Project Playoffs: 2009 post-bowls final standings and seedings

Standings in realigned conferences with seedings for a 16-team playoff. Seedings are derived from the Massey Comparison Rankings, which take every poll and computer rating into account. There is no reason to consider the BCS rankings as the ultimate authority for determining the top 16.

First-round match-ups:
16 USC at 1 Alabama
15 Nebraska at 2 Florida
14 LSU at 3 Texas
13 BYU at 4 Boise State
12 Georgia Tech at 5 TCU
11 Iowa at 6 Ohio State
10 Penn State at 7 Cincinnati
9 Oregon at 8 Virginia Tech

Click here for a full explanation of Project Playoffs.

Southern
1 Alabama (14-0)
14 LSU (9-4)
Ole Miss (9-4)
Auburn (8-5)
Tennessee (7-6)
Mississippi State (5-7)
Southern Miss (7-6)
Vanderbilt (2-10)
Memphis (2-10)

Southeast
2 Florida (13-1)
12 Georgia Tech (11-3)
Miami (9-4)
Clemson (9-5)
Georgia (8-5)
Florida State (7-6)
South Carolina (7-6)
South Florida (8-5)
Central Florida (8-5)

Mid-South
3 Texas (13-1)
5 TCU (12-1)
Oklahoma (8-5)
Arkansas (8-5)
Texas Tech (9-4)
Oklahoma State (9-4)
Texas A&M (6-7)
Baylor (4-8)
UTEP (4-8)

Northwest
4 Boise State (14-0)
9 Oregon (10-3)
13 BYU (11-2)
Utah (10-3)
Oregon State (8-5)
Air Force (8-5)
Washington (5-7)
Colorado (3-9)
Washington State (1-11)

North Central
6 Ohio State (11-2)
7 Cincinnati (12-1)
Notre Dame (6-6)
Michigan State (6-7)
Purdue (5-7)
Michigan (5-7)
Louisville (4-8)
Illinois (3-9)
Indiana (4-8)

Atlantic
8 Virginia Tech (10-3)
North Carolina (8-5)
East Carolina (9-5)
Kentucky (7-6)
Wake Forest (5-7)
North Carolina State (5-7)
Duke (5-7)
Virginia (3-9)
Maryland (2-10)

Northeast
10 Penn State (11-2)
Pittsburgh (10-3)
West Virginia (9-4)
Connecticut (8-5)
Navy (10-4)
Rutgers (9-4)
Boston College (8-5)
Syracuse (4-8)
Army (5-7)

Midwest
11 Iowa (11-2)
15 Nebraska (10-4)
Wisconsin (10-3)
Missouri (8-5)
Northwestern (8-5)
Minnesota (6-7)
Iowa State (7-6)
Kansas State (6-6)
Kansas (5-7)

Southwest
16 USC (9-4)
Stanford (8-5)
Arizona (8-5)
California (8-5)
UCLA (7-6)
Fresno State (8-5)
Arizona State (4-8)
Hawaii (6-7)
New Mexico (1-11)

Springer's Final Thoughts

And so another season of the college football pool has come to an end. The question I have gotten most since midseason is, "Who is this Steve Wells guy?" Wells has now won the Classix at Oaklawn, the NCAA tournament pool, and the college football pool. I guess the karma is good when you pay to build a church in Honduras and also when you host a victory bash to watch the BCS Championship Game. Arkansas Lottery, look out. In a year as unpredictable as any, Wells turned in a stellar performance. But the 2006 winner and resident pool heel, Jeremy Peppas, would like me to point out that his pool record of 162 points and 77 wins still stands.

Congratulations to everyone who won this season, including the champs of the Davis Cup, Shields Cup, Verizon Cup, and all the other side bets within the standings. I'd also like to note Jeff Kendall and Chad Chambliss, who continue to finish high in the standings year after year but have yet to place, and Michael Hinchey, who finished fifth this season after having his big-money dreams sabotaged by Troy for the second year in a row.

Thanks to everyone for entering, and thanks to those who provided me with so much entertainment during the season –– Scott Faldon's Five Things, Doug Virden's haikus, Jeff Goebel for the most entertaining game analysis available anywhere, Will Johnson and Robyn Edwards for the e-mail designs, Oscar Davis's weekly explanation for his picks, John Kriz's Seminole Fact of the Week, Janis Morrow and Brad Heifner for the conference calls, and all those funny comments in the e-mails every week. Special shout out to Moose Thomas for the Big Daddy.

After 111 games, I hope you feel like you got your $10 worth even if you didn't come close to winning. The whole idea of this pool is to add another element to the college football experience to make it even better than it already is, so I hope the pool accomplished that for you even when the ACC4 of Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida State, and Boston College as well as teams such as Oregon and Notre Dame were making a winning Saturday so difficult.

So until next time, remember, it's all about The U. 'Nuff said.

The next five games with be out August 31.

2, 3, 4...

Five Things (Liberty Bowl edition)

1. When watching soccer, you might hear the phrase "against the run of play." That means one team is dominating the match, and suddenly the other team manages to score an unexpected goal.

Arkansas' first 10 points in the Liberty Bowl were against the run of play. Obviously, since interceptions played a role.

The Razorbacks were absolutely man-handled by ECU on the lines. Petrino's recruiting needs to focus on bigger, stronger players on the OL and DL.

2. Who knew Memphis could double for Hoth? I'm pretty sure I saw a Razorback fan slitting open a tauntaun to survive.

I was disappointed there was no snow. After all, bad weather + football = awesome. (See Sunday's Colts at Bills game for proof.) How cold was it? So cold it cracked my Jeep's windshield.

3. Was anybody else skeeved by Eddie Money singing "Two Tickets to Paradise" to preteen cheerleaders? I kept waiting for Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC to walk onto stage. And did anybody else laugh at this exchange ...

Money: I just love this country!
Ronnie Spector : Me too!

4. Ryan Mallett needs a Crash Davis to teach him cliches for interviews.

Following the game, he behaved like a petulant brat during the press conference. First, he gave a condescending "You'll be the first to know" answer when asked about the NFL. Then, when Petrino was being asked about the offense's troubles against the ECU defense, Mallett rolled his eyes, shook his head, rolled his eyes again and then fixed a "go to hell" look on the reporter asking the question.

5. Is I-40 in West Memphis ever not under construction?

Thanks to d-bag drivers who rushed down the left lane, right up the barrels, before merging. Traffic was stopped and crawling before the dog track. Merge early and everybody can keep moving. Merge late, and you screw it up for everybody.

Then somewhere east of Little Rock, traffic stopped again. This time, rumor has it, for a wreck on the White River bridge near Devall's Bluff. I jumped off I-40 at Hazen and took backroads to North Little Rock. More scenic, but thanks to the delays it turned into a 6-hour drive to Fort Smith.

Next time, I have to remember to leave Memphis the same time as every other fan who lives west of the Mississippi River.

Ice Station Zebra, AKA the Liberty Bowl

MEMPHIS — It was so cold in Memphis Saturday night that Hell froze over and Alex Tejada made a clutch kick.
That's me, above, dressed for the weather and even then I was still cold.
By now you know that Arkansas won the Liberty Bowl in overtime against some directional school from one of the Carolinas. It isn't clear which Carolina, but we do know that East Carolina is not a state, but North and South Carolina are.
While you had drama on the field, it wasn't limited to there.
The MATA shuttle bus besides the one we rode back to the Peabody was cleared out. A man on the bus was feeling chest pains and then went into cardiac arrest, or for the non-medical types, he had a heart attack.
A group of doctors and nurses from Baptist Health in Little Rock began working on the man. I know this because their group had been split up and two of them were on the bus and sitting by me.
They reported that the man had been down for 20 minutes but was revived. It wasn't clear where the man was from or what his condition is now.
A search of the googles reveals that the Razorbacks expats site has a note on it as well.
http://www.arkansasexpats.com/2010/1/4/1232958/notes-from-the-south-endzone