Last season was a historic year for the Southeastern Conference by topping an accumulated attendance of over seven million fans, first time ever for a conference. Expect the SEC attendance to rise further over the next couple years with additions by Texas A&M, Mississippi State, and LSU. 

By 2015, Texas A&M will have added on nearly 20,000 seats to its capacity. After the expansion, Kyle Field will be the largest capacity stadium in the SEC at 102,500 and will have the highest capacity in the state of Texas. Also if no other schools have further additions, Texas A&M will rank third overall nationally in capacity. In 2014, Mississippi State is also expanding the capacity of Davis Wade Stadium up to 61,337 and LSU is increasing capacity of Tiger Stadium to over 100,000. 

Despite a disappointing season, attendance for Missouri increased in 2012 when compared to the 2011 season. The Tigers went just 5-7 last year and failed to reach a bowl for the first time since 2004. The 2012 season was the first year in the SEC for Mizzou so that surely played a factor in their boost. 

The College Football Preseason Composite Rankings Top 126 takes into account three important factors in college football: recruiting, returning starters, and end of last season's polls. The composite rankings consist of the recruiting and returning starters rankings for 2013 and the final polls for the 2012-13 season (AP & Coaches); 41 teams received votes in the final polls.

In each of the three categories, teams are rated with a maximum of 126 points and a minimum of zero. For example in the recruiting rankings, Alabama has 472 points at No. 1 and Ohio State has 469 points at No. 2 so when converted to the composite rankings, the Tide receives 126 points and the Buckeyes receives 125.199 points (469/472 times 126). For teams not included in the Coaches Poll due to sanctions, their AP rank was duplicated.

This is another interesting look at ranking teams, but it is not exactly perfect. Some ratings are skewed. Northern Illinois appears drastically underrated, but that is mostly due to their dismal recruiting ranking. NIU did finish in the top 25 last season, but was one of the lowest teams ranked in the polls so not many points were garnered for the composite. Oddly, Indiana is just outside the top 25, but the Hoosiers bring back the most starters in the FBS with 21 and have the 45th rated recruiting class. The highest non-BCS teams are Boise State at No. 38 and Utah State at No. 53.

The CFU preseason rankings will be released sometime in May or early June. The CFU preseason top 126 will be based on which teams I rate as the best. 

