NCAA NEWS

College Football Power Rankings – Week 14

Published by ESPN News Feed on December 8, 2009

Alabama thoroughly dominated Florida in the SEC championship game, sending the Tide to the BCS National Championship Game. The Crimson Tide offense racked up 490 yards and held the ball nearly 40 minutes in the victory.

College Football Power Rankings – Week 14
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	PTS	COMMENT
	1 (2)	Alabama (15)	13-0	375	Alabama thoroughly dominated Florida in the SEC championship game, sending the Tide to the BCS National Championship Game. The Crimson Tide offense racked up 490 yards and held the ball nearly 40 minutes in the victory.
	2 (3)	Texas	13-0	353	The Big 12 title game nearly was a disaster for Colt McCoy and Texas. But the Longhorns were given a second chance — and another second. Hunter Lawrence connected on a 46-yard field goal, putting the Longhorns in the BCS title game.
	3 (4)	TCU	12-0	352	What nearly was. TCU was sitting at home this weekend, but nearly won big until Texas pulled off a last-second win. TCU will have to settle for the Fiesta Bowl against unbeaten Boise State.
	4 (5)	Cincinnati	12-0	328	Never underestimate the Cincinnati offense. That was the lesson learned in the de facto Big East title game against Pitt after the Bearcats rallied from 14 down to capture the league crown. The Bearcats face Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
	5 (1)	Florida	12-1	315	Florida never had a lead and didn’t score in the second half, getting pounded by Alabama in the SEC title game. Tim Tebow accounted for 310 yards of total offense in his last SEC contest.
	6 (6)	Boise State	13-0	302	Boise State closed out its unbeaten regular season in convincing style, scoring the first 42 points in an easy win over New Mexico State. The high-rolling Broncos offense accounted for 544 total yards, including 256 on the ground.
	7 (7)	Oregon	10-2	283	It was a Civil War for the ages. And for Oregon, it was a victory that sent the Ducks to the Rose Bowl. Coming full circle for Oregon was LeGarrette Blount, who scored a TD in his return to the field.
	8 (8)	Ohio State	10-2	271	Ohio State’s regular season was wrapped up last week, but the Buckeyes still had interest in this week: They’d face the winner of the Civil War in the Rose Bowl. OSU hasn’t been to a Rose Bowl since 1997 and is 7-0 all-time against Oregon.
	9 (10)	Georgia Tech	11-2	242	After falling flat in a rivalry game against Georgia, Georgia Tech bounced back in the ACC championship game against Clemson. The win put the Jackets in the Orange Bowl, the first BCS bid for the school.
	10 (9)	Iowa	10-2	241	Iowa sat at home this weekend wondering where it would spend its holidays. It was quite a gift when the Hawkeyes found out they’d be in the Orange Bowl. This will be Iowa’s second Orange appearance (2003 marked the first).
	11 (11)	Virginia Tech	9-3	213	Virginia Tech will be ending its season where it started it off: the Georgia Dome. After losing by 10 to Alabama to begin the year, the Hokies will face another SEC team in Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
	12 (12)	Penn State	10-2	208	Penn State will be playing in another New Year’s Day bowl game when the Nittany Lions take on LSU in the Capital One Bowl. PSU could do wonders for the reputation of the Big Ten in bowl games against SEC foes with a solid showing.
	13 (14)	LSU	9-3	186	With its overtime win against Arkansas on Nov. 28, LSU has a chance at another 10-win season if it can beat Penn State in the Capital One Bowl on Jan. 1. The Tigers have 10 or more victories in three of the past four seasons.
	14 (16)	Miami (FL)	9-3	175	It’s not the BCS bowl that Miami was dreaming about early in the season, but the Canes will take on No. 25 Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl. Miami has a chance for its first double-digit-win season since 2003.
	15 (13)	Oregon State	8-4	157	Oregon State had a chance at the Rose Bowl. But for the second year in a row, the Beavers lost the Civil War and their shot at Pasadena. Oregon State was held without a point for the final 17 1/2 minutes of the game.
	16 (17)	Brigham Young	10-2	142	It’ll be a familiar scene for BYU this bowl season. For the fifth straight year, the Cougars will be playing in the Las Vegas Bowl. BYU has gone 2-2 against Pac-10 opponents in the past four Las Vegas Bowls.
	17 (15)	Pittsburgh	9-3	134	Pitt had a BCS bid in its grasp. But some late Cincinnati magic pulled the rug out from underneath the Panthers, allowing the Bearcats to win the Big East. Pitt will take on North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
	18 (24)	West Virginia	9-3	119	The Gator Bowl game itself likely won’t get the headlines, not with ex-West Virginia coach and current Florida St. coach Bobby Bowden retiring after the game. WVU won’t have history on its side: FSU is 5-0-1 in the Gator Bowl, including two wins over WVU.
	19 (20)	Stanford	8-4	103	Stanford will cap an unexpectedly successful season against unexpectedly mediocre Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl. While the Cardinal have Heisman hopeful Toby Gerhart, they won’t have Andrew Luck.
	20 (27)	Arizona	8-4	101	It was a fantastic finish to the regular season for Arizona: beating USC for the first time in seven games. And the reward: a berth in the Holiday Bowl. A win over Nebraska and the Cats will have 9 wins for the first time since 1998, when they went 12-1.
	21 (22)	Nebraska	9-4	92	Nebraska thought it had the game won. But Texas was given another shot and the Huskers’ dominating performance on defense in the Big 12 title game was for naught. The Horns were held to 13 points after averaging 44 in their past six games.
	22 (23)	Oklahoma State	9-3	62	Call it the Missed Expectations Bowl. Oklahoma State and Mississippi started off the season in the top 10 and now face off in the Cotton Bowl. With a win, the Cowboys can reach double digits in wins for the first time since 1988.
	23 (28)	Wisconsin	9-3	37	Nice weather, a thrashing victory and a chance to play spoiler. Turned out to be a heckuva weekend for Wisconsin. The Badgers clipped Hawaii’s chance at a bowl game, and saw their bowl hopes lifted to the Champs Sports Bowl.
	24 (25)	Utah	9-3	30	Utah will take its eight-game bowl win streak to the Poinsettia Bowl, where it will take on Cal. The Utes played in the Poinsettia in 2007, beating Navy 35-32.
	25 (32)	Central Michigan	11-2	13	A welcome to the top 25 for the MAC champion Central Michigan Chippewas. Dan LeFevour was the star against Ohio, passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns. CMU will take on Troy in the GMAC Bowl.
Others receiving votes: USC (12), Northwestern (10), Clemson (7), North Carolina (4), Texas Tech (4), Mississippi (2), East Carolina (1), Tennessee (1)