Final 1-128 Re-rank: Ohio State ascends, TCU comes in at No. 2

Paul Myerberg | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption Who will make next year's College Football Playoff? USA TODAY Sports' Dan Wolken and George Schroeder looks at contenders for the next national championship.

It took four months, hundreds of games and a College Football Playoff, but here we stand: Beginning with team No. 1 — fairly obvious after the title game — through team No. 128, the USA TODAY Sports college football re-ranking is complete.

And without much controversy, in fact.

Ohio State's an obvious pick for the top spot after defeating Oregon 42-20 to claim the national championship. Oregon, meanwhile, slides to No. 3 after its second loss of the season. Smack in the middle is TCU, which finished 12-1 after rolling past Mississippi in the Peach Bowl.

Rounding out the top 10 are Florida State, Alabama, Michigan State, Baylor, Boise State, Georgia Tech and UCLA. In total, the Pac-12 and SEC combined for 13 of the top 25 teams; in specific, the Pac-12 South Division and SEC West Division combined for nine of the top 25.

The worst teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, per the re-ranking, were Georgia State, Idaho, Eastern Michigan, New Mexico State, Connecticut and SMU, among others.

And what of the re-ranking's success rate? We can look at it in one of two ways: one, that 16 teams were ranked in our preseason top 25, or two, that nine of the final top 25 were unranked in the preseason. Let's choose to focus on the former and ignore the latter.

1. Ohio State (14-1, 8-0) | 2. TCU (12-1, 8-1) | 3. Oregon (13-2, 8-1) | 4. Florida State (13-1, 8-0) | 5. Alabama (12-2, 7-1) | 6. Michigan State (11-2, 7-1) | 7. Baylor (11-2, 8-1) | 8. Boise State (12-2, 7-1) – UP 9 | 9. Georgia Tech (11-3, 6-2) | 10. UCLA (10-3, 6-3)

11. Georgia (10-3, 6-2) | 12. Missouri (11-3, 7-1) | 13. Arizona State (10-3, 6-3) | 14. Wisconsin (11-3, 7-1) | 15. Mississippi (9-4, 5-3) – DOWN 6 | 16. Mississippi State (10-3, 6-2) – DOWN 8 | 17. Clemson (10-3, 6-2) | 18. Arizona (10-4, 7-2) – DOWN 8 | 19. USC (9-4, 6-3) | 20. Utah (9-4, 5-4)

21. Kansas State (9-4, 7-2) | 22. Marshall (13-1, 7-1) – UP 9 | 23. Memphis (10-3, 7-1) | 24. Stanford (8-5, 5-4) | 25. Auburn (8-5, 4-4) | 26. Nebraska (9-4, 5-3) | 27. Louisville (9-4, 5-3) | 28. Northern Illinois (11-3, 7-1) | 29. Duke (9-4, 5-3) | 30. Notre Dame (8-5, 0-0)

31. LSU (8-5, 4-4) – DOWN 6 | 32. Colorado State (10-3, 6-2) | 33. Texas A&M (8-5, 3-5) – UP 5 | 34. Minnesota (8-5, 5-3) | 35. Air Force (10-3, 5-3) | 36. Utah State (10-4, 6-2) | 37. Oklahoma (8-5, 5-4) – DOWN 7 | 38. Arkansas (7-6, 2-6) | 39. Cincinnati (9-4, 7-1) | 40. Toledo (9-4, 7-1)

41. Georgia Southern (9-3, 8-0) | 42. Louisiana Tech (9-5, 7-1) | 43. UCF (9-4, 7-1) | 44. Louisiana-Lafayette (9-4, 7-1) | 45. West Virginia (7-6, 5-4) – DOWN 5 | 46. Oklahoma State (7-6, 4-5) | 47. Brigham Young (8-5, 0-0) | 48. Washington (8-6, 4-5) | 49. Florida (7-5, 4-4) – UP 8 | 50. South Carolina (7-6, 3-5)

51. Tennessee (7-6, 3-5) – UP 8 | 52. East Carolina (8-5, 5-3) | 53. Iowa (7-6, 4-4) – DOWN 10 | 54. Texas (6-7, 5-4) | 55. Navy (8-5, 0-0) | 56. Rutgers (8-5, 3-5) – UP 7 | 57. Maryland (7-6, 4-4) | 58. North Carolina State (8-5, 3-5) | 59. Penn State (7-6, 2-6) | 60. Western Michigan (8-5, 6-2)

61. Boston College (7-6, 4-4) – DOWN 9 | 62. Houston (8-5, 5-3) | 63. Virginia Tech (7-6, 3-5) | 64. San Diego State (7-6, 5-3) | 65. Miami (Fla.) (6-7, 3-5) | 66. Western Kentucky (8-5, 4-4) | 67. Rice (8-5, 5-3) | 68. Pittsburgh (6-7, 4-4) – DOWN 7 | 69. Nevada (7-6, 4-4) | 70. Appalachian State (7-5, 6-2)