1. Alabama 336

2. Notre Dame 324.729

3. Ohio State 320.42

4. Georgia 317.642

5. Oregon 311.997

6. Texas A&M 294.155

7. Clemson 270.505

8. Florida 268.644

9. South Carolina 266.99

10. Louisville 265.106

11. LSU 264.224

12. Stanford 263.581

13. Florida State 254.156

14. Oklahoma 232.582

15. Ole Miss 226.525

16. Texas 224.909

17. Miami FL 222.508

18. Washington 220.513

19. Vanderbilt 215.488

20. Auburn 214.653

21. Northwestern 214.026

22. Michigan 210.018

23. Oklahoma State 206.574

24. USC 205.716

25. UCLA 205.089

26. Indiana 201.547

27. Oregon State 201.226

28. Nebraska 194.538

29. Michigan State 193.551

30. Tennessee 188.898

31. Baylor 187.695

32. Virginia Tech 186.369

33. Wisconsin 185.681

34. North Carolina 185.161

35. California 183.559

35. Virginia 183.559

37. Arizona 183.464

38. Boise State 182.716

39. Pittsburgh 182.492

40. TCU 181.401

41. Washington State 180.737

42. Penn State 180.71

43. Mississippi State 179.835

44. Kansas State 178.039

45. Arkansas 174.496

46. Arizona State 173.204

47. Missouri 169.284

48. Wake Forest 168.992

49. Kentucky 168.356

50. Maryland 167.148

51. Colorado 163.119

52. Cincinnati 162.427

53. Utah State 161.07

54. Iowa 157.665

55. Marshall 157.258

56. Illinois 156.343

57. Bowling Green 155.504

58. Texas Tech 153.801

59. Purdue 151.131

60. East Carolina 151.106

61. Houston 150.064

62. Minnesota 149.784

63. Hawaii 149.237

64. Utah 149.542

65. San Diego State 147.114

66. BYU 145.119

67. Duke 144.585

68. West Virginia 144.229

69. Rutgers 144.087

70. Toledo 141.648

71. Connecticut 141.521

72. Rice 141.229

73. Tulane 140.034

74. UTSA 139.081

75. Colorado State 137.237

76. Syracuse 136.843

77. Fresno State 134.581

78. Middle Tennessee 134.428

79. North Carolina State 132.864

80. Southern Miss 132.572

81. Georgia Tech 132.445

82. South Alabama 131.758

83. Memphis 128.161

84. UNLV 126.814

85. Kansas 126.737

86. Boston College 126.432

87. Central Michigan 125.364

88. Northern Illinois 125.135

89. South Florida 124.335

90. Iowa State 123.127

91. Louisiana 118.309

92. Tulsa 117.643

93. Florida Atlantic 116.962

94. Miami OH 116.822

95. San Jose State 116.699

96. Western Kentucky 116.428

97. ULM 116.403

98. Texas State 116.161

99. UCF 115.898

100. Buffalo 115.869

101. Navy 114.419

102. Akron 114.153

103. Temple 112.297

104. Wyoming 111.483

105. SMU 110.314

106. Army 108.674

107. North Texas 107.606

108. Ball State 105.89

109. UAB 105.623

110. Old Dominion 101.072

111. Georgia State 100.805

112. New Mexico State 99.610

113. Eastern Michigan 98.415

114. Arkansas State 93.929

115. Western Michigan 92.021

116. Ohio 87.261

117. Nevada 86.822

118. New Mexico 84.292

119. Air Force 84.025

120. Kent State 82.636

121. Massachusetts 81.75

122. Idaho 74.809

123. UTEP 71.339

124. Troy 70.818

125. Louisiana Tech 70.247

126. FIU 44.809

Here is a ranking of all 126 FBS teams' incoming Freshman classes in college football, including schools in transition. The rankings were compiled from numerous reputable recruiting sites and junior college recruits were also accounted for. The CFU top 10 recruits for 2013 was released earlier in the year. Other recruit rankings and lists will be coming out soon.  

1. Alabama 472

2. Ohio State 469

3. Notre Dame 462

4. Michigan 454

5. LSU 446

6. Ole Miss 444

7. Florida 438

7. Texas A&M 438

9. UCLA 436

10. Georgia 429

11. Auburn 422

12. Florida State 421

13. USC 411

14. Clemson 402

14. Oklahoma 402

16. Washington 399

17. Nebraska 388

18. South Carolina 385

19. Miami FL 384

20. Texas 381

21. Vanderbilt 377

22. Oregon 369

23. Virginia Tech 361

24. Mississippi State 359

25. Tennessee 348

26. Baylor 342

27. Arkansas 339

28. West Virginia 338

29. Oklahoma State 334

29. North Carolina 334

31. California 328

31. Virginia 328

33. Pitt 324

34. Kentucky 316

35. Penn State 311

36. Arizona State 310

37. Arizona 305

38. Michigan State 298

39. Missouri 297

40. TCU 296

41. Rutgers 291

42. Maryland 289

43. Wisconsin 287

44. Oregon State 284

45. Indiana 283

46. Illinois 271

47. Utah 268

48. Louisville 266

49. Northwestern 251

50. Kansas 250

50. Washington State 250

52. Stanford 244

53. Boise State 241

53. South Florida 241

55. Texas Tech 239

56. Iowa 231

57. Purdue 229

58. NC State 228

59. Houston 225

60. Iowa State 214

61. Marshall 207

62. Kansas State 206

62. Wake Forest 206

64. Cincinnati 205

65. Connecticut 193

66. BYU 184

66. Colorado 184

68. Duke 182

69. Minnesota 179

70. Toledo 171

71. San Diego State 169

72. Fresno State 167

73. SMU 166

74. Georgia Tech 159

75. Syracuse 153

76. Louisiana 151

77. Tulsa 147

78. East Carolina 139

79. UCF 138

80. Southern Miss 137

81. Bowling Green 133

82. Hawaii 132

83. Colorado State 131

84. Tulane 120

85. Boston College 114

86. Central Michigan 110

87. Temple 106

88. Rice 102

89. Florida Atlantic 101

90. Middle Tennessee 99

90. Western Kentucky 99

92. Memphis 98

92. Texas State 98

94. New Mexico 91

95. Air Force 90

96. South Alabama 89

97. Louisiana Tech 83

98. Ball State 82

99. UAB 81

100. Miami OH 78

100. Nevada 78

102. Western Michigan 75

103. Navy 69

103. Northern Illinois 69

105. Akron 68

106. Troy 63

107. Massachusetts 59

108. Wyoming 58 

109. Ohio 57

110. Eastern Michigan 54

111. Arkansas State 53

112. Utah State 51

113. UTSA 49

114. UNLV 48

115. Kent State 39

116. New Mexico State 36

117. FIU 33

117. Idaho 33

119. Army 25

120. North Texas 21

121. San Jose State 20

121. UTEP 20

123. Old Dominion 19

124. Georgia State 18

125. ULM 9

126. Buffalo 7

Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron has progressively developed into an elite college signal caller. I used to think he was just a fill the position type of player, but he has demonstrated more dynamic ability in the latter half of his collegiate career. 

