL RANKINGS for 2014!
NCAA - BOWL SUBDIVISION Final Final FF rank Team Conf CfRec BOWL oppont Outcome Record Ranking A1* Oregon pac 9-1 NC/Rose OhSt/FSU (59-20) 13-1 A1* A2* Ohio St b10 9-0 NC/Sgr Ore/Ala (42-35) 13-1 A2* A3 Alabama sec 8-1 Sugar Ohio St 35-42 12-2 A3 A4 Florida St acc 9-0 Rose Oregon 20-59 13-1 A4 A5 TCU b12 8-1 Peach Ole Miss 42-3 12-1 A5 B06 Michigan St b10 7-1 Cotton Baylor 42-41 11-2 B06 B07 Baylor b12 8-1 Cotton Mich St 41-42 11-2 B07 B08 Georgia Tech acc 6-3 Orange Miss St 49-34 11-3 B08 B09 Mississippi St sec 6-2 Orange GaTech 34-49 10-3 B09 B10 Georgia sec 6-2 Dec 30 Louisv 37-14 10-3 B10 B11 UCLA pac 6-3 Jan 2 K State 40-35 10-3 B11 C12 Ole Miss sec 5-3 Peach TCU 3-42 9-4 C12 C13 Missouri sec 7-2 Jan 1 Minnes 33-17 11-3 C13 C14 Kansas St b12 7-2 Jan 2 UCLA 35-40 9-4 C14 C15 Clemson acc 6-2 Dec 29 Okla 40-6 10-3 C15 C16 Wisconsin b10 7-2 Jan 1 Auburn 34-31 11-3 C16 C17 Auburn sec 5-3 Jan 1 Wisc 31-34 8-5 C17 D18 Boise St mw 8-1 Fiesta Arizona 38-30 12-2 D18 D19 Arizona St pac 6-3 Dec 27 Duke 36-31 10-3 D19 D20 USC pac 6-3 Dec 27 Nebrska 45-42 9-4 D20 D21 Arizona pac 7-3 Fiesta Boise St 30-38 10-4 D21 D22 LSU sec 4-4 Dec 30 Notre D 28-31 8-5 D22 D23 Utah pac 5-4 Dec 20 Colo St 45-10 9-4 D23 E24 Texas A&M sec 3-5 Dec 29 WVU 45-37 8-5 E24 E25 Stanford pac 5-4 Dec 30 Maryl 45-21 8-5 E25 E26 Arkansas sec 2-6 Dec 29 Texas 31-7 7-6 E26 E27 Nebraska b10 5-3 Dec 27 USC 42-45 9-4 E27 E28 Oklahoma b12 5-4 Dec 29 Clemson 6-40 8-5 E28 E29 Louisville acc 5-3 Dec 30 Georgia 14-37 9-4 E29 E30 Marshall cusa 8-1 Dec 23 NIU 52-23 13-1 E30 E31 Notre Dame ind * Dec 30 LSU 31-28 8-5 E31 E32 Minnesota b10 5-3 Jan 1 Mizzou 17-33 8-5 E32 E33 Duke acc 5-3 Dec 27 Az St 31-36 9-4 E33 F34 Florida sec 4-4 Jan 3 ECU 28-20 7-5 F34 F35 South Carolina sec 3-5 Dec 27 MiaFL 24-21 7-6 F35 F36 Colorado St mw 6-2 Dec 20 Utah 10-45 10-3 F36 F37 Memphis aac 7-1 Dec 22 BYU 55-48 10-3 F37 G38 West Virginia b12 5-4 Dec 29 TA&M 37-45 7-6 G38 G39 Washington pac 4-5 Jan 2 OkSt 22-30 8-6 G39 G40 Cincinnati aac 6-1 Dec 27 VaTech 17-33 8-4 G40 G41 Miami-FL acc 3-5 Dec 27 SoCarol 21-24 6-7 G41 G42 Utah St mw 6-2 Dec 20 UTEP 21-6 10-4 G42 H43 North Carolina St acc 3-5 Dec 26 UCF 34-27 8-5 H43 H44 Maryland b10 4-4 Dec 30 Stanfd 21-45 7-6 H44 H45 Tennessee sec 3-5 Jan 2 Iowa 45-28 7-6 H45 H46 Northern Illinois mac 8-1 Dec 23 Marshl 23-52 11-3 H46 H47 Rutgers b10 3-5 Dec 26 UNC 40-21 8-5 H47 H48 Penn St b10 2-6 Dec 27 BC 31-30 7-6 H48 H49 Air Force mw 5-3 Dec 20 WMU 38-24 10-3 H49 I50 