Polling: Florida State ends 2013 on top
Jameis Winston led the Seminoles back to the Promised Land. (Photo coutesy: cbssports.com)
My final ballot for the Crystal Ball Run power poll:
CrystalBallRun.com Power Rankings Ballot – Final
1. Florida State
2. Michigan State
3. Auburn
4. Central Florida
5. Baylor
6. Oklahoma
7. South Carolina
8. Missouri
9. Clemson
10. Louisville
Just missed the cut: Ohio State
Notes:
*Again, I rank these teams based on quality of resume. I doubt anyone would quibble with FSU at No. 1. Give me Sparty in second place – MSU beat a handful of really strong teams this year and was a close shave at Notre Dame away from getting a shot the Seminoles.
*I'll take Auburn at No. 3 because the Tigers played a bear of a schedule and don't deserve much of a knock for playing FSU to the wire.
*In cases where teams have similar bodies of work, I try to make sure to give head-to-head wins as much due as possible. That can lead to logrolling situations such as Nos. 4-6. I'll put UCF ahead of Baylor by virtue of the Fiesta Bowl result. Baylor's dismantling of Oklahoma outranks the Sooners' win over Alabama.
*You can actually apply the same logic to South Carolina, Clemson and Missouri.
*If you wanted to move Ohio St. ahead of Louisville, I wouldn't stop you. I would say that the Cardinals' superior record means they had the better season, but I'd grant that the case is thin.