With only three interceptions last season, McCarron makes few mistakes and has grown bold in making tight clutch throws. He closed the season with a BCS National Championship in a sharp performance against Notre Dame. Many have also forgotten that he was named MVP of the BCS National Championship versus LSU. 

In the spring A-day game on April 20, McCarron showed a flashy arm with 223 passing yards on 19 of 30 attempts, but he had two interceptions to only one touchdown. The picks were due to the lackadaisical spring game atmosphere more than anything else. 

''It's just like playing in an all-star game,'' he said. ''You don't get in a rhythm. It's not a real game, but it's fun. It's fun to go out there and try to make plays happen and get to do some trick plays and stuff.'' (AP) 

McCarron (Sr., 6-4 214) has NFL size to go with an arsenal of throws he acquired over his tenure with the Tide. He has good touch and accuracy on deep routes as well as makes nice reads on dump off passes. 

He has to deal with the ultimate pressure coming into the 2013 season after back-to-back national championships and his starlet girlfriend, Katherine Webb, fully in the spotlight. To top it off, he should get more singular recognition with plenty of hype for 2013 and will most likely be on many preseason Heisman lists. 

The Crimson Tide open up play against Virginia Tech on Saturday, August 31. The Hokies had a record of 7-6 last season.

Career totals: 5,956 Passing Yards, 49 Passing Touchdowns, 66.7 completion percent, & 8 Interceptions. 

By Ron Clements

If Saturday’s spring games were a sign of things to come, then that Chick-Fil-A kickoff game on Aug. 31 between Alabama and Virginia Tech in Atlanta could see more interceptions than offensive scores.

There were interceptions galore in the two spring games on Saturday, including several pick-sixes. Thankfully coaches Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech and Nick Saban of Alabama used a traditional scoring system in their respective spring games.

Other schools, like Tennessee, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Penn State and Wisconsin, used odd scoring systems that awarded points for defensive plays such as sacks and turnovers and offensive first downs.

Considering that scores simply do not matter in these games, which are used primarily to evaluate players in a gameday-like atmosphere, an alternative scoring system is needlessly confusing.

Bill O’Brien’s first season at Penn State was an unenviable one. Coming off the sexual assault scandal of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky and the unceremonious dismissal of Joe Paterno and his subsequent death, O’Brien got his team to rebound from two opening losses to win eight games. After what should have garnered him national coach of the year accolades, O’Brien has now had a full season to implement his vast playbook and it was on display in Saturday’s spring game.

Using the alternative scoring system, Penn State’s Blue team defeated the White team, 67-47, in front of a record spring crowd at Beaver Stadium.

Football is alive and well in the state of Alabama with an estimated 78,315 people in Tuscaloosa to watch the Crimson Tide’s spring game while a record crowd of 83,401 fans were inside Jordan-Hare Stadium for Auburn’s final scrimmage of the spring.

Gus Malzahn may have brought a little bit of Chip Kelly with him back to Auburn. The Tigers offense was very fast in its execution and junior quarterback Kiehl Frazier looked natural running the up-tempo system. He’s a dual threat quarterback, and has the potential to be the type of playmaker Auburn had when Malzahn was the offensive coordinator and Cam Newton ran the offense.

A new rule implemented by the NCAA this season was felt during the Auburn spring game with cornerback Jonathan Mincy ejected early in the second half for targeting above the shoulders. It was a vicious hit on Tigers receiver Dimitri Reese, but appeared to be shoulder-to-shoulder contact and not worthy of an ejection. This is a problem the NCAA will face this season while trying to legislate violence out of the game and Mincy was disqualified from the scrimmage for simply making a tough football play.

The defenses were definitely ahead of the offenses on Saturday. The Virginia Tech offenses had a combined minus-10 rushing yards at halftime while the passing game struggled. The Texas Tech offense struggled mightily to get anything going as the Red Raiders defense dominated in Lubbock.