Texas b12 5-4 Dec 29 Arkans 7-31 6-7 I50 I51 Oklahoma St b12 4-5 Jan 2 Wash 30-22 7-6 I51 I52 Iowa b10 4-4 Jan 2 Tenn 28-45 7-6 I52 I53 Boston College acc 4-4 Dec 27 PennSt 30-31 7-6 I53 I54 Kentucky sec 2-6 5-7 I54 J55 Central Florida aac 7-1 Dec 26 NCSt 27-34 9-4 J55 J56 East Carolina aac 5-3 Jan 3 Florida 20-28 8-5 J56 J57 BYU ind * Dec 22 Memph 48-55 8-5 J57 J58 Louisiana Tech cusa 7-2 Dec 26 Illinois 35-18 9-5 J58 J59 Virginia Tech acc 3-5 Dec 27 Cincinn 33-17 7-6 J59 J60 Navy ind * Dec 23 SDSU 17-16 8-5 J60 K61 North Carolina acc 4-4 Dec 26 Rutgers 21-40 6-7 K61 K62 Georgia Southern sun 8-0 9-3 K62 K63 UL-Lafayette sun 7-1 Dec 20 Nevada 16-3 9-4 K63 K64 Western Kentucky cusa 4-4 Dec 24 CMU 49-48 8-5 K64 K65 California pac 3-6 5-7 K65 K66 Oregon St pac 2-7 5-7 K66 K67 Michigan b10 3-5 5-7 K67 Final Final FF rank Team Conf CfRec BOWL oppont Outcome Record Ranking L68 Western Michigan mac 6-2 Dec 20 AFA 24-38 8-5 L68 L69 Houston aac 5-3 Jan 2 Pitt 35-34 8-5 L69 L70 Pitt acc 4-4 Jan 2 Houston 34-35 6-7 L70 L71 Illinois b10 3-5 Dec 26 LaTech 18-35 6-7 L71 L72 Nevada mw 4-4 Dec 20 ULL 3-16 7-6 L72 L73 Toledo mac 7-1 Jan 4 Ark St 63-44 9-4 L73 M74 Texas Tech b12 2-7 4-8 M74 M75 Virginia acc 3-5 5-7 M75 M76 Rice cusa 5-3 Dec 24 Fresno 30-6 8-5 M76 M77 San Diego St mw 5-3 Dec 23 Navy 16-17 7-6 M77 M78 Northwestern b10 3-5 5-7 M78 N79 Temple aac 4-4 6-6 N79 N80 Bowling Green mac 5-4 Dec 20 SoAlab 33-28 8-6 N80 N81 Arkansas St sun 5-3 Jan 4 Toledo 44-63 7-6 N81 N82 Central Michigan mac 5-3 Dec 24 WKU 48-49 7-6 N82 O83 Fresno St mw 5-4 Dec 24 Rice 6-30 6-8 O83 O84 UTEP cusa 5-3 Dec 20 UtahSt 6-21 7-6 O84 O85 UAB cusa 4-4 6-6 O85 O86 Washington St pac 2-7 3-9 O86 O87 Texas St sun 5-3 7-5 O87 O88 Appalachian St sun 6-2 7-5 O88 O89 Kansas b12 1-8 3-9 O89 O90 Syracuse acc 1-7 3-9 O90 O91 South Alabama sun 5-3 Dec 20 BGSU 28-33 6-7 O91 P92 Purdue b10 2-6 4-8 P92 P93 Ohio mac 4-4 6-6 P93 P94 Middle Tennessee cusa 5-3 6-6 P94 P95 Colorado pac 0-9 2-10 P95 P96 Iowa St b12 0-9 2-10 P96 Q097 UL-Monroe sun 3-5 4-8 Q097 Q098 Ball St mac 4-4 5-7 Q098 Q099 Wyoming mw 2-6 4-8 Q099 Q100 Buffalo mac 3-4 5-6 Q100 Q101 Wake Forest acc 1-7 3-9 Q101 Q102 Indiana b10 0-8 3-9 Q102 R103 Hawai'i mw 3-5 4-9 R103 R104 Old Dominion cusa 4-4 6-6 R104 R105 South Florida aac 3-5 4-8 R105 R106 New Mexico mw 2-6 4-8 R106 R107 Vanderbilt sec 0-8 3-9 R107 R108 FIU cusa 3-5 4-8 R108 S109 Florida Atlantic cusa 2-6 3-9 S109 S110 Akron mac 3-5 5-7 S110 S111 Tulane aac 2-6 3-9 S111 S112 Army ind * 4-8 