Rk
|
Δ
|
Team
|
Pts
|
1
|
+1
|
Ohio State (14-1)
|
71.2
|
2
|
-1
|
Alabama (12-2)
|
66.3
|
How the College Football Playoff Should've Ended
3
|
0
|
TCU (12-1)
|
64.1
|
4
|
+3
|
Mich. St. (11-2)
|
59.9
|
The Spartans overcame a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to top (6) Baylor in the Cotton Bowl. With their only two losses of the season coming against (1) Ohio State and (5) Oregon, it's clear that Michigan State was the best team to finish the regular season with two losses.
5
|
+1
|
Oregon (12-2)
|
58.3
|
The Ducks started off the conference season by eking out a win against (102) Washington State and losing to (36) Arizona, but ended it well ahead of anyone else in the Pac-12 North. Oregon avenged that Arizona loss with a 51-13 win against the Wildcats in the conference championship and exposed (12) Florida State in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks' offense was then uncharacteristically stifled against (1) Ohio State, losing the national championship after scoring a season-low 20 points.
6
|
-2
|
Baylor (11-2)
|
57.3
|
Baylor may have been left out of the Playoff. Baylor may be in a Big XII conference that's not big enough to declare a conference champion. Baylor may have been the fifth-best, one-loss team in the first year of the four-team playoff. Baylor may have given up a 20-point lead to lose the Cotton Bowl to (4) Michigan State. But Bears fans will always have this:
Four Spartans simultaneously decide they don't want to attempt to tackle LaQuan McGowan.
7
|
+1
|
Ga. Tech (11-3)
|
55.8
|
Georgia Tech lost two close games against (42) Duke and (83) North Carolina in mid-October, but still managed to win the ACC's Coastal Division. The Yellow Jackets lost another close one against (12) Florida State in the ACC Championship, but also got to give the SEC its comeuppance at the end of the season, beating (8) Georgia in the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate and (9) Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl. Tech also finished with the nation's 2nd-best rushing offense at 342 yards per game.
8
|
+2
|
Georgia (10-3)
|
55.2
|
Georgia finished the season at 9-3 with two of those losses coming against rivals (7) Georgia Tech and (30) Florida. This was good enough for second in the SEC East, even though the Dawgs beat the divisional champion (19) Missouri. Apparently only a quarter of the New Year's Six teams can come from the SEC as Georgia traveled to the (Belk) Queen City Bowl, where the Bulldogs easily topped (26) Louisville.
9
|
-4
|
Miss. St. (10-3)
|
54.6
|
Mississippi State sat at the top of the vaunted SEC West for much of 2014 before ceding that spot with a loss at (2) Alabama. An Egg Bowl loss to intra-state rival (13) Ole Miss added insult to injury, but the Bulldogs finished the regular season at 10-2, good enough for second in the division and an invite to the Orange Bowl. The Orange Bowl didn't go so well though, losing 49-34 to (7) Georgia Tech in a game where the Bulldogs never led.
10
|
-1
|
Marshall (13-1)
|
54.5
|
I'm giving Marshall the edge over (15) Boise State as the best Group of Five team of 2014. Why? The Thundering Herd won their games with an average margin of victory of 24.6 points, 2nd only to TCU, and out-rushed their opponents by 118 ypg. The Herd finished in the Top 25 in scoring offense, rushing offense, scoring defense, passing offense, and passing defense. Marshall admittedly had a weaker schedule than Boise State, but not so much to totally account for these differences in performance. Deemed the People's Champion by Rolling Stone, Marshall dominated the Conference USA East--barring an overtime loss to (73) Western Kentucky--beat (34) Louisiana Tech in the conference title, and bested MAC Champion (38) Northern Illinois in the Boca Raton Bowl.
11
|
+1
|
Wisconsin (11-3)
|
54.2
|
Wisconsin started off the season by blowing a 17-point lead against (22) LSU, and started off the conference season by getting upset by (82) Northwestern. The Badgers turned things around, finishing the regular season with victories over (24) Nebraska, (63) Iowa, and (35) Minnesota to win the Big Ten West, then Bucky got blown out by (1) Ohio State in the conference championship game. The Badgers redeemed themselves with an overtime win in a seesaw game over (14) Auburn in the Outback Bowl.
Melvin Gordon can't believe you don't think the Big Ten is relevant.
12
|
+1
|
Florida St. (13-1)
|
47.3
|
Florida State won by an average of only 8.1 points per game and were only 98th in rushing offense, but the Seminoles kept pulling off wins, finishing the regular season undefeated. FSU pulled off one last comeback against (7) Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship before getting gassed by (5) Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
13
|
-2
|
Ole Miss (9-4)
|
47.2
|
Ole Miss started off the season with statement wins against (15) Boise State, (2) Alabama, and (40) Texas A&M. The Rebels were in contention for the SEC West crown before losses to (22) LSU, (14) Auburn, and (21) Arkansas. They finished the regular season with a win over their biggest rival, (9) Mississippi State, in the Egg Bowl, but then got blown out by the Playoff-excluded Horned Frogs of (3) TCU in the Peach Bowl.
14
|
0
|
Auburn (8-5)
|
45.8
|
Auburn started off strong with wins at (23) Kansas State and against (22) LSU, but fell apart down the stretch. The Tigers finished 4-4 in conference and ended the regular season with a loss in the all-important Iron Bowl against (2) Alabama. Auburn did play on New Year's Day, albeit in the non-Six Outback Bowl, and ended up losing a seesaw game to (11) Wisconsin.
15
|
+3
|
Boise St. (12-2)
|
45.7
|
Boise State lost the opener to (13) Ole Miss at the Georgia Dome, lost a late-September game against (29) Air Force, and then proceeded never to lose again. The Broncos won the Mountain West title game against (92) Fresno State and represented the Group of Five in the New Year's Six bowls, pulling off yet another Fiesta Bowl win, this time over (36) Arizona.
