The 2010 College Football 50
Last Updated on Friday, 20 May 2011 15:34 Written by Ben Pogany
When you think of Bowl season, the words anti-climactic, disordered, and even pointless are just a few that come to mind. Heck, outside of the national championship, was is it really but a collection of seemingly arbitrary match-ups that produce more questions than answers? Well, in the hopes of trying to derive some semblance of meaning and order from the madness, the Dose uniquely kept the rankings going through postseason play. Before the only takeaway from a win by say Iowa over Missouri in the Insight Bowl, was that, well, Iowa is probably a better team than Missouri. With extended rankings, we can induce that Iowa finished 2010 as a top 25 team, certainly no small feat, whereas Missouri was probably undeserving of the #12 team ranking with which they headed into the postseason. Here is the final 2010 rankings; our best attempt to reconcile bowl season with the 2010 college football season at large and make sense of the senseless.
- Auburn (SEC) SEC Champions, Beat Oregon in BCS National Title Game
- TCU (Mountain West) Mountain West Champions
, Beat Wisconsin in Rose Bowl - Oregon (Pac-10) Pac-!0 Champions, Lost to Auburn in BCS National Title Game
- Stanford (Pac-10) Beat Virginia Tech in Orange Bowl
- Ohio State (Big Ten) Share of Big Ten Title, Beat Arkansas in Sugar Bowl
- Oklahoma (Big 12) Big 12 Champions, Beat UConn in Fiesta Bowl
- Wisconsin (Big Ten) Share of Big Ten Title, Lost to TCU in Rose Bowl
- Boise St (WAC) Share of WAC Title, Beat Utah in Maaco Las Vegas Bowl
- LSU (SEC) Beat Texas A&M in Cotton Bowl
- Arkansas (SEC) Lost to Ohio St in Sugar Bowl
- Oklahoma St (Big 12) Beat Arizona in Alamo Bowll
- Alabama (SEC) Beat Michigan St in Capital One Bowl
- Virginia Tech (ACC) ACC Champions, Lost to Stanford in Orange Bowl
- Michigan St (Big Ten) Share of Big Ten Title, Lost to Alabama in Capital One Bowl
- Nevada (WAC) Share of WAC Title, Beat BC in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
- Texas A&M (Big 12) Lost to LSU in Cotton Bowl
- Florida St. (ACC) Beat South Carolina in Chick-fil-A Bowl
- Mississippi St (SEC) Beat Michigan in Gator Bowl
- South Carolina (SEC) Lost to Florida St. in Chick-fil-A Bowl
- Missouri (Big 12) Lost to Iowa in Insight Bowl
- Utah (Mountain West) Lost to Boise St in Maaco Las Vegas Bowl
- Iowa (Big Ten) Beat Missouri in Insight Bowl
- Nebraska (Big 12) Lost to Washington in Holiday Bowl
- UCF (Conference USA) Conference USA Champions, Beat Georgia in Liberty Bowl
- UConn (Big East) Share of Big East Title, Lost to Oklahoma in Fiesta Bowl
- NC State (ACC) Beat West Virginia in Champs Sports Bowl
- Notre