S112 S113 North Texas cusa 2-6 4-8 S113 S114 Southern Miss cusa 1-7 3-9 S114 T115 San Jose St mw 2-6 3-9 T115 T116 UT-San Antonio sun 3-4 4-7 T116 T117 Miami-OH mac 2-6 2-10 T117 T118 Troy sun 3-5 3-9 T118 T119 Tulsa aac 2-6 2-10 T119 T120 UNLV mw 1-7 2-11 T120 U121 Kent St mac 1-6 2-9 U121 U122 U Massachusetts mac 3-5 3-9 U122 U123 U Conn aac 1-7 2-10 U123 U124 Idaho sun 1-7 1-10 U124 V125 Eastern Michigan mac 1-7 2-10 V125 V126 SMU aac 1-7 1-11 V126 V127 New Mexico St sun 1-7 2-10 V127 V128 Georgia St sun 0-8 1-11 V128

a few thoughts...

...the SEC ended up with nine teams in spots #3, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 22, 24, and 26 (including ALL SEVEN of the SEC West schools!)...but none in the championship game (and only one in the top 8, fewer than the Big Ten, Big Twelve, OR the ACC!).
...the conferences tended to spread themselves out at the top relatively well: the top 5 came from five different conferences (all five power conferences, naturally), and no school had more than two teams in the top 9.
...Within the top four tiers (#1-23), there are seven SEC teams, six Pac-12 teams (#1, 11, 19, 20, 21, and 23), three Big Ten teams (#2, 6, and 16), three Big 12 teams (#5, 7, and 14), three ACC teams (#4, 8, and 15), and one Mountain West "Group Of Five" interloper (Boise St at #18). 
...In the end, our top four matched the CFP committee's Top four on Dec 7, albeit in a different order (we originally had Oregon first), which is why we resisted moving TCU past any of them into the top 4 despite their brutally dominant performance. However bad the Seminole loss was, it was to a top 4 team.
...Looking at our Bottom 14 teams, we find that there were five from the Sun Belt (with Georgia St and New Mexico St taking the lowest rungs in tier V), four from the MAC, and three from the old Big East, now called the AAC (including SMU, who resided winless in the cellar ALL season long until their victory on the last day of the season over UConn!).
..Next fall, we plan to start from this ranking, even though teams are going to change DRASTICALLY between now and then: without game data to evaluate teams, there's no real way to gauge how to change our tiers. (Of course, once the games start, we'll be VERY willing to move teams dramatically if there's a dramatic difference!) The other principle we abide by is that actually ranking teams early in the season is futile and pointless, so all you'll see are the tiers for awhile, just as we did this year.