Michigan State’s defense could be poised again for a top-10 season. The Spartans were fourth in total defense last year and sixth in 2011. The defense, led by Jamal Lyles, Max Bullough and Denzel Drone, racked up quite a few sacks in Saturday’s spring game.

One offensive player who did look really good was Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson, who led the Blue team to a 54-43 win over the Gold squad. While Golson completed less than half his attempts and threw an interception, he didn’t force anything and generally made good decisions while displaying the type of mobile athleticism many expect.

While coaches use the spring scrimmages to evaluate players and positional battles, one thing teams want to accomplish is to get out of the game healthy and no players suffered any significant injuries on Saturday.

Here is a revision of the Fair Ranking System standings that I completed before the 2012-13 bowl season. I tweaked it to include the full records of FCS and non-FCS teams in the calculation of the FBS teams' true wins. It was one of the few tweaks that I mentioned as possibly implementing in a previous article on the FRS. I only revised the top 45 teams that were ranked before (not all 124 were recalculated). 

For the most part, there were no drastic changes in the FRS top 45, but there were some significant shifts. 
Generally speaking, most FCS opponents have way more losses than the upper echelon of college football so some of the recalculations did not make a huge difference.

The only change in the top four was Stanford sliding down to No. 3 with Florida moving up to replace it at No. 2. The Georgia Bulldogs made one of the largest jumps in the upper tier after the revision, from No. 12 to 8. On the flip side, Nebraska dropped from 8 to 12 after the adjustment, but many already felt they were overrated in the rankings anyways. The Cornhuskers were only ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll and No. 16 in the BCS at that time. 

After the tweak, Alabama held at No. 5 which still would have placed them in a hypothetical four team playoff since Ohio State was under a bowl ban for the 2012-13 season. Alabama played a very weak FCS opponent in West Carolina; the Catamounts only beat one team being Mars Hill, a non-FCS Division II opponent. The Tide might not play such a weak FCS team if the FRS is a factor. One more slightly decent opponent would have easily put them in the top four.  

While there are some singular differences, overall, the teams in the AP Top 25 and the FRS Top 25 are remarkably close after the revision; 24 out of the top 25 teams are in both rankings. Also, 9 of the top 10 FRS teams placed in the AP top 10 and four of the top five in the FRS also in the AP top five.   

Remember, the FRS is not designed to be bias against any team or conference. It is meant to be a mathematical standing that encompasses a team's body of work while offering a system of transparency.

The revised top 45 is at the end of the article along with tiebreakers.  

The following statistical measures are included in the Fair Ranking System (true wins statistic is used for the rankings):

True wins - total wins minus total losses
Total wins - team's wins, beaten opponents' wins, and beaten opponents' of beaten opponents wins. 
Total losses - team's losses, lost to opponents' losses, and lost to opponents' of lost to opponents losses. 

Other stats referred to in the FRS:
Beaten opponents' wins (BOW)
Lost to opponents' losses (LOL) 
 
*True wins is the best statistic listed to determine what team has earned their rank.

If you think the mathematical formula for the FRS is complicated, then you should take a look at some other computer rankings. A major issue with the BCS computer rankings is transparency, but there is a BCS formula that is available to the public, the Colley Matrix Rankings. It is a quasi power ranking that is difficult for a layman to decipher. The significant difference between the FRS and Colley Matrix is that the FRS is a mathematical standing system, but Colley's is a prediction. Otherwise, the FRS is more about having a system that rewards teams for their body of work, not a Nostradamus system of forecasting the best teams.

Some of the statistics used in the Fair Ranking System are not totally foreign when determining qualifiers in other football playoffs. For example, the Illinois High School Association uses similar stats to determine qualifiers. Teams' wins and combined wins of defeated opponents are a part of the IHSA qualification system as well as they are used in the FRS. A team's ranking in the Associated Press poll also has no effect on the IHSA playoff seeding. 

Here is some abbreviated information from the IHSA website regarding the selection process of the 256 playoff teams: 

Another tweak for the FRS that I wrote about last December is a tiebreaker system for the FRS rankings. Here are factors that I have determined thus far to break a tie in the rankings.   

• Head to head results
  
• Head to head competition
  
• Beaten opponents' wins
  
• Lost to opponents' losses 
• Margin of victory

Spring football is the time of year that college football junkies get a short-lived fix on their fall addiction. It gives fans the opportunity to study up on new players and a chance to watch their team in action before the long wait for fall. 

