While the Oregon Ducks couldn't quite finish their ultimate quest Monday night in the BCS National Championship Game, they managed, along with the Stanford Cardinal, to accomplish something in the final college football rankings never before achieved by the Pac-10 conference. The final Associated Press poll has been released, and by no surprise the victorious Auburn Tigers are No. 1, the fifth straight SEC team to capture the honor. But Oregon is No. 3 and Stanford is No. 4, giving the Pac-10 two teams in the final AP top four for the first time ever.
The TCU Horned Frogs, who won the Rose Bowl over the Wisconsin Badgers, finished No. 2 in the final poll. TCU captured three first place votes, by those unimpressed with last night's game. The No. 2 finish was the highest finish for TCU since winning the national championship in 1938.
Here is the full AP top 25:
1 Auburn (56) 14-0
2 TCU (3) 13-0
3 Oregon 12-1
4 Stanford 12-1
5 Ohio State 12-1
6 Oklahoma 12-2
7 Wisconsin 11-2
8 LSU 11-2 1,0-1
9 Boise State 12-1
10 Alabama 10-3
11 Nevada 13-1
12 Arkansas 10-3
13 Oklahoma State 11-2
14 Michigan State 11-2
15 Mississippi State 9-4
16 Virginia Tech 11-3
17 Florida State 10-4
18 Missouri 10-3
19 Texas A&M 9-4
20 Nebraska 10-4
21 UCF 11-3
22 South Carolina 9-5
23 Maryland 9-4 1
24 Tulsa 10-3
25 North Carolina State 9-4
The Pac-10 has had two teams finish in the AP top six just two other times. In 1952, USC finished No. 5 with UCLA No. 6. In 1982, the Pac-10 had three in the top seven, with UCLA No. 5, Arizona St No. 6, and Washington No. 7. In this year's poll, Oregon and Stanford were the only Pac-10 teams in the top 25.