There’s no reason to wait for Alabama to play in the national title game because the rankings won’t change: The Tide is the best team in the league by a wide margin.
Think of the power rankings as a “right here, right now” thing. Instead of a snapshot of the whole season, the rankings instead reflect how each team was playing at the end of the season; thus, in some cases teams are ranked ahead of teams that beat them earlier in the season.
14. SOUTH CAROLINA
Final record: 3-9.
The buzz: This was the Gamecocks’ worst season since they went 0-11 in 1999, Lou Holtz’s first year at the school.