In recent years, spring games have became more of an attraction than in previous seasons. Alabama’s spring game had 78,526 in attendance last season, more than many of the FBS teams’ games in fall. Expect the same number or even higher attendance for the Tide this year. 

Listed below are the spring games and final practice dates that I acquired from various sources. Some of the sources had spring dates for a few schools that differed from others so I included both dates. Televised times and stations were also updated on March 26, 2013 for schools that are showing their games online or television. 

* Denotes spring game and date of final practice if no other date is listed next to it.
() Denotes final spring practice if it differs from spring game date.

Atlantic
Boston College, Sat., April 13*, (Sat., April 20)
Clemson, Sat., April 13*, ESPN3, 4 PM
Florida State, Sat., April 13*, (Sat., April 20), ESPN3, 2 PM
Maryland, Fri., April 12*
N.C. State, Sat., April 20*, ESPN3, 1:30 PM
Syracuse, Sat., April 20*
Wake Forest, Sat., April 20*

Coastal
Duke, Sat., April 13*, ESPN3, 4 PM
Georgia Tech, Fri., April 19*
Miami, Sat., April 13*, ESPN3, 3 PM
North Carolina, Sat., April 13*, ESPN3, 3 PM
Pittsburgh, Sat., April 12*, ESPN3, 7 PM 
Virginia, Sat., April 6*, ESPN3, 1 PM
Virginia Tech, Sat., April 20*, ESPN3, 3 PM

Cincinnati, No Game, (Sat., April 13) 
Connecticut, Sat., April 20*
Houston, Fri., April 12*
Louisville, Sat., April 13*
Memphis, Sat., April 6*
Rutgers, Sat., April 27*
SMU, No game, (Sat., April 20)
Temple, Sat., April 20*
UCF, Sat, April 13*
USF, Sat., April 13*

Leaders
Illinois, Fri., April 12*, Big Ten Network, 9 PM
Indiana, Sat., April 13*
Ohio State, Sat., April 13*, Big Ten Network, 7 PM
Penn State, Sat., April 20*, Big Ten Network, Noon
Purdue, Sat., April 13*
Wisconsin, Sat., April 20*, Big Ten Network, 5 PM

Legends
Iowa, Sat., April 20 or 27*
Michigan, Sat., April 13*
Michigan State, Sat., April 20*, Big Ten Network, 2:30 PM
Minnesota, Sat., April 27*
Nebraska, Sat., April 6*, Big Ten Network, 3 PM
Northwestern, Sat., April 13*

Baylor, Sat., April 6*
Iowa State, Sat., April 20*
Kansas, Sat., April 13*
Kansas State, Sat., April 27*
Oklahoma, Sat., April 13*, FSOK, 3 PM
Oklahoma State, Sat., April 20*
Texas, Sat., March 30*, (Sun., March 31), Longhorn Network, 7:30 PM
TCU, TBA, (Sat., April 6)
Texas Tech, Sat., April 20*, FSSW, 2 PM
West Virginia, Sat., April 20*

East
East Carolina, Sat., April 20*
Florida Atlantic, Sat., April 20*
FIU, Sat., April 20*
Marshall, Sat., April 27*
Middle Tennessee, Sat., April 20*
Southern Miss, Sat., April 20*
UAB, Sat., April 27*

West
Louisiana Tech, Sat., April 13*
North Texas, Sat., April 13*
Rice, Fri., April 5*
Tulane, Sat., March 9*
Tulsa, Sat., April 6*
UTEP, Sun., April 7* via Orlando Sentinel or April 12* via USA Today, (Wed., April 10)
UTSA, Sun., April 14*

East
Akron, Sat., April 27*
Bowling Green, Fri., April 12*
Buffalo, Sat., April 20*
Kent State, Sat., April 27*
Massachusetts, TBA, (Sat., April 20)
Miami OH, No game, (Fri. April 26)
Ohio, Sat., April 13*

West
Ball State, Sat., April 20*
Central Michigan, Sat., April 13*
Eastern Michigan, TBA, (Sun., April 14)
Northern Illinois, Sat., April 13*
Toledo, Fri., April 12*
Western Michigan, Sat., April 20*

Mountain
Air Force, No game, (Wed., March 20)
Boise State, Sat., April 13*
Colorado State, Sat., April 20*
New Mexico, No game, (Sat., April 27)
Utah State, Sat., April 20*
Wyoming, Sat., April 27*

