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ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

by Ted Bauer

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We've cropped this photo so many times, it's essentially lost all meaning.

TEN YEARS OF BCS TITLE GAMES, AND YOU GOTTA GO WITH TEXAS VS. USC AS THE BEST ONE, RIGHT?

What is "All-World Power Rankings?"

Interesting: "BCS" is an abbreviation for many things. For tonight, only one matters. By about 11:30pm EST, either Urban Meyer or Bob Stoops will be the first coach with two BCS Championships under their belt. Simple math: this is the 11th BCS Title game, meaning (you following along?) there have been 10 prior. Since these rankings usually need nine slots, we'll rank 9 of the 10 so far. What do we jettison? USC 55, Oklahoma 19. That game was just awful to watch. Now, ranking a list of games isn't necessarily the most interesting thing in world history (this is), so for each game, we're going to offer a "sidebar discussion" for you and your friends. Cool? Here we go.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
1 (14) TEXAS 41, USC 38 (2005) You know how this ended. Sidebar: will this stand as Vince Young's career high-water mark?
2 (410) OHIO STATE 31, MIAMI 24 (2002) Here's the last play. Sidebar 1: if not for the pass interference call, would people consider this the best college football game of this decade, or was USC/Texas truly better? Sidebar 2: aside from games within the Michigan rivalry, will this always be Tressel's biggest win?
3 (21) TENNESSEE 23, FLORIDA STATE 16 (1998) The first BCS Title game ever. Great clip here where Keith Jackson, who was "retiring," gets all misty about life at the end of the game. Sidebar: since he's been upstaged by Tee Martin and his lil' bro, why do we value Peyton Manning as much as we do in this society?
4 (127) OKLAHOMA 13, FLORIDA STATE 2 (2000) Here ya go. Sidebar 1: why do colleges always hire coaches that have been fired at other places, when this game is a clear example of what a focused coordinator given a shot (Stoops) can do within a few seasons? Sidebar 2: is this game relevant to this year's game?
5 (899) MIAMI 37, NEBRASKA 14 (2001) At this point in the list, the games get a lot worse. We'll throw this at No. 5 because of our sidebar question: were the '01 Hurricanes the best college football team, at least talent-wise, ever?

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY) WHAT WHY
18 (144) LSU 21, OKLAHOMA 14 (2003) We were kinda rooting for 'Bama vs. OU this year for a Saban vs. Stoops II, although honestly, this game wasn't that good. (Oklahoma scored late to finish within seven.) Sidebar: are Saban and Stoops the two best recruiters in America, or is it ridiculous to even propose that?
28 (701) FLORIDA STATE 46, VIRGINIA TECH 29 (1999) Man, Michael Vick was so exciting to watch, wasn't he? (Too soon?) He wasn't as dominant in this game. Sidebar 1: is this the most un-necessarily long Wikipedia entry for a generally below-average game in history? Sidebar 2: what happened to Peter Warrick?

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT WHAT
FLORIDA 41, OSU 14 IN 2006 (A rout, but it taught us a lot about the Gators and Buckeyes that we still believe.)
LSU 38, OSU 24 IN 2007 (Game was just boring to watch.)


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