Regular Season Wrap-Up

I'm going to keep it to just a top ten this week, because, frankly, continuing to 25 would be a waste of time with so few teams playing.  Keep in mind that I am releasing this before BCS rankings and bowl games are announced.  The next rankings will not be released until after the bowl games have been played, but I will be updating with post-season awards and probably some bowl analysis between now and then.  The first annual Duckie Awards should be posted some time this week.

Final Regular Season
1. SEC	The Tigers are the only undefeated team and have done so in dominating fashion.  They should be the a heavy favorite in the national title game, no matter who they play.
2. SEC	Here's where it gets tricky.  The Tide's only loss is by 3 points in overtime to the number 1 team, and they haven't done anything to warrant dropping from the number 2 position.  So, I am leaving them at number 2 to finish the regular season.  More on this below...
3. Oklahoma State	Despite ranking Oklahoma State 3rd, I believe they should play LSU for the national championship.  Similar to Bama, their only loss is in overtime, albeit to a much worse team.  That game, however, obviously had outside influences that had to negatively affect the Cowboys.  In an argument against a rematch, Bama and LSU have gone in different directions since their matchup.  Bama and A.J. McCarron have regressed, while LSU has gotten better.  With OSU's huge win over Oklahoma, they have earned a shot at LSU, as Bama has already had their's and has done nothing since then to prove the outcome would be any better for them.
4. Stanford	Stanford has a great team, but their loss to Oregon puts them out of the national title race.  Andrew Luck is great, but the Cardinal simply don't have the speed at the skill positions or on defense to compete for a national champhionship.
5. Wisconsin	Wisconsin and Michigan State proved their epic mid-season game was no fluke.  In fact, they may have played the two top games of the year.  Anybody who missed the Big 12 title game last night because they were watching Oklahoma State or Clemson has their priorities screwed up.  You would have thought they were playing for a trip to the national championship.  And, if it weren't for two hail mary passes, Wisconsin would be in the championshp game.  It's unfortunate that game had to end on a running into the kicker penalty (the correct call), and Michigan State didn't give themselves the chance to win the game.
6. Michigan State
7. Oregon	Oregon will face Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl in what should be a very interesting game.  The Ducks have lost two straight BCS games.  This should be an extremely high scoring game and a great way to start the new year.  I'm going to refrain from talking about the Pac-12 title game, because, honestly, I didn't care enough to watch it.
8. SEC	Here lies the third best team in the SEC, and, as was further confirmed in the Georgia Dome, it's not even close.  A matchup between Arkansas and either Baylor or Oklahoma in the Jerry Bowl should be fun to watch, though.
9. Boise State	Here is another "if only" team.  For the second year in a row, Boise lost there chance at a title because of a missed field goal.  Now, they will be lucky to end up in a BCS bowl or get stuck in another meaningless bowl game.  Boise's run of dominance may be over, because moving to the Big East certainly isn't going to help any perceptions.
10. Kansas State	Colin Klein led Kansas State to one more close win to finish up the regular season in the top ten.  Klein is probably the most underappreciated player in America and deserves a trip to New York for the Heisman ceremony.