SB Nation 2011 College Football Rankings
Jan 10, 2012 - There will be no split national championship -- but there won't be a unanimous one, either.
While the Alabama Crimson Tide's 21-0 thumping of the LSU Tigers convinced the vast majority of AP voters to vote them No. 1, there were still five holdouts: one stubborn soul who stuck with LSU, who beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa earlier this season and ended the season in second place, and four who voted in favor of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, which finished in third. All three schools finished with one loss.
After Monday's BCS National Championship, Tigers head coach Les Miles was asked if he felt his team deserved any first-place consideration from AP voters. From ASAP Sports:
Q. Coach, you didn't want to address this before about whether or not you might deserve an AP title. You won the division. You won the conference. Do you think there's a case that your team could make as 13‑1 for AP votes, or would you consider Alabama unanimous national champion now?
COACH MILES: Well, the only thing I can tell you is we think we had a great year; that this football team had as quality a run as there is in this country. Played eight nationally ranked teams. Played in six stadiums before the SEC championship game, which we won as well.
I think this team accomplished a lot. I think that's for the voters to figure.
Other notable risers include Oregon and Arkansas, who climbed into the top five following bowl wins over Wisconsin and Kansas State, respectively. USC, serving the second year of a postseason ban, slipped from No. 5 to No. 6 without even playing a game. While the top of the ranking was certainly shuffled, no team that was ranked in the top 10 entering bowl season slipped out.
Way, way down at the bottom of the rankings in the "also receiving votes" end of things, it's interesting to see that the FCS champion North Dakota State Bison -- the only team on this list to play in an actual college football playoff game -- received a token two points.
The full AP rankings appear below:
| Rank | Team | Record | Votes | Previous |
| 1 | Alabama (55) | 12-1 | 1,495 | 2 |
| 2 | LSU (1) | 13-1 | 1,425 | 1 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State (4) | 12-1 | 1,399 | 3 |
| 4 | Oregon | 12-2 | 1,250 | 6 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 11-2 | 1,198 | 7 |
| 6 | USC | 10-2 | 1,181 | 5 |
| 7 | Stanford | 11-2 | 1,167 | 4 |
| 8 | Boise State | 12-1 | 1,127 | 8 |
| 9 | South Carolina | 11-2 | 1,013 | 10 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 11-3 | 905 | 9 |
| 11 | Michigan State | 11-3 | 873 | 12 |
| 12 | Michigan | 11-2 | 839 | 13 |
| 13 | Baylor | 10-3 | 780 | 15 |
| 14 | TCU | 11-2 | 653 | 16 |
| 15 | Kansas State | 10-3 | 621 | 11 |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 10-3 | 572 | 19 |
| 17 | West Virginia | 10-3 | 547 | 23 |
| 18 | Houston | 13-1 | 518 | 20 |
| 19 | Georgia | 10-4 | 439 | 18 |
| 20 | Southern Miss | 12-2 | 411 | 22 |
| 21 | Virginia Tech | 11-3 | 329 | 17 |
| 22 | Clemson | 10-4 | 188 | 14 |
| 23 | Florida State | 9-4 | 154 | 25 |
| 24 | Nebraska | 9-4 | 143 | 21 |
| 25 | Cincinnati | 10-3 | 103 | NR |
Also receiving votes: Brigham Young 51, Auburn 40, Northern Illinois 33, Missouri 23, Texas 15, Rutgers 3, Penn State 2, North Dakota State 2, Virginia 1
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