71. Central Michigan (7-6, 5-3) | 72. Bowling Green (8-6, 5-3) | 73. North Carolina (6-7, 4-4) – DOWN 8 | 74. California (5-7, 3-6) | 75. Arkansas State (7-6, 5-3) | 76. Kentucky (5-7, 2-6) | 77. Illinois (6-7, 3-5) | 78. Temple (6-6, 4-4) | 79. Texas State (7-5, 5-3) | 80. Oregon State (5-7, 2-7) |

81. Virginia (5-7, 3-5) | 82. UAB (6-6, 4-4) | 83. UTEP (7-6, 5-3) | 84. Fresno State (6-8, 5-3) | 85. Michigan (5-7, 3-5) | 86. Middle Tennessee State (6-6, 5-3) | 87. Northwestern (5-7, 3-5) | 88. South Alabama (6-7, 5-3) | 89. Ohio (6-6, 4-4) | 90. Ball State (5-7, 4-4)

91. Old Dominion (6-6, 4-4) | 92. Indiana (4-8, 1-7) | 93. Texas Tech (4-8, 2-7) | 94. Colorado (2-10, 0-9) | 95. Akron (5-7, 3-5) | 96. Washington State (3-9, 2-7) | 97. Louisiana-Monroe (4-8, 3-5) | 98. South Florida (4-8, 3-5) | 99. Buffalo (5-6, 3-4) | 100. Hawaii (4-9, 3-5)

101. Tulane (3-9, 2-6) | 102. New Mexico (4-8, 2-6) | 103. Kansas (3-9, 1-8) | 104. Wyoming (4-8, 2-6) | 105. Purdue (3-9, 1-7) | 106. UTSA (4-8, 3-5) | 107. Syracuse (3-9, 1-7) | 108. Wake Forest (3-9, 1-7) | 109. Florida International (4-8, 3-5) | 110. Iowa State (2-10, 0-9)

111. North Texas (4-8, 2-6) | 112. Army (4-8, 0-0) | 113. Vanderbilt (3-9, 0-8) | 114. Florida Atlantic (3-9, 2-6) | 115. San Jose State (3-9, 2-6) | 116. Southern Mississippi (3-9, 1-7) | 117. Massachusetts (3-9, 3-5) | 118. Tulsa (2-10, 2-6) | 119. Troy (3-9, 3-5) | 120. Miami (Ohio) (2-10, 2-6) | 121. UNLV (2-11, 1-7) | 122. Kent State (2-9, 1-6) | 123. SMU (1-11, 1-7) | 124. Connecticut (2-10, 1-7) | 125. New Mexico State (2-10, 1-7) | 126. Eastern Michigan (2-10, 1-7) | 127. Idaho (1-10, 1-7) | 128. Georgia State (1-11, 0-8)

New to the top 25 :

No. 20 Utah (No. 27). The Utes give the Pac-12 South Division yet another team inside the top 25.

No. 22 Marshall (No. 31). The Thundering Herd put together their most impressive performance of the season by taking apart Northern Illinois in bowl play.

No. 23 Memphis (No. 34). Yeah, Memphis. It won't be long before Justin Fuente draws the attention of major programs across the country.

No. 24 Stanford (No. 33). Below expectations, true, but the Cardinal will be motivated to make next season a memorable one.

Out of the top 25 :

No. 26 Nebraska (No. 23). Another nine-win season with a major impact. It's on Mike Riley to change that trend.

No. 27 Louisville (No. 21). The Cardinals drop out after failing to put up much of a fight in a bowl loss to Georgia.

No. 28 Northern Illinois (No. 31). That the Huskies won another conference title while retooling behind a new cast paints a positive picture for the near future.

No. 31 LSU (No. 25). LSU loses five games for the second time in Les Miles' tenure.

Three big leaps :

No. 8 Boise State (No. 17). The Broncos were by leaps and bounds the top team from outside the major conferences.

No. 33 Texas A&M (No. 38). While it was a rocky road, the Aggies should feel somewhat positive about their eight-win finish.

No. 51 Tennessee (No. 59). A great bowl performance gives the Volunteers some juice heading into the offseason.

Three big drops :

No. 73 North Carolina (No. 65). The Tar Heels' miserable season ended in fittingly miserable fashion.



No. 53 Iowa (No. 43). Congratulations are in order for the Hawkeyes, who put forth the worst bowl performance of the postseason.

No. 18 Arizona (No. 10). To call this anything but a successful season would be ridiculous. But the Wildcats limped to the finish line with losses to Oregon and Boise State.