College Football Top 25 Rankings

1. Alabama Crimson Tide (13-0) - The Alabama Crimson Tide picked up a convincing 32-12 win over the Florida Gators. Mark Ingram stamped his place at the top of the Heisman voting with three touchdowns. Ingram rushed for 113 yards, while also catching 76. The Crimson Tide moved to the top spot in the rankings, passing Florida and also Texas. The Crimson Tide will now play in the BCS National Title game in Pasadena California against the Texas Longhorns. Alabama is looking for their first national title since 1992.

2. Texas Longhorns (13-0) - The Longhorns went through a major struggle, but managed a 13-12 win over Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship game. After the Cornhuskers kicked their fourth field goal of the game with 1:44 to go, Texas drove down the field and kicked a field goal with just a second to go to stun the Cornhuskers. The drive was aided by a personal foul penalty, and was also in question after McCoy threw the ball out of bounds as time expired, only to be reviewed by replay and one second put back on the clock. On the game, McCoy completed just 20 of 36 for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns. The win for Texas kept their perfect season alive, and also moved them to the BCS National title game in Pasadena against the Alabama Crimson Tide. Texas was passed by Alabama in the Top 25.

3. Boise State Broncos (13-0) – The Broncos, for the second straight season, finished the regular season with an undefeated record. Boise State with the win extended their home winning streak to 16 games. Kellen Moore, completed 19 of 30 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown. The star of the offensive unit for the Broncos was Doug Martin, and his four rushing touchdowns. The Boise State defense held New Mexico State to just 49 rushing yards, and 191 on the game. The win for Boise State allowed them to move up one spot in the poll, from # 4 to # 3. The Broncos will play in the Tostitos Fiesta bowl in a battle of unbeaten teams against the TCU Horned Frogs.

4. Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0) – The Bearcats crawled back from 21 points down to win the Big East title with a 45-44 win over the Pittsburgh Panthers. After trailing by six with 1:36 to go, Tony Pike led the Bearcats offense down the field for a game winning 29 yard pass to Armon Binns. Pike finished the game with 302 passing yards, and 3 touchdowns. He also threw 3 interceptions. The win for the Bearcats kept them unbeaten on the season. Cincinnati made a one team jump from # 5 to # 4. Cincinnati will finish their season on New Years Day in the Sugar Bowl against Florida.

5. TCU Horned Frogs (12-0) - The Horned Frogs were the lone team within the top 7 to be idle on Saturday. TCU finished the 2009 regular season with a 12-0 record, and they won the Mountain West Conference. The offense scored 40 points per game this season, but the big story was the defense allowing just 12.4 points per game, with six times allowing 10 points or less in a game. TCU moves up one position from # 6 to # 5. The Horned Frogs will get a shot at Boise State in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on January 4th.

6. Florida Gators (12-1) -  The Gators took their first loss of the season; 32-13 to Alabama on Saturday. With the loss, Florida will not be playing for a back-to-back national championship. The  Gators also fall from # 1, down to # 6. The Gators were unable to slow down the Crimson Tide offense as running back Mark Ingram rushed for three touchdown, and picked up nearly 200 yards of total offense. The 251 total yards of rushing by Alabama was the most given up by head coach Urban Meyer in a single game. Florida drops from the top spot, down to # 6 with the loss. Florida will take on Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, on New Years Day.

7. Oregon Ducks (10-2) - The Ducks won the Civil War Thursday night over Oregon State 37-33 to advance to the Rose Bowl on New Years Day. Their opponent will be the Ohio State Buckeyes. In the Civil War win, LaMicheal James rushed for 166 yards and 3 touchdowns. It is the first Pac-Ten title for the Ducks since 1994.

8. Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) – Ohio State took the weekend off to prepare for their final game of the season; on January 1st against Oregon, in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes have won five straight games, since their road loss to Purdue. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor finished the regular season with 16 passing touchdowns and 7 rushing touchdowns.

