Michigan #12 in final AP Football Poll
B1G teams in bold.
1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Oklahoma State
4. Oregon
5. Arkansas
6. Southern California
7. Stanford
8. Boise State
9. South Carolina
10. Wisconsin
11. Michigan State
12. Michigan
13. Baylor
14. TCU
15. Kansas State
16. Oklahoma
17. West Virginia
18. Houston
19. Georgia
20. Southern Mississippi
21. Virginia Tech
22. Clemson
23. Florida State
24. Nebraska
25. Cincinnati
January 10th, 2012 at 8:17 AM ^
Two B1G teams with three losses are ahead of us? Shenanigans, I say. I (sorta) get MSU since they beat us, but Wiscy too? I mean, USC lost to Stanford and there they are, slightly worse record but one slot higher. Humans suck...
January 10th, 2012 at 8:24 AM ^
I get your point, but I honestly thought that Wisconsin and MSU looked a bit better than the rest of the B1G. Plus, Wisconsin's losses were all very, very close, while Michigan lost by double digits to both MSU and Iowa.
What's funny is Wisconsin outplayed MSU in the first game between them, but MSU won... then in the second game, MSU outplayed Wisconsin, but Wisconsin won.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:29 AM ^
But I still agree with what you say
January 10th, 2012 at 8:32 AM ^
Ah, my bad. For whatever reason I thought it had been by 10.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:56 AM ^
either way i understand....however i dont understand the jump for beating an average georgia team because of missed field goals
January 10th, 2012 at 9:29 AM ^
Georgia was the 4th best team in a stacked SEC. Also, it's not like Georgia has a terrible kicker... he's the all-time SEC leading scorer. He missed one, but the other one was blocked.
It took Michigan a lot of lucky bounces to beat a pretty average VT team, which got crushed twice by an average Clemson team which got murdered by a slightly above-average WVU team.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:41 AM ^
Dr. Saturday did an article on Georgia this year. They had literally the easiest SEC schedule in the history of the BCS era. Before the bowl games because this probably changed, they had only beaten 1 team with a winning record. Their opponents who they beat winning percentage was something like 33%. I don't think UGA was the 4th best SEC team. I don't think anybody knows exactly how good the were this year except deffinately not a top 15 team in my opinion.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^
they were 11-3 vs the 60th ranked SOS. By definition an "average" team would go 6-6 vs the 60th ranked SOS. VT was a good team, as their rankings from 11th to 21st in the final polls show.
January 10th, 2012 at 10:11 AM ^
Sigh.... don't regurgitate SEC stuff. SEC was not stacked this year. Big 12 was the best conference...
January 10th, 2012 at 10:52 AM ^
Yes, and msu got crushed by Nebraska which got crushed by Michigan. So what's your point? Georgia was an average team this year that didn't beat anyone worth a damn. VT would have crushed Georgia.
January 10th, 2012 at 11:20 AM ^
I'll take that bet. Who did VT beat?
January 10th, 2012 at 11:32 AM ^
SEC team
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January 10th, 2012 at 9:24 AM ^
except for that nasty little situation where MSU lost to Nebraska by 21 and Notre Dame by 18.
There is no way they should be ranked ahead of us in the final poll.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:25 AM ^
USC beat Oregon, Stanford got crushed by the 5'6 160lb kids thats why they are there. Maybe Wisky should be behind us but nothing about our bowl performance should put us any higher. We played like LSU but won.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^
I see what you did there...
January 10th, 2012 at 8:23 AM ^
WE WON 12th PLACE!!!!!
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!
January 10th, 2012 at 8:34 AM ^
LSU should not be second. LSU had a great run during the regular season, but when you stink it up like that in your last game, there is no way you should be second in the nation. And that's why I'm not too upset with Michigan at 12, either. We did not play well in our bowl game--not like a top ten team. And if completely crapping it up in your bowl game doesn't matter, then Clemson should be rated higher than VT.
January 10th, 2012 at 8:38 AM ^
I agree. After what happened in the bowl games, Okie State should be #2.
As for Clemson and VT... Clemson showed it sucked in the bowl game, but it also showed that it was clearly superior to VT by beating them twice by a combined 48 points... so I don't get why VT is ahead of Clemson. That entire conference is just not very good at football.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:07 AM ^
I could make the argument for VT ahead of Clemson. VT had less losses and plays in the same conference. VT did play a little easier schedule which might bump them ahead in the final BCS, but VT was at one point ranked number 5 in the country before losing in the ACC championship game. Do I think VT is a top 10 team? No. But I do think a definate case can be made that Clemson is just a bad match-up for whatever reason against Clemson. Kind of like how NW is a bad match-up against Iowa even though Iowa is pretty much always the better team.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:04 AM ^
Damn, I was really looking forward to the ensuing meltdown wafting out of EL. Oh well.
- 11-2 record
- Top 10 Defense in points allowed per game
- Big Ten Coach of the Year
- Rimington Award winner/B1G OL of the Year/All-America center
- #12 final ranking
- Majority of the starters returning in 2012
- and Sugar Bowl Champions.
meh, I still feel pretty good about how the season finished up.
