The 2015 season is done and in the record books. The year featured the resurgence (in varying degrees) of Oklahoma, Michigan, Iowa, Utah, and Florida; the ongoing surgence of Alabama; Clemson not Clemsoning; three straight weeks of wild endings; 5-7 teams going bowling; a lackluster set of New Year's Six bowls; and dozens of regular-season and post-season matchups worthy of the game. Without further ado, here are the final Top 25 of 2015:
Kenyan Drake returns a kickoff for a touchdown then asks, "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?" [Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports]
Rk
|
Δ
|
Team
|
Pts
|
SD
|
1
|
+1
|
Alabama (14-1)
|
67.6
|
19.6
|
2
|
-1
|
Clemson (14-1)
|
64.0
|
21.8
|
Clemson is the obvious runners-up after beating (4) Oklahoma in an Orange Bowl that was competitive for about a half and losing the championship to (1) Alabama. The Tigers were the lone undefeated team at the end of the regular season and had to go through (10) Notre Dame, (14) Florida State, and (17) North Carolina to get there.
One of Ezekiel Elliott's four Fiesta Bowl rushing touchdowns
[Getty Images]
3
|
+1
|
Ohio State (12-1)
|
62.2
|
25.3
|
4
|
-1
|
Oklahoma (11-2)
|
55.7
|
27.8
|
5
|
+2
|
Houston (13-1)
|
53.9
|
20.5
|
Exhibit B for the case to expand the current four-team playoff system: Houston, the best non-Power Five team, had little problem beating (14) Florida State in the Peach Bowl but would never be invited to a four-team playoff when there's already a Power Five conference being excluded. The Cougars topped (31) Memphis, (6) Navy, and (42) Temple to win the American. Their lone loss came against (86) UConn, but is that really much worse than (4) Oklahoma's loss to (75) Texas?
6
|
0
|
Navy (11-2)
|
53.8
|
24.4
|
Navy capped off a great season with a 44-28 win over (43) Pitt in the Military Bowl. The Midshipmen's two losses were away games against respectable opponents--(10) Notre Dame and (5) Houston--and they beat both (35) Air Force and (100) Army to win back the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.
7
|
+2
|
Stanford (12-2)
|
52.9
|
21.2
|
Exhibit C for the case to expand the current four-team playoff system: Stanford won the Pac-12 and dismantled (16) Iowa in the Rose Bowl. But there's only room for four, and the fifth Power Five conference champion was left out of the playoff after losses against (29) Northwestern and (28) Oregon.
RB Johnny Jefferson on his 80-yard TD run. Jefferson notched two more TDs and a helluva lot more yards in the game. [Stephen M. Dowell/Tribune News Service]
8
|
+5
|
Baylor (10-3)
|
49.4
|
19.8
|
What do you do if your first- and second-string QBs and leading receiver are all out with injuries? Run the ball if you can, and Baylor could, rushing for a whopping 645 yards. Two RBs had over 100 yards--Devin Chafin (156) and Johnny Jefferson (299!)--in the Bears' 49-38 win over (17) UNC in the Tangerine Bowl.
9
|
-4
|
Michigan State (12-2)
|
49.4
|
18.8
|
Remember when I wrote that Michigan State may be "lucky enough to contend for the National Championship, but not good enough to win it"? The Spartans proved me right in an embarrassing 38-0 loss to (1) Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. MSU squeaked by (13) Michigan, (3) Ohio State, and (16) Iowa--and (91) Rutgers and (104) Purdue--to win the Big Ten, notwithstanding a 39-38 loss where MSU-loving, (56) Nebraska-hating Fortune decided to play a prank.
O, Fortuna, you scamp
10
|
-2
|
Notre Dame (10-3)
|
47.4
|
11.6
|
Notre Dame lost 44-28 to (3) Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. The Irish had a decent season overall, but they were plagued with injuries and couldn't win the big games, falling to (2) Clemson and (7) Stanford.
