NCAA NEWS

College Football Power Rankings – Week 13

Published by ESPN News Feed on November 30, 2009

Texas A&M and Auburn did their best to shake up the top of the rankings, but their efforts against Texas and Alabama, respectively, during Rivalry Week fell short.

Florida’s convincing win over Florida State earned the Gators some separation at the No. 1 spot, while the Crimson Tide and Longhorns had to split the remaining No. 1 votes.

Pitt tumbled out of the top 10, falling to No. 15 after its loss to West Virginia.

Stanford, Nebraska and the Mountaineers returned to the top 25.

Here are this week’s rankings:

College Football Power Rankings – Week 13
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	PTS	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Florida (13)	12-0	373	Many teams struggled in their rivalry games, but not Florida. The Gators’ 37-10 win over Florida State was more a fond farewell to Tim Tebow at The Swamp than it was an evenly matched contest.
	2 (2)	Alabama (1)	12-0	354	Auburn threw everything at Alabama as the Tigers raced to a 14-0 lead using just about every page in Gus Malzahn’s playbook. But the Tide finally took the lead with 1:24 left to earn a 26-21 win in the Iron Bowl.
	3 (3)	Texas (1)	12-0	352	Jerrod Johnson was good. Colt McCoy was better. Texas withstood Texas A&M’s furious attempt at a historic upset behind McCoy’s 479 total yards and five TDs in a 49-39 win Thanksgiving night.
	4 (4)	TCU	12-0	331	A 51-10 win over New Mexico was a mere formality in the Horned Frogs’ journey to a perfect regular season. Unfortunately, TCU didn’t get any luck during Rivalry Week, as it remains stuck at No. 4 in the BCS standings.
	5 (5)	Cincinnati	11-0	315	In case anyone forgot how good Tony Pike was before he got injured, he provided the evidence in a 49-36 win over Illinois. Pike threw for 399 yards and a school-record six TDs. Mardy Gilyard chipped in three TDs for the Bearcats.
	6 (6)	Boise State	12-0	300	It looked like it might be another comfortable ride for Boise State after it raced to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter against Nevada. The Wolf Pack made a game of it, but Kellen Moore’s five TDs proved to be too much in a 44-33 win.
	7 (9)	Oregon	9-2	280	Losses by Georgia Tech and Pitt made room for Oregon to move up in the rankings without even playing. But it’s all about Dec. 3 for the Ducks, when they’ll play Oregon State for a ticket to the Rose Bowl and a Pac-10 title.
	8 (10)	Ohio State	10-2	274	It was a good week for Big Ten teams in the top 25, despite not playing any games over the weekend. The Buckeyes eagerly await the outcome of the Civil War in Oregon to see whom they’ll face in the Rose Bowl.
	9 (11)	Iowa	10-2	244	Some of the biggest Oklahoma fans probably could be found in the state of Iowa, as the Sooners’ win over Oklahoma State erased a roadblock in the way of the Hawkeyes’ dreams of a BCS at-large berth.
	10 (7)	Georgia Tech	10-2	214	Rivalry games can bring out the best and the worst in teams. Unfortunately for GT, it was the latter. The Yellow Jackets have been the toast of the state this season, but Georgia showed with a 30-24 win that even in a down year, it’s still top Dawg.
	11 (14)	Virginia Tech	9-3	209	Ryan Williams maintained his torrid pace with 183 yards rushing and four TDs as Virginia Tech piled on the misery against its in-state neighbor, beating Virginia 42-13. It was the Hokies’ sixth straight win against the Cavaliers.
	12 (13)	Penn State	10-2	202	Like Iowa, Penn State was thrilled to see the Sooners knock off Oklahoma State over the weekend. But have the Nittany Lions done enough down the stretch to warrant them leapfrogging the Hawkeyes for a BCS spot?
	13 (16)	Oregon State	8-3	187	See Oregon. The Beavers will take their four-game winning streak to the Civil War on Dec. 3. The stakes are simple. If they can make it five in a row, they’re off to the Rose Bowl.
	14 (17)	LSU	9-3	182	LSU wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. Josh Jasper hit a 41-yard field goal with four seconds left to send the game into OT, then hit a 36-yard FG that gave the Tigers a 33-30 win over Arkansas.
	15 (8)	Pittsburgh	9-2	170	Pitt erased a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game at 16-16, but Tyler Bitancurt’s 43-yard field goal as time expired gave West Virginia a 19-16 win over the Panthers in the Backyard Brawl.
	16 (18)	Miami (FL)	9-3	152	Miami secured its first nine-win season since 2005 with a 31-10 win over South Florida. Jacory Harris passed for 161 yards and two TDs but, more importantly, didn’t throw an INT for the first time since Oct. 17.
	17 (19)	Brigham Young	10-2	118	Max Hall might have wanted to take back some of his words, but not his throws. Hall passed for 134 yards and two TDs, including a 25-yard strike to Andrew George that gave the Cougars a 26-23 win in OT.
	18 (24)	USC	8-3	109	There was little to play for between UCLA and USC, but certainly no love lost. Matt Barkley’s late TD pass cleared the sidelines in a 28-7 Trojans win, ensuring an excitable rematch between the teams in 2010.
	19 (23)	California	8-3	92	Cal is unable to affect the Pac-10 race, but the Bears can improve their bowl prospects in their season finale against Washington on Dec. 5.
	20 (26)	Stanford	8-4	80	Toby Gerhart bolstered his Heisman credentials, and Stanford almost certainly put the final nail in the coffin of Charlie Weis’ Notre Dame tenure. Gerhart rushed for 205 yards and accounted for four TDs in a 45-38 Cardinal win.
	21 (25)	Houston	10-2	79	Houston led Rice 59-0 at halftime en route to a 73-14 win that clinched the C-USA West title. Case Keenum threw for 321 yards and two TDs in limited action for the Cougars, who face East Carolina in the C-USA title game Dec. 5.
	22 (27)	Nebraska	9-3	70	With its place in the Big 12 title game secure, Nebraska might have looked past Colorado. The Cornhuskers won 28-20 but will need a much better performance against Texas on Dec. 5 if they hope to win the Big 12 and play BCS spoiler.
	23 (12)	Oklahoma State	9-3	49	It was the worst-case scenario realized. Oklahoma State’s BCS hopes were dashed by its most bitter rival, and in humiliating fashion, as the Cowboys were shut out against Oklahoma 27-0.
	24 (NR)	West Virginia	8-3	48	West Virginia’s 19-16 win over Pitt took some of the shine off Saturday’s Big East title-deciding tilt between the Panthers and Cincinnati, but the Mountaineers won’t care. They finish the regular season with a visit to Rutgers on Saturday.
	25 (22)	Utah	9-3	24	A 29-yard field goal from Joe Phillips put Utah in the driver’s seat in overtime. But Max Hall won the game on the next possession as BYU redeemed itself after last year’s blowout in Salt Lake City.
Others receiving votes: Clemson (23), Arizona (23), Wisconsin (6), North Carolina (5), Northwestern (4), Mississippi (3), Central Michigan (2), Texas Tech (1)