Final Polls

When the 2010 college football season started, a team from the state of Alabama sat atop the Associated Press preseason poll. When it ended, there was still a team from the state at No. 1.

It was just the other one.

Auburn, which opened the year ranked No. 22 after an 8-5 2009 finish, claimed the No. 1 spot in both polls after Monday night's 22-19 BCS championship game victory over Oregon.

The top spot in the USA Today coaches' poll automatically goes to the winner of the BCS title game, and the AP followed suit with Auburn (14-0) earning 56 first-place votes. Second-place TCU, which finished 13-0 after beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, earned three first-place votes.

Oregon (12-1), dropped to third, followed by Orange Bowl champ Stanford (12-1), Sugar Bowl champ Ohio State (12-1) and Fiesta Bowl champ Oklahoma (12-2). Wisconsin (11-2) was sixth, followed by LSU (11-2), Boise State (12-1) and Alabama (10-3), as the preseason No. 1 finished 10th after whipping Michigan State 49-7 in the Capital One Bowl.

Three other SEC teams also finished in the final rankings: Arkansas (13), Mississippi State (15) and South Carolina (22). The Bulldogs and Gamecocks had been unranked at the beginning of the season, and it was MSU's highest finish in the polls since 1999.

Six SEC teams were included in the preseason AP poll: Alabama (1), Florida (4), Arkansas (17), LSU (21), Auburn (22) and Georgia (23). The same six teams also made the USA Today preseason poll: Alabama (1), Florida (3), LSU (16), Arkansas (19), Georgia (21) and Auburn (23).

The final USA Today coaches' poll also included six SEC teams: Auburn (1), LSU (8), Alabama (11), Arkansas (12), Mississippi State (17) and South Carolina (22).

Auburn also received 56 first-place votes in the USA Today poll. While the coaches' poll, which is calculated into the BCS rankings, has an agreement to vote the BCS champ No. 1 at the end of the year, one voter chose TCU, which placed second.

Final AP poll (w/first-place votes, record, total votes):
1. Auburn (56) 14-0 -- 1472
2. TCU (3) 13-0 -- 1392
3. Oregon, 12-1 -- 1379
4. Stanford, 12-1 -- 1300
5. Ohio State, 12-1 -- 1220
6. Oklahoma, 12-2 -- 1108
7. Wisconsin, 11-2 -- 1055
8. LSU, 11-2 -- 1051
9. Boise State, 12-1 -- 1031
10. Alabama, 10-3 -- 961
11. Nevada, 13-1 -- 866
12. Arkansas, 10-3 -- 863
13. Oklahoma State, 11-2 -- 833
14. Michigan State, 11-2 -- 696
15. Mississippi State, 9-4 -- 578
16. Virginia Tech, 11-3 -- 577
17. Florida State, 10-4 -- 502
18. Missouri, 10-3 -- 477
19. Texas A&M, 9-4 -- 359
20. Nebraska, 10-4 -- 334
21. UCF, 11-3 -- 225
22. South Carolina, 9-5 -- 169
23. Maryland, 9-4 -- 144
24. Tulsa, 10-3 -- 128
25. North Carolina State, 9-4 -- 119

Final USA Today poll (w/ first-place votes, record, total votes):
1. Auburn (56) 14-0 -- 1424
2. TCU (1) 13-0 -- 1336
3. Oregon, 12-1 -- 1333
4. Stanford, 12-1 -- 1254
5. Ohio State, 12-1 -- 1197
6. Oklahoma, 12-2 -- 1096
7. Boise State, 12-1 -- 1012
8. (tie) LSU, 11-2 -- 1007
8. (tie) Wisconsin, 11-2 -- 1007
10. Oklahoma State, 11-2 -- 883
11. Alabama, 10-3 -- 860
12. Arkansas, 10-3 -- 818
13. Nevada, 13-1 -- 734
14. Michigan State, 11-2 -- 676
15. Virginia Tech, 11-3 -- 636
16. Florida State, 10-4 -- 506
17. Mississippi State, 9-4 -- 505
18. Missouri, 10-3 -- 473
19. Nebraska, 10-4 -- 354
20. UCF, 11-3 -- 328
21. Texas A&M, 9-4 -- 277
22. South Carolina, 9-5 -- 181
23. Utah, 10-3 -- 156
24. Maryland, 9-4 -- 111
25. North Carolina State, 9-4 -- 94