11
|
+3
|
Ole Miss (10-3)
|
47.4
|
19.6
|
Ole Miss gained a sizable lead over (44) Oklahoma State in the first half of the Sugar Bowl and could afford to coast from there. The Rebels managed to beat (1) Alabama for the second year running, but losses to (34) Florida and (30) Arkansas kept them from going to the SEC Championship, and a third loss at (31) Memphis likely would've kept the Rebs from going to the Playoff even if they managed not to choke against Arkansas.
12
|
+5
|
LSU (9-3)
|
47.0
|
21.4
|
The Tigers got to end the season on a high note, taking care of (70) Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl. (Did anyone really think that game would be competitive? The Math gave LSU a 23-point spread; they covered.) Hopes were high in Baton Rouge as the Tigers hitched themselves to the star of Leonard Fournette and came up victorious over (34) Florida. But an SEC West trifecta of (1) Alabama, (30) Arkansas, and (11) Ole Miss found a way to shut down Fournette, handing LSU three straight losses and temporarily putting Les Miles in the hot seat.
The Citrus Bowl in a nutshell [MGoBlog]
13
|
+3
|
Michigan (10-3)
|
46.4
|
24.4
|
Michigan dominated Florida in the Citrus Bowl as QB Jake Rudock threw for 278 yards, 9.0 YPA, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs. The Wolverines still lost to rivals (9) Michigan State and (3) Ohio State, but a 10-3 season that was a hair's breadth away from 12-1 shows that Harbaugh is well on his way to rebuilding Michigan football.
14
|
-4
|
Florida State (10-3)
|
44.2
|
19.1
|
Florida State lost 38-24 to (5) Houston in the Peach Bowl, the most competitive of a noncompetitive slate of New Year's Six bowls. The Seminoles could've been the first Power Five team to win fifty games in four seasons--(24) Boise State did it in 2008-2011--but 2013's national champions fell to (77) Georgia Tech (wildly) and (2) Clemson in the 2015 regular season, and their 49-6 record fell just short.
15
|
0
|
TCU (11-2)
|
43.9
|
19.0
|
TCU had the wildest bowl victory. The Horned Frogs allowed (28) Oregon to score 31 unanswered points in the first half of the Alamo Bowl, and then scored 31 unanswered points themselves in the second half to send the game into overtime. TCU forced a four-and-out in 3OT to win 47-41.
16
|
-5
|
Iowa (12-2)
|
43.8
|
21.5
|
Iowa was routed 45-16 by (7) Stanford in the Rose Bowl. The Hawkeye offense managed to gain 287 yards, only ten more than what Christian McCaffrey got against the Hawkeye defense singlehandedly. Iowa cruised to a 12-0 regular season record, beating (23) Wisconsin and (29) Northwestern to win the Big Ten West, but lost to (9) Michigan State in the conference championship.
17
|
-5
|
North Carolina (11-3)
|
43.7
|
23.0
|
Dominique Hatfield's Las Vegas Bowl pick six
[Trent Nelson/Salt Lake Tribune]
18
|
+2
|
Utah (10-3)
|
43.4
|
17.5
|
Utah and (39) BYU got a special bonus battle in the Holy War as they faced off in the holiest of American cities, Las Vegas. The Utes, propelled by two pick-sixes and three other BYU turnovers that were converted less immediately to touchdowns, came out to a 35-0 lead in the first quarter. BYU owned the remaining quarters, but couldn't surmount that initial deficit. Utah won the Las Vegas Bowl 35-28 and this year's Beehive Boot.
19
|
-1
|
Toledo (11-2)
|
43.1
|
16.0
|
Toledo defeated that other one-time Group-of-Five darling, (42) Temple, in the Boca Raton Bowl 31-17. The Rockets started off the season strong with a victory at (30) Arkansas, but lost to (64) Northern Illinois and (51) Western Michigan, keeping them out of the MAC Championship.