West 
Fresno State, Sat., March 23*
Hawaii, Sat., April 27*
Nevada, Sat., April 20*
San Diego State, Sat., March 23*
San Jose State, Sat., March 23*
UNLV, Fri., April 12*

North
California, Sat., March 23*, Pac-12 Network, 7 PM
Oregon, Sat., April 27*, Pac-12 Network, 2 PM
Oregon State, Fri., April 26*, Pac-12 Network, 10 PM
Stanford, Sat., April 13*, Pac-12 Network, 4 PM
Washington, Sat., April 20*, Pac-12 Network, 7 PM
Washington State, Sat., April 20*, Pac-12 Network, 5 PM

South
Arizona, Sat., April 13*, Pac-12 Network, 4 PM
Arizona State, Sat., April 13*, Pac-12 Network, 2 PM
Colorado, Sat., April 13*, (April 16), Pac-12 Network, 12:30 PM
UCLA, Sat., April 27*, Pac-12 Network, 8 PM
USC, Sat., April 13*, Pac-12 Network, 4 PM 
Utah, Sat., April 20*, Pac-12 Network, 3 PM

East
Florida, Sat., April 6*, Sun Sports/FCS, 1 PM
Georgia, Sat., April 6* or Tue., April 16* via USA Today, CSS, 1 PM
Kentucky, Sat., April 13*
Missouri, Sat., April 20*
South Carolina, Sat., April 13*, ESPN3, 1 PM
Tennessee, Sat., April 20*
Vanderbilt, Sat., April 13*

West
Alabama, Sat., April 20*, ESPN2, 3 PM
Arkansas, Sat., April 20*, ESPN3, 3 PM
Auburn, Sat., April 20*, CSS, 2 PM
LSU, Sat., April 20*
Ole Miss, Sat., April 13*, CSS, 2 PM
Mississippi State, Sat., April 20*
Texas A&M, Sat. April 13*, ESPN, 3 PM

Arkansas State, Sat., April 13*
Georgia State, TBA, (Sat. April 20)
Louisiana, Sat., April 20*
ULM, Sat., March 23*
South Alabama, Sat., April 6*
Texas State, Sat., April 6*
Troy, Sat., April 20*
Western Kentucky, Sat., April 20*

Army, Fri., March 8*
BYU, Sat., March 30*, (April 5)
Idaho, Tues., April 9* or Fri., April 19* via USA Today
Navy, Fri., April 12*
New Mexico State, Sat., May 4*
Notre Dame, Sat., April 20*, NBC Sports Network, 1 PM

Sources: USA Today, Orlando Sentinel, FBSchedules.com, and CollegePressBox.com. 

Alabama offensive lineman Chance Warmack (6-3 320) has had a solid career with the Crimson Tide and his NFL Draft status has rose considerably this season to fourth on the big board. He is undoubtedly one of the top hog mollies in college football on the field and at the table.

It is well known that Warmack has a very large appetite and even has a Twitter account dedicated to his belly. 

An article from USA Today expands on his eating habits. As reported on December 28, 2012,

I am not sure if he ate both Mugshots in 12 minutes, but that’s five pounds of burger. Just a recommendation, if you are eating out with Warmack and dinner is on you, go to a buffet. 

The 2012 FBS Consensus All-America Team was released earlier on Monday by the NCAA. 

The team is dominated by SEC players with 10 selected. The Pac-12 has the next most with seven. After the top two, there is a drop off of athletes from other conferences. The ACC is the only other conference that placed multiple players with just two. The Big East and Sun Belt are not represented at all on the team. The SEC also has 11 players listed on the FWAA All-America Team, one component of the consensus.

Three 2011 Consensus All-Americans made this year's team: Alabama C Barrett Jones, Wisconsin RB Montee Ball, and Georgia OLB Jarvis Jones. Alabama is the team with the most players listed at four. Texas A&M and Stanford are the only other teams with multiple selections, three and two respectively.  

13 of the 25 players on the College Football Universe All-America Team made the consensus team as well. The CFU team was selected before the end of the season after weeks 10 and 11. 

The Consensus All-America Team is compiled from five teams of All-Americans picked by the following organizations: American Football Coaches Association, Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, The Sporting News, and Walter Camp Football Foundation. 