Boise State: Eternal Fiesta Bowl Champion
16
|
+4
|
Clemson (10-3)
|
45.6
|
Clemson had a top-notch defense this season, ranked third in points allowed per game and first in yards allowed per game. But the Tigers couldn't win the important games, losing the opener at (8) Georgia, in overtime at (12) Florida State, and at (7) Georgia Tech. Clemson finally notched a significant win at the (Russell Athletic) Tangerine Bowl, easily besting (20) Oklahoma 40-6.
17
|
-1
|
Ga. Sthrn. (9-3)
|
45.3
|
Some more love for a Group of Five team. In their first year as an FBS team, Georgia Southern had the most productive rushing offense this season at 381 ypg. The Eagles nearly upset (47) North Carolina State and (7) Georgia Tech, then went undefeated in conference play, winning the outright Sun Belt crown. Because they're still transitioning to a full FBS member, Georgia Southern was not eligible to receive a bowl invitation, but (45) West Virginia should be on upset alert when they host the Eagles to start their 2015 season.
18
|
+6
|
UCLA (10-3)
|
43.8
|
UCLA had one roller coaster of a season. The Bruins underperformed in non-conference wins over (70) Virginia, (25) Memphis, and (68) Texas; started off the conference season with a 62-27 victory at (28) Arizona State; lost to (32) Utah and (5) Oregon; then won their next five conference games. The Bruins were the favorites to win the Pac-12 South after beating (27) USC in the penultimate week of the regular season, but lost to (31) Stanford in the final week, paving the way for (36) Arizona to head to the Pac-12 Championship instead. UCLA did end on a high note, coming out early and holding off (23) Kansas State to win the Alamo Bowl.
19
|
+4
|
Missouri (11-3)
|
43.8
|
Mizzou's season was weird. How does a team that gets upset by (84) Indiana and shut out by (8) Georgia end up winning the SEC East? A stiff defense helps, and the Tigers hover around #25 in terms of both yapg and papg. Missouri was easily beaten by (2) Alabama in the SEC Championship, but ended the season by besting (35) Minnesota in the Citrus Bowl.
20
|
-5
|
Oklahoma (8-5)
|
42.1
|
2014 was a disappointing year for Sooner fans. Oklahoma started conference play in the Top Five, then proceeded to lose just about every other Big XII game, not only losing to (3) TCU, (6) Baylor, and (23) Kansas State, but also losing this year's edition of Bedlam against (75) Oklahoma State in overtime. The postseason wasn't much better, as the Sooners lost 40-6 to (16) Clemson in the Tangerine Bowl.
21
|
+4
|
Arkansas (7-6)
|
41.4
|
Things are starting to look up for the Razorbacks. After going 7-17 in the last two seasons, Arkansas found itself bowl eligible at the end of 2014, picking up shutout wins against (13) Ole Miss and (22) LSU along the way and coming within a touchdown of beating four other SEC teams. The Hogs were strong defensively, finishing 10th in papg and 24th in yapg, and capped off their season with a 31-7 win over (68) Texas in the Texas Bowl played in Houston, Texas. Texas.
Texas losing the Texas Bowl? That's like failing to defend a pass and getting kicked in the groin on top of it.
22
|
-5
|
LSU (8-5)
|
41.2
|
And while Arkansas has been improving, LSU, well, hasn't. The Tigers went from winning the SEC and contending for a national title in 2011 to finishing 8-5, good enough for fourth in the SEC West, in 2014. LSU had a top-notch defense, finishing 8th in yapg and 5th in papg, and won the season opener against (11) Wisconsin, but ended up losing half of their conference games and the Music City Bowl against (41) Notre Dame.
23
|
-4
|
Kansas St. (9-4)
|
40.1
|
Kansas State was decent this year, ranked 17th in passing offense and 25th in scoring offense, but the Wildcats had trouble against top-ranked opponents. They managed a win at (20) Oklahoma, but lost to (14) Auburn, (3) TCU, (6) Baylor, and finally (18) UCLA in the Alamo Bowl.
24
|
-2
|
Nebraska (9-4)
|
39.8
|
Nebraska's season was similar to Kansas State's. The Cornhuskers were statistically in the Top 25 in rushing offense (19th) and scoring offense (13th), but lost the big games and struggled with some of the lesser ones. Nebraska fell to (4) Michigan State, (11) Wisconsin, and (35) Minnesota; eked out an overtime win over (63) Iowa; and beat (FBS) McNeese State by only a touchdown. The Huskers ended the regular season ranked third in the Big Ten West, sacked Bo Pelini, lost the Holiday Bowl to (27) USC, and hired Oregon State's Mike Riley as Pelini's replacement. Good luck with that.
25
|
+1
|
Memphis (10-3)
|
39.5
|
The American Conference co-champion rounds out our Top 25. The Tigers ended their season with the 9th-largest average margin of victory and beat (39) BYU in double overtime in the Miami Beach Bowl. Memphis then proceeded to beat up BYU in the brawl that followed the game.
Conference Rankings
Conference
|
Average
|
Bowl
Record
|
SEC
|
38.87
|
7-5
|
Big Ten
|
31.22
|
6-5
|
Pac-12
|
30.28
|
6-3
|
Big 12
|
30.12
|
2-5
|
ACC
|
30.02
|
4-7
|
Mountain West
|
19.53
|
3-4
|
Conference USA
|
19.26
|
4-1
|
American
|
17.42
|
2-3
|
Sun Belt
|
15.82
|
1-2
|
MAC
|
14.02
|
2-3
|