Some people think kicker Zach Matics celebrated his game-winning field goal by teleporting his helmet. They're wrong. The helmet stayed where it was; it was Matics who apparated. [Michael Chang/Getty Images]
20
|
-1
|
Appalachian St. (11-2)
|
42.5
|
22.3
|
Appalachian State overcame a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to top (69) Ohio in the Camellia Bowl, winning their first bowl in their first season of eligibility. The Mountaineers' only losses were to (2) Clemson and Sun Belt Champion (50) Arkansas State.
21
|
+5
|
San Diego St. (11-3)
|
42.1
|
26.9
|
The Aztecs nabbed three interceptions on their way to a 42-7 victory over (67) Cincinnati in the Hawaii Bowl. San Diego State had three September losses against (45) Cal, (101) South Alabama, and (55) Penn State, but then won out, securing the Mountain West Championship along the way. In fact, the Aztecs' 10-game winning streak is second only to (1) Bama's right now.
22
|
+5
|
Tennessee (9-4)
|
41.3
|
22.3
|
Never mind their inferior regular season record, Tennessee had no problem against (29) Northwestern in the Outback Bowl, winning 45-6. The Vols snatched defeat from the jaws of victory thrice, blowing at least 13-point leads against (4) Oklahoma, (34) Florida, and (30) Arkansas. But a victory over (26) Georgia, a close loss against (1) Alabama, and the continued success of Oklahoma made the Vols, who finished second in the SEC East, look better and better as the season went on.
23
|
+2
|
Wisconsin (10-3)
|
41.1
|
16.0
|
24
|
+11
|
Boise State (9-4)
|
40.7
|
29.4
|
It's hard to overstate how much Boise State dominated Northern Illinois in the Poinsettia Bowl. The Broncos not only won 55-7, but outgained the Huskies 654 yards to 33. Northern Illinois managed a kickoff return for a touchdown and got 42 yards before fumbling the ball on their first drive. After that, they literally would have been better off punting every first down.
25
|
+12
|
Ga. Southern (9-4)
|
39.7
|
34.6
|
The first half of the Mobile Bowl between Georgia Southern and (33) Bowling Green featured that rare beast, the defensive two-point conversion, and ended with the Falcons up 27-23. But Georgia Southern owned the second half to an even greater extent than (15) TCU owned the second half of the Alamo Bowl, and won 58-27.
See full rankings here.
See full rankings here.
Teams falling out of the Top 25:
- (28) Oregon blew a huge lead to (15) TCU in the Alamo Bowl.
- (29) Northwestern was outgunned by (22) Tennessee in the Outback Bowl.
- (31) Memphis continued the disappointing end to their season, losing the Birmingham Bowl to (52) Auburn.
- (33) Bowling Green played thirty minutes of good football in the Mobile Bowl, which like most football games, lasted sixty minutes.
Largest improvement in rank: +14 Auburn beat (31) Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl, something no other Power Five team had done this season, cough, cough, (11) Ole Miss.
Conference Rankings
Conference
|
Average
|
Bowls
|
SEC
|
32.92
|
9-2
|
Big Ten
|
30.12
|
5-5
|
Pac-12
|
29.33
|
6-4
|
ACC
|
29.03
|
4-6
|
Big XII
|
28.32
|
3-4
|
American
|
23.83
|
2-6
|
Mountain West
|
19.62
|
4-4
|
MAC
|
17.21
|
3-4
|
Sun Belt
|
14.18
|
2-2
|
C-USA
|
12.98
|
3-2
|
As the only conference with a bowl record over 0.600, the SEC cemented its reputation as college football's best conference. Of the eleven SEC teams that went bowling, only two lost (looking at you, Florida and Texas A&M), and Alabama won the National Championship. And despite its reputation as the best Group of Five conference, the American struggled this bowl season, winning only a quarter of their games. (Every other conference won at least 40%.) At least their two best teams, Houston and Navy, came up with two wins.
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