Offense
QB Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, 6-1, 200, Fr.
RB Kenjon Barner, Oregon, 5-11, 192, Sr.
RB Jonathan Franklin, UCLA, 5-11, 195, Sr.
WR Stedman Bailey, West Virginia, 5-10, 195, Jr.
WR Marqise Lee, USC, 6-0, 195, So.
WR Terrance Williams, Baylor, 6-2, 205, Sr.
OL Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina, 6-3, 295, Sr.
OL Luke Joeckel, Texas A&M, 6-6, 310, Jr.
OL Jake Matthews, Texas A&M, 6-5, 305, Jr.
OL Chance Warmack, Alabama, 6-3, 320, Sr.
C Barrett Jones, Alabama, 6-5, 302, Sr.

Defense
DL Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina, 6-6, 256, So.
DL Chris Jones, Bowling Green, 6-1, 293, Sr.
DL Damontre Moore, Texas A&M, 6-4, 250, Jr.
DL Bjoern Werner, Florida State, 6-4, 255, Jr.
LB Arthur Brown, Kansas State, 6-1, 231, Sr.
LB Manti Te'o, Notre Dame, 6-2, 255, Sr.
LB Jarvis Jones, Georgia, 6-3, 241, Jr.
DB Johnthan Banks, Mississippi State, 6-2, 185, Sr.
DB Dee Milliner, Alabama, 6-1, 199, Jr.
DB Eric Reid, LSU, 6-2, 212, Jr.
DB Phillip Thomas, Fresno State, 6-1, 215, Sr.

Special Teams
K Cairo Santos, Tulane, 5-8, 160, Jr.
P Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech, 6-2, 215, Sr.
KR Dri Archer, Kent State, 5-8, 175, Jr.
PR Venric Mark, Northwestern, 5-8, 175, Jr.

The upcoming four team playoff will haul in loads of money and additional popularity for college football, but it could easily open the door wide open for further prejudice in the sport. The four teams for the new playoff to begin in 2014 are to be picked by a selection committee. 

As long as qualifiers for a playoff are determined by pre-made contracts and the "eye" test done by people, it is a system of prejudice to decide playoff and bowl teams. That is not to say that the BCS computers need brought back in 2014. The computers are/were equally corrupt due to the secrecy and over calculation that leads to some very strange rankings. A reasonable person realizes that a transparent mathematical system is the only fair way to rank teams in terms of worthiness for post season play. And that is why I developed the Fair Ranking System. 

The Fair Ranking System is all based on who beats who and who loses to who. Points of margin are not used as a factor in ranking, but I would consider it for a tiebreaker. Using points of margin, even with diminishing returns, is not the best way to determine the most deserving team. 

The "experts" that insist on points of margin being included also try to predict the future with their rankings and they create their formulas to make the outcome more like some kind of quasi power ranking. Fans have been bamboozled into believing margin of victory should play a factor when no other major team competitive sport uses it to determine qualifiers for a playoff (other than tiebreakers). The Fair Ranking System is simpler and transparent. Most importantly in my opinion, it is the best known ranking at determining the most deserving team depending on who they beat and lost to. 

The "eye" test in college football leads to who the voters want to see play rather than who is most deserving. As ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit stated in a ridiculous rant during the BCS selection show, "...Georgia and Florida and Texas A&M and Oklahoma. All of us want to see those teams in games that matter in the BCS Bowl games and you're going to give us NORTHERN ILLINOIS!" 

Under the Fair Ranking System, Northern Illinois is ranked below the other teams Herbstreit talked about, but that is not the point that I am attempting to make. With either the Fair Ranking System or BCS Standings combined with the upcoming 2014 format, Northern Illinois would have still qualified for a host bowl. 

Herbstreit also said, "thank goodness we are moving towards a new system in 2014." News flash to Herbie before he gets all riled up when the 2014 bowl selection show rolls around, Northern Illinois would still have been placed in one of the new system's bowls. -Come on do a little research Kirk. You are an ESPN analyst.- During his pre-mentioned rant, Herbstreit never spoke of the inclusion of lower ranked Big Ten and Big East teams in this year's BCS Bowls as well as he never talked about the top ranked team from the "group of five" non-contracted conferences to be included in the system to replace the BCS in 2014 (see details below). 

Even though everyone was aware of the rules in place for Northern Illinois to bust the BCS (or everyone should have been aware), pundits such as Herbstreit acted like grade schoolers in their criticism of Northern Illinois making a BCS Bowl, because they wanted to "see" other teams play. Rules are put in place for fairness, not top television ratings. The deals in place and the sport itself will bring in enough ratings and money in the long run. Just imagine if the NFL determined its post season teams by who everyone wants to "see" the most. It's crazy talk! 