9. Brigham Young Cougars (10-2) - The Cougars finish the regular season ranked # 9 overall. The Cougars finished in second place in the Mountain West Conference, trailing only the TCU Horned Frogs. Max Hall, the Cougars quarterback passed for 3368 yards and 30 touchdowns, while his top running back Harvey Unga rushed for over 1000 yards and 10 touchdowns.  The Cougars will take on Oregon State in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl on December 22nd.

10. Penn State Nittany Lions (10-2) - Penn State finished the Big Ten Conference tied in second place with Iowa Hawkeyes. Their two losses this year came at home, to Ohio State and Iowa. Quarterback Darryl Clark completed 214 or 346 passes for 2787 yards and 23 touchdowns.  The Nittany Lions defense yielded just 11.8 points per  game during the season. Penn State will finish their season on New Years Day in the Capital One Bowl against SEC representative LSU.

11. LSU Tigers (9-3) - The first three loss team to come into the rankings; LSU Tigers. The Tigers took losses this season to Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. The Tigers finished the regular season off with a 33-30 win in overtime over the Arkansas Razorbacks last week. The Tigers Brandon LaFell led the team with touchdowns, catching 10 of them. LSU will take on Penn State on New Years Day in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando.

12. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2) – The Hawkeyes finished the Big Ten in second place; tied with Penn State. The Hawkeyes fell in back-to-back weeks to Northwestern and Ohio State, both without quarterback Ricky Stanzi. Stanzi finished the regular season completing 154 of 275 passes for 2186 yards and 15 touchdowns. The Hawkeyes last win of the regular season was a 12-0 shut-out win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers.  Iowa gets an invite to a BCS bowl, and will take on the ACC winner Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami. The game will be played on January 5th.

13. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2) - The Yellow Jackets made a five team improvement from # 18 to # 13 with their Atlantic Coast Conference championship game win over Clemson. The Yellow Jackets received 136 rushing yards from Josh Nesbitt. Nesbitt finished the season with 10 passing touchdowns, and 18 touchdowns. Running back Johnathan Dwyer also rushed for nearly 1400 yards and 14 touchdowns. Georgia Tech’s two losses this season came at Miami and at home with rival Georgia. On January 5th, the Yellow Jackets will take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami.

14. Oregon State Beavers (8-4) - The Beavers fell 37-33 to the Oregon Ducks on Thursday night in the Civil War. The loss also kept them from winning the Pac-Ten, and advancing to the Rose Bowl. The Beavers were unable to get the Ducks offense off the field, as they held it for the last 6:00. Brothers Jacquizz and James Rodgers led the offense for the Beavers, combining for 31 touchdowns. The Beavers fall one position with the loss, from # 13 to # 14. The Beavers will take on Brigham Young in the Las Vegas bowl on December 22nd.

15. Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-4) - The Cornhuskers were downed in the final second of the Big 12 title game on Saturday to Texas. Hunter Lawrence kicked a 46 yard field goal to send the Cornhuskers home in a loss. Nebraska’s offense was only able to manage five first downs in the game. With the loss, the Cornhuskers drop just one spot in the Top 25. Nebraska will finish their season on December 30th in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl against the Arizona Wildcats.

16. Texas Tech Red Raiders (8-4) - The Red Raiders finish the regular season at the # 16 position, down one spot from last week at # 15. The Red Raiders finished in third in the Big 12 - South, trailing Texas and Oklahoma State. Texas Tech’s four losses on the season came to Texas, Houston, Texas A+M and Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders offense is averaging 36.7 points per game. Texas Tech will take on Michigan State on January 2nd in the Alamo Bowl.

17. Stanford Cardinals (8-4) - The Cardinals took the weekend off, and waited for their bowl placement. Despite not playing, the Cardinals fell just one spot from # 16 to # 17. Stanford was led all season by Heisman candidate Toby Gerhart. The running back rushed 311 times for 1736 yards and 26 touchdowns. The Stanford offense scored 36.2 points per game, including back-to-back 51 and 55 point outbursts over Oregon and USC. Coach Harbaugh and his team will finish their season on December 31st against Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl in El Paso Texas.

