Florida finished the year #1 in my Overall/Combined power rating. The Gators topped the Strength portion and were a close #2 in Success after undefeated Utah.
The final top ten for the 2008 season, Overall/Combined power rating:
# Team rec Overall Strength Success
1. Florida 13-1 58.46 [ 1] 38.05 [ 1] 20.40 [ 2]
2. Oklahoma 12-2 47.28 [ 2] 36.15 [ 2] 11.13 [ 5]
3. Southern Cal 12-1 45.48 [ 3] 33.93 [ 3] 11.54 [ 4]
4. Texas 12-1 44.86 [ 4] 31.02 [ 4] 13.84 [ 3]
5. Utah 13-0 39.93 [ 5] 19.04 [10] 20.89 [ 1]
6. Penn State 11-2 33.03 [ 6] 27.49 [ 5] 5.54 [11]
7. Texas Tech 11-2 30.40 [ 7] 21.69 [ 6] 8.70 [ 7]
8. Alabama 12-2 27.68 [ 8] 18.97 [11] 8.70 [ 6]
9. TCU 11-2 27.22 [ 9] 21.47 [ 7] 5.74 [10]
10. Mississippi 9-4 25.67 [10] 18.25 [13] 7.42 [ 8]
Oklahoma still finishes #2 despite their loss, with USC edging Texas for #3. The Longhorns' Success rating was hurt by Oklahoma's loss, as their win over the Sooners was giving them a lot of points.
Undefeated Utah comes in at 5th, their lower Strength rating sabotaging their top-ranked Success spot. Penn State, Texas Tech, Alabama, and TCU, all 2-loss teams, follow. Mississippi sneaks in at #10 after upsetting the Red Raiders.
The Strength subcomponent, which uses margin of victory, is a measure of how good teams are independent of their record. Florida and Oklahoma topped the list before their game last night and still do the next morning:
# Team rec Overall Strength Success
1. Florida 13-1 58.46 [ 1] 38.05 [ 1] 20.40 [ 2]
2. Oklahoma 12-2 47.28 [ 2] 36.15 [ 2] 11.13 [ 5]
3. Southern Cal 12-1 45.48 [ 3] 33.93 [ 3] 11.54 [ 4]
4. Texas 12-1 44.86 [ 4] 31.02 [ 4] 13.84 [ 3]
5. Penn State 11-2 33.03 [ 6] 27.49 [ 5] 5.54 [11]
6. Texas Tech 11-2 30.40 [ 7] 21.69 [ 6] 8.70 [ 7]
7. TCU 11-2 27.22 [ 9] 21.47 [ 7] 5.74 [10]
8. Missouri 10-4 22.42 [13] 20.08 [ 8] 2.33 [31]
9. Ohio State 10-3 22.47 [12] 19.41 [ 9] 3.05 [21]
10. Utah 13-0 39.93 [ 5] 19.04 [10] 20.89 [ 1]
Note that Utah is barely in the top ten. They often didn't win convincingly, but they always won. For comparison's sake, the undefeated Utah team from 2004 finished 4th in both Strength and Success, and #4 overall. That team had an easier schedule but won by a wider margin. You could say the 2004 team was better than the 2008 team but didn't have the necessary challenges on its schedule to rank higher. The 2004 team would rank #6 in Strength this year, and 6th overall.
Missouri and Ohio State rate quite a bit higher in Strength than Success, reflecting their lack of wins over tougher competition, but their ability to beat lesser foes convincingly, and/or stay close to tougher teams for the most part (the OSU-USC game and Missouri-Oklahoma notwithstanding).
In the Success component, undefeated Utah narrowly places ahead of 1-loss Florida:
# Team rec Overall Strength Success
1. Utah 13-0 39.93 [ 5] 19.04 [10] 20.89 [ 1]
2. Florida 13-1 58.46 [ 1] 38.05 [ 1] 20.40 [ 2]
3. Texas 12-1 44.86 [ 4] 31.02 [ 4] 13.84 [ 3]
4. Southern Cal 12-1 45.48 [ 3] 33.93 [ 3] 11.54 [ 4]
5. Oklahoma 12-2 47.28 [ 2] 36.15 [ 2] 11.13 [ 5]
6. Alabama 12-2 27.68 [ 8] 18.97 [11] 8.70 [ 6]
7. Texas Tech 11-2 30.40 [ 7] 21.69 [ 6] 8.70 [ 7]
8. Mississippi 9-4 25.67 [10] 18.25 [13] 7.42 [ 8]
9. Boise St 12-1 24.13 [11] 18.13 [14] 5.99 [ 9]
10. TCU 11-2 27.22 [ 9] 21.47 [ 7] 5.74 [10]
In this measure, which uses no score information other than to determine the winner of a game, Utah has enough big wins—#6 Alabama, #10 TCU, and #13 Oregon State—an no losses, which puts them just a touch above Florida. The Gators beat #5 Oklahoma, #6 Alabama, and #14 Georgia, and most of their other wins are over winning teams. When offset by their loss to #8 Mississippi, it almost gives them enough to place #1 despite the loss, but not quite.
The rest of the usual suspects follow, with notable inclusions of Mississippi—who has four losses but beat #2 Florida and #7 Texas Tech—Boise State (one loss to #10 TCU) and TCU, who beat #9 Boise State and only lost to #1 Utah and #5 Oklahoma.
#6 Alabama lost only to the top two teams, #2 Florida and #1 Utah, in their final two games.
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