Go Blue!
January 10th, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^
Go Blue!
January 10th, 2012 at 12:37 PM ^
Victors in The Game
January 10th, 2012 at 9:08 AM ^
F the coache's poll. I like the USA Today/ Coache's poll instead.
January 10th, 2012 at 10:01 AM ^
What?
I'm guessing you meant the AP poll?
January 10th, 2012 at 9:13 AM ^
does this ranking carry over to next year then? I dont see how MSU could have that rank when they are losing lots of contributors and key players next year
January 10th, 2012 at 9:18 AM ^
They may be losing a lot on offense, but they bring back 9 starters on a great defense. I think they could justify such a ranking going into next season.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:30 AM ^
With 8 returning starters on a top 5 defense, MSU will probably be top 15 going into next season. The defense will keep MSU in games.
They also return 4/5 on the OL and a very good RB in Le'Veon Bell.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:33 AM ^
I'm not bashing the OP for posting the AP poll, but it is meaningless. The only poll that matters is the BCS and since the AP poll is not calculated into the BCS, that is proof that it is meaningless.
I always get annoyed when I see/hear people talking about split championships still. They don't exist because the only poll that matters is the BCS.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:42 AM ^
Begs to disagree.
The AP poll is the longest running poll. I'd also wager that the average person considers it the most legit of the human polls. Does it factor into the BCS? No. But if the AP votes for a different #1 than the BCS you can be damn sure it'll be considered a "split national championship" that year.
January 10th, 2012 at 2:01 PM ^
USC can claim a national title all they want in 2003, but the BCS title game winner that season is the only champion. Split champions don't happen anymore. The true champion is the number one BCS team.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:46 AM ^
At this point, the BCS poll is also meaningless, as the FINAL BCS poll is released before the bowl games. After the bowls, the poll which matters in a BCS context is the Coaches poll.
Really, though, what the two polls (AP, Coaches) is that the top of the Big Ten are considered pretty much interchangeable. AP says 9-11 are Michigan, msu, Wisconsin, while Coaches poll says 10-12 are Wisconsin, msu, Michigan. In both polls, there aren't many points separating the three.
Besides, everyone knows the poll that REALLY matters is the blog poll.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:49 AM ^
Actually, the BCS poll is just as "meaningless" as the AP poll. Until there is a playoff to determine a true champion, it's all myth, opinion, and politics. Most media voters cover their own teams and conferences, and are really guessing on everyone else. The media are just like we are as fans; we see a record and highlights, but we really don't have context within which to put a lot of the info.
Consequently, we don't really know who is better between Oregon, Stanford, and USC, while people out west don't know who is better between Michigan, Sparty, and Wiscy. And nobody really knows whether Stanford or Ok State could have won a true National Championship becuase neither was provided an opportunity to do so.
The polls are simply an amalgamation of semi-educated guesses: nothing more, nothing less.
January 10th, 2012 at 2:05 PM ^
I don't disagree with anything you posted, but with the system that is currently in place, the AP poll means absolutely nothing when it comes to the champion. The BCS title game winner, whether we like the system or not, is the true champion. Since the AP poll isn't calculated into the BCS anymore, it's a meaningless poll.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:42 AM ^
Although know how I would rank teams because I dont have information with teams outside of the big ten to see three team from the B1G ranked that far above WVU is suprising. Not complaining at all and I think the rankings are fair all around. MSU vs Michigan is too close to call for me and I am satisifed with being above them in the coaches and below in the AP, seems to justify me own feelings about the season.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:43 AM ^
what do Michigan fans expect from a bunch of people that largely hate Michigan.
January 10th, 2012 at 9:50 AM ^
spot that matters in the rankings, at the end of the season, is number 1
January 10th, 2012 at 9:54 AM ^
I don't love Sparty/Wiscy ahead of us, but this seems about right. Great season, gutty senior class, etc., etc., but our best wins were: (1) VT in a game in which we did not exactly dominate; (2) over #24 Nebraska at home; and (3) over unranked ND (in a game in which we did not exactly dominate). This should translate into a supportable preseason top ten ranking; I'm looking forward to seeing Team 133 go out there and back it up!
January 10th, 2012 at 10:10 AM ^
I thought we only lost by 8 to Iowa, not double digits as posted here earlier.
January 10th, 2012 at 10:40 AM ^
Oklahoma and West Virgina: Congrats on geting jobbed the most this year.
I'm pretty sure Oklahoma is a better team than KSU and TCU.
January 10th, 2012 at 11:25 AM ^
While I will shed no tears for Okla as I think they are the most favored team in the BCS standings every year, they only beat K St by 41, so yeah pollsters can be very stupid.
January 10th, 2012 at 10:40 AM ^
If anything this could be a blessing in disguise. Hopefully this will act as another motivator for the 2012 season; a chip on the players' shoulders. If I were one of the players, this would make me want to win the B1G even more than before, to prove that Michigan is unparalleled and the best team in the conference.
January 10th, 2012 at 12:34 PM ^
Here's to Boise State fading into a distant memory in years to come.