Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon finish atop my Big Ten/SEC top 25 | Adams
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Indiana football completed an historic, unbeaten season by beating Miami in the national championship game Jan. 19.
The Hoosiers won almost everything.
They beat defending national champion Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. They beat Alabama, Oregon and Miami in the playoffs. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy.
And finally, they finished in No. 1 in my prestigious Big Ten/SEC top 25.
1. Indiana: The Hoosiers will be remembered as more than national champions. They will be regarded as one of college football’s greatest teams.
Not only did they go 16-0. Their average margin of victory against seven nationally ranked team was 20.9 points.
2. Ohio State: The Buckeyes roared through the 2024 playoffs on their way to the national championship − thanks, in part, to dominant play in the offensive and defensive lines. That made Miami’s upset victory in the playoff quarterfinals even more surprising.
Miami was superior in both lines in a 24-14 victory.
3. Oregon: Indiana’s decision to become a football school impacted the Ducks as much as anyone. They were 0-2 against the Hoosiers and 13-0 against everybody else.
4. Ole Miss: Never mind that turncoat coach Lane Kiffin is regarded as an offensive guru. The Ole Miss offense didn’t miss him in the playoffs after he abandoned the Rebels to become coach of LSU.
Ole Miss just didn’t have enough defense to advance to the national championship game.
5. Georgia: The Bulldogs looked like a possible national champion when they dismantled Alabama in the SEC championship game. But their dominant defensive performance apparently had more to do with the Tide’s offensive shortcomings.
The Rebels gained 473 yards in a 39-34 playoff victory over the Bulldogs.
6. Texas: The Longhorns finished strong. And quarterback Arch Manning finished even stronger.
Too bad for the SEC, conference commissioner Greg Sankey couldn’t have issued an executive order to replace Alabama with Texas in the playoffs.
7. Texas A&M: Mike Elko’s coaching reputation was built mainly on defense. That reputation was enhanced by how the Aggies offense performed in a playoff loss to Miami.
8. Oklahoma: The Sooners went 10-2 against a brutal regular-season schedule. They saved coach Brent Venables’ job in the process.
But they didn’t do Venables any favors in blowing a 17-0 lead on their home field in a first-round playoff loss to Alabama.
9. Southern California: The Trojans can match anybody in offensive highlights. USC’s defense can produce highlights of its own, as you might have noticed watching TCU’s Jeremy Payne run through the Trojans in the Alamo Bowl.
10. Iowa: The Hawkeyes capped a 9-4 season by upsetting Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Coach Kirk Ferentz might not take the Hawkeyes to the playoffs but keeps posting winning records. Iowa has had only two losing seasons in the past 25 years.
11. Alabama: The Tide’s one-sided loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game didn’t seem that bad after watching them get knocked around by Indiana in the playoffs.
12. Vanderbilt: The Commodores lost to Iowa, but quarterback Diego Pavia piled up more stats and highlights in the ReliaQuest Bowl. He produced 383 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in the 34-27 defeat. In his last three games, he totaled 1,348 yards.
Vanderbilt football won’t be the same without him.
13. Michigan: The Wolverines lost to Texas in the Citrus Bowl but got out of Orlando without another scandal. That’s progress.
Baby steps.
14. Washington: You might have overlooked the Huskies’ 38-10 victory over Boise State in the LA Bowl since it was played on Dec. 14 before anyone had realized the bowl season was underway. Highlights included five interceptions thrown by two Boise State quarterbacks.
15. Tennessee: The bowl season was no different from the regular season for the Vols, who lost to Illinois 30-28. They didn’t beat an FBS team with a winning record.
16. Missouri: The Tigers weren’t any better than the Vols against the best teams on their schedule. Their loss to Virginia left them 0-5 against nationally ranked opponents – but 8-0 against everybody else.
17. LSU: A bowl bid enabled the Tigers to score more than 25 points for the first time this season against an FBS opponent.
But their defense betrayed them in a 38-35 loss to Houston in the Texas Bowl that left them 7-6. Hopefully, you have forgotten that the Tigers began the season No. 1 in my top 25.
What a joke that turned out to be.
18. Minnesota: The Gophers capped an 8-5 season with a 20-17 overtime win over New Mexico in Some Third Rate Bowl, which I regret not recording (I was cleaning out my closets during the game). But I tuned in just in time to see Drake Lindsey’s game-winning touchdown pass.
19. Nebraska: The Cornhuskers completed another mediocre season by getting mauled by Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. Coach Matt Rhule is 19-19 after three seasons at Nebraska.
Nebraska coach Mike Riley was fired after going 19-19 in three seasons (2015-17). Rhule received a contract extension during his third season.
The standards have changed in Lincoln.
20. Northwestern: Kudos to the Wildcats, who were all in on the GameAbove Sports Bowl (or, if you prefer initials, the GAS Bowl). Not a single Wildcat opted out of the game or announced he planned to enter the transfer portal before Northwestern had its way with Central Michigan 34-7.
21. Penn State: Give the Nittany Lions credit. They didn’t opt out of the season at the midway mark despite the firing of coach James Franklin and season-ending injury to quarterback Drew Allar. They were rewarded with an invitation to a bowl played in a baseball stadium in sub-zero weather.
They beat Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl, won their last four games for a 7-6 record, and ended up in my top 25.
22. Auburn: The Tigers were bad enough to get Hugh Freeze fired. But they weren’t as bad as their 5-7 record. Six of their seven losses were by seven points or fewer.
23. Mississippi State: This deep into my top 25, compliments are hard to come by. But you can say this about the Bulldogs: They weren’t easily embarrassed.
Despite a 5-7 record, they didn’t decline a bowl invitation and agreed to make another public appearance.
I won’t penalize them for losing a bowl game.
24. Rutgers: One of the advantages to having co-defensive coordinators is that a head coach has two people to blame when things go awry. Greg Schiano executed a co-coordinator firing after a 5-7 season.
However, he probably should have booted one of them at halftime of the Oregon game when the Ducks were on their way to 56 points and 750 yards.
25. Kentucky: You might question how seriously the Wildcats take football based on their 5-7 record and a dreadful last two games in which they were outscored 86-17 combined by Vanderbilt and Louisville.
But Kentucky made a huge commitment to the sport by firing coach Mark Stoops, who had a $38 million buyout.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon finish atop my Big Ten/SEC top 25
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