18. Wisconsin Badgers (9-3) - Out of the Big Ten, the Wisconsin Badgers slide two positions upwards from # 20 to # 18. The Badgers finished the regular season on Saturday with a 51-10 thrashing over Hawaii. Quarterback Scott Tolzien threw for 253 yards, while running back John Clay rushed for 172 yards. Clay leads the team with 16 rushing touchdowns. The Badgers three losses this season came at Ohio State, with Iowa and at Northwestern. Wisconsin will travel to Orlando to take on the Miami Hurricanes on December 29th, in the Champs Sports Bowl.

19. Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-3) - The Cowboys finished the regular season at 0-3, but in their final week of the season, lost a shot at BCS Bowl game. Rival Oklahoma blasted the Cowboys 27-0. The Cowboys also lost to Houston and Texas on the season. Oklahoma State finished second place in the Big 12 - South, only behind Texas. The Cowboys move up three positions from # 22 to # 19. Oklahoma State will take on Ole Miss on January 2nd in the Cotton Bowl.

20. Utah Utes (9-3) - The Utes come in as the third Mountain West Conference team within the Top 25. Utah’s three losses were all to ranked teams; at Oregon, at Texas Christian University, and at Brigham Young. The Utes this season were led by running back Eddie Wide and his 1000+ yard season, and 12 touchdowns. The Utes this week, despite not playing move up from # 23 to # 20. Utah will take on California in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego, on December 23rd.

21. Pittsburgh Panthers (9-3) - Despite losing on Saturday, the Panthers remain # 21 in the rankings. Pittsburgh was a 45-44 loser at home to the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Panthers missed an extra point kick late in the game, that would put them up seven, and then were unable to stop Tony Pike and the Cincinnati offense. In the loss, Dion Lewis ran for just shy of 200 yards. On the season, Lewis finished with 1640 yards and 16 touchdowns. The loss for the Panthers dropped them to 5-2 in Big East play, a tie for second place with West Virginia. The Mountaineers win the tiebreaker with the head-to-head win on November 27th. Pittsburgh will finish their season on December 26th in the Meineke Car Care bowl against North Carolina.

22. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-4) - The Tar Heels finish the regular season at # 22, despite their four losses on the season. North Carolina, under Butch Davis sported a defense that allowed just under 17 points per game this season. The Tar Heels went unbeaten in non-conference games; beating Citadel, Connecticut, East Carolina and Georgia Southern. Tyler Yates led the offense for the Tar Heels, passing 323 times for 1953 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Tar Heels will finish their season on December 26th against Pittsburgh in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

23. West Virginia Mountaineers (9-3) - The Mountaineers claimed second place in the Big East with their 24-21 win over Rutgers, combined with a Pittsburgh loss. West Virginia intercepted a pass on the final drive to seal the deal. Noel Devine rushed for 65 yards to lead the way for West Virginia. On the season, Devine has rushed 225 times for 1297 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Mountaineers took a non conference loss at Auburn, and then were downed at South Florida and Cincinnati. The Mountaineers come in at # 23 after being unranked previously. West Virginia will play on New Years Day against the Florida State Seminoles.

24. Arizona Wildcats (8-4) - The Wildcats picked up a road win; 21-17 at USC on Saturday. The win for Arizona allowed them to move into second place in the Pac-Ten; tied with Oregon State and Stanford. The Wildcats beat both of those teams; allowing them the tiebreaker. The Wildcats in the win received 239 passing yards and 2 touchdowns from quarterback Nick Foles. Foles on the season has thrown for just under 2500 yards and 19 touchdowns. Arizona moves back into the Top 25, after being unranked last week. The Wildcats will take on Nebraska on December 30th in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl.

25. East Carolina Panthers (9-4) - The East Carolina Panthers move into the Top 25 after winning Conference USA on Saturday. The Panthers downed Houston 38-32to give head coach Skipp Holtz his first conference title. Patrick Pinkney, the Panthers quarterback completed 19 of 32 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. The Panthers defense intercepted Houston quarterback Case Keenum three times in the game. East Carolina will take on Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl on January 2nd.