Northern Illinois playing Florida State in the Orange Bowl will not ruin college football. Actually, the Seminoles are only ranked two spots above the Huskies in the FRS. The bowl bans and decline of eligible teams in the Big Ten as well as a low ranked Big East champion hurt the BCS Bowls this season more than the rule that allowed the inclusion of NIU. The 2014 system would have still allowed Wisconsin and Northern Illinois into the six bowls under the new format, but not Louisville. 

Human voters on a committee can easily bring their biases to the table. For example, it appeared in the last USA Today Coaches Poll this season that the Big 12 coaches let their bias interfere with how they ranked teams competing for BCS slots. Also as noted by comments on the recent CFU article, other coaches in past seasons have been accused of manipulating their votes to favor their team or conference. 

The only awkward looking rating in the Fair Ranking System is Nebraska ranked over Georgia, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and others. When taking a closer look, overall the Cornhuskers actually had a statistically difficult schedule and more quality wins than the Bulldogs or Aggies with victories over seven teams with six or more wins. 

Georgia and Texas A&M all defeated just four bowl eligible teams each. Oklahoma did defeat seven bowl teams, but their best win was against Texas and when you take a good look at their victories, they are very comparable to Nebraska; both teams are nearly tied in the Fair Ranking System with just one true win separating them. Not to say that I do not think Georgia, Oklahoma, or another team is better than Nebraska, but this type of ranking is not about my perception of the best teams or how much I want to see a team play in a bowl game. Worth mentioning, a couple tweaks that I am considering, listed later in this post, may have slightly changed the rankings. 

In an amazing comparison, 23 of the 25 teams ranked in the Fair Ranking System were also ranked in the last AP Top 25 Poll. The two AP ranked teams left out of the FRS Top 25, Utah State and Boise State, are tied for 26th in the FRS. The two teams not in the AP Top 25, but in the FRS Top 25, Texas and TCU, did receive votes for the AP Poll. Also, 8 of the top 10 teams in the FRS are also ranked in the AP top 10 and four of the top five FRS teams are in the AP top five. 

No matter if you agree with the Fair Ranking System or not, just imagine having a system that no one would have to guess about and everyone would know the play in scenarios near the end of the season for the top six bowls and playoff. In 2014, other than the contracted bowls, it will all be guessing until the selection committee decides the teams for the playoff after the end of the season.   

Before the rankings below, there is additional information on the 2014 post season format and a four team playoff for the 2012 season according to the Fair Ranking System. Whether the FRS should determine all the teams or not in the playoff and bowls, I believe it should be used in some way for the 2014 system. At the very least, it is a good mathematical gauge for ranking teams based on their wins and losses. 

- Lock-in a four team seeded playoff. The teams that will play will be chosen by a selection committee.

- Create three "contract bowls" and three "host bowls" as part of the post- season format. The highest-ranked champion from the five conferences that are not in contract bowls will be guaranteed a spot in a host bowl.

- Share revenue, for the first time in college football history, based on academic performance as part of the funding formula.

- Share revenue with a higher portion of revenues going to the conferences of the four teams that qualify for the playoff and participate in the other games. Distributions will also be made to conferences whose teams don't qualify for either a contract or host bowl. 

- Begin hiring staff so the new structure can begin operating.

Source: Fox News

On an earlier post is the full explanation of the Fair Ranking System. The only differences in this calculation from the previous method is that if an FBS team is winless at the end of the season, then their record will not show one win when calculating a team's true wins and the fair score was not implemented this time. I have basically scrapped the fair score for now since the true wins method of the Fair Ranking System seems to be the most accurate in deeming the most deserving teams of rank. 

There are a few minor mathematical quirks that still need worked out. Some parts of the calculation that could be tweaked slightly are for FCS teams, winless teams, undefeated teams, number of games per team, and tiebreakers. I thought about giving one win and one loss to winless and undefeated teams respectively when tallying the true wins, but I decided not to apply it this time and am unsure if I want to implement it. FCS teams are also given a generic record, but this could be adjusted more proportionally depending on each FCS school's season performance. Another issue is that some teams play 12 games while others play 13 due to a conference championship or a game at Hawaii so I am considering a tweak for that as well. 

Finally, here are all 124 FBS teams ranked mathematically according to the Fair Ranking System including teams in transition. Georgia State will be ranked once they schedule more FBS opponents. Bowl games already played were not calculated. I checked over the calculations, but if there are any mathematical errors found, please let me know. 

*According to true wins.