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About the Top 25
Downtown Magazine's NCAA College Football Top 25 is not a poll like AP or USA Today/Coach's polls, or a computer generated rating system like the BCS, but an objective ranking system based on visual and statistical observations of college football teams in Division 1-A.
The rankings, published weekly - usually on Monday - are representative of what our expert editors believe to be the best teams in college football respective of conference play and strength of schedule leading up to the traditional bowl games. Downtown Magazine strives to present the Top 25 in a manner that is objective, non-political and respectful of the standards of NCAA football. |
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| Honorable Mention: California, Nevada, Virginia, Navy, North Carolina St., South Carolina, Toledo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowl Matchups Set as Texas, USC seek Roses
Texas Seals the Deal, West Virginia Gets Respect
In one of the most anticipated National Championship games of all time, the Texas Longhorns - as predicted in the Downtown Magazine Top 25 rankings - toppled the USC Trojans from their position as the #1 team in every other poll in the nation and claimed the title of the best college football team in the land.
The win by Texas was not without its share of tense moments, especially when the Trojans took a 38-26 lead late in the 4th quarter. Texas, and especially quarterback Vince Young, proved to be as advertised, tough and cool under pressure. The Longhorns countered quickly with a touchdown of their own, and another score - the game winner - after USC failed on a critical 4th and 1.
When the Longhorns scored on a 4th down play with only 19 seconds left and then converted the 2-point conversion, making the score 41-38, USC was left without many options and could not engineer enough plays to even attempt a game-tying field goal.
In the end, the game came down to the Texas defense standing tall when needed and USC's inability to stop Young and his Longhorn teammates in pressure situations. The national championship rightfully belongs to the University of Texas and there should be little doubt that USC was the second best team in the country. That's how they end up in the final rankings, with Penn State, Ohio State and West Virginia rounding out the Top 5.
For Penn State and coach Joe Paterno, their triple overtime win against Florida State in the Orange Bowl closed out a season that began with little fanfare and ended with many wondering "what if?" Penn State's only loss was on a last-second play by Michigan. The Nittany Lions literally came within one second of laying claim to the National Championship. Unfortunately, without a playoff system for college football, players, coaches and fans will never know how well Penn State - or for that matter Ohio State and West Virginia - might have fared against Texas or USC. In any case, their wins in the big BCS bowl games earned them the right to be ranked close to the top.
In a season full of surprises, there was none more inspiring than that of the West Virginia Mountaineers, who overcame their relative youth with outstanding defense and superb discipline in running the option on offense. Two freshmen, quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton, led the way to an outstanding 11-1 season, the Big East title (7-0) and a huge 38-35 win over Georgia in the Cotton Bowl, which was, for all intents and purposes a home game for the Bulldogs.
When the Cotton Bowl was moved to the Georgia Dome after Hurricane Katrina made the Louisiana Super Dome unusable, few gave the Mountaineers much of a chance in their biggest challenge of the season. They were 7-9 point underdogs, but quickly turned heads when they established a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter. Their defense had stopped the Bulldogs cold, forced turnovers and the offense looked unstoppable.
As the game progressed, it became clear that Georgia was equal to the task, mounting an incredible comeback, only to fall short when the Mountaineers showed true grit and guts, faking a punt and sealing the victory.
With the win, West Virginia finally gained the respect that had been lacking in the national polls all year. The ended the season at either 4 or 5 in the AP and USA Today polls and 5th in the Downtown Magazine rankings.
As the bowl results flowed in, a few teams impressed while an equal number fell flat. Most notable were Tulsa (W 31-24 vs. Fresno St., Liberty Bowl 12/31), Oklahoma (W 17-14 vs. Oregon, Holiday Bowl, 12/29) and Nebraska (W 32-28 vs. Michigan, Alamo Bowl, 12/28), who beat teams that had been ranked. Michigan was the first to fall out, followed by Fresno State, which lost their last four games of the season, and Oregon, a team which had complained that they deserved a BCS bid and then failed to prove themselves in a minor bowl.
Along with Clemson and Florida State, the winners of those games became the only teams with more than three losses to rank in our Top 25. Florida State, at #25, is the only team ranked with five losses, though arguments could easily be made for any of the Honorable Mention teams, especially Navy, Nevada and Toledo.
So, the 2005-06 college football season comes to a close with a cheer for the ultimate victors: Hook 'em Horns!
Rick Gagliano | 1/9/06