Florida is the mythical champion. Some of us knew it all along.

Other than the very top, of course, the AP poll mystery I was most looking forward to today was the placement of BYU, because it's crucial to informing the top: I don't think the Cougars belong anywhere near the polls, personally, with a marquee win over Air Force, but they sneak in at No. 25, anyway, and at No. 21 in the Coach's poll. That means Utah can proudly claim victories over four ranked teams -- two in the final top seven -- instead of only three. I'm not necessarily destined to rank the Utes No. 1 on my year-end ballot (a draft should be up later today), but I am pretty confident than the same resumé with a different logo on the helmet would have met with far more approval. 

Not that it matters: Florida, as expected, brought in three times as many votes as the Utes, whose pluck, perfection and politicking earned them only 16 first-place nods from the writers. Utah thereby finishes a very respectable No. 2 in the media ballot, though only fourth by USA Today, despite the efforts of a single, lonely coach who broke ranks to vote the Utes No. 1 (thanks, Coach Whittingham).

Speaking of which, Mack Brown apparently backed down on his post-Fiesta Bowl promise to cast his top vote for the Longhorns: Texas did not receive a first place vote from the coaches or writers. The Horns do, however, finish ahead of Oklahoma, which dropped to fifth in both polls following its loss to the Gators, and that's a fine consolation prize.

Other notes on the final polls:

  • Texas Tech is dissed at No. 12 by coaches and writers alike, far behind their 11-2 peers Alabama (No. 6 in both polls), TCU (7th) and Penn State (8th), as well as two teams (Ohio State and Oregon) that finished with worse records and no wins even approaching the value of the Raiders' takedown of Texas. Which just, you know, beat Ohio State, by the way. The coaches (although not the writers) also rank Georgia ahead of the Raiders, at No. 11.

Ohio State finished 10-3, with all three losses to teams in the final top eight, but beat one team in the final poll (No. 24 Michigan State, hooray) and only one other team (Northwestern) that even received a vote. The Spartans double as the best win on Georgia's ledger. Texas Tech had a better record than both, wins over two teams in both polls' top-20 (Texas and Oklahoma State) and over another two teams (Nebraska and Kansas) that received votes. Its resumé is arguably the most impressive of any two-loss team below Oklahoma, and Alabama and Penn State (which have only one win apiece over a top-20 opponent) both lost bowl games in convincing fashion, too. What is the difference?

• No. 10 Oregon, at 10-3, finishes one spot ahead of Boise State, 12-1, by whom the Ducks were defeated at home in September. The coaches rank 10-4 Missouri two spots ahead of 9-4 Oklahoma State, to whom the Tigers were defeated at home in October. Both polls rank 9-4 Michigan State No. 24, one spot in the Coach's poll and two spots in the AP ahead of 9-4 California, by whom the Spartans were defeated in August. No editorial comment, just noting.

• Besides Texas Tech, the other egregious snub is 9-4 Iowa, which finishes No. 20 in both polls despite winning six of its last seven with a top-10 win over Penn State, a claim 9-4 Missouri, Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech can't even begin to match. Yet the Tigers, Cowboys and Hokies are all ahead of the Hawkeyes according to both votes. Tech, I understand, as a conference champion with a decent number of quality wins (middling quality wins, coming from the ACC, but quality wins nonetheless). But Missouri and Oklahoma State? For beating who, exactly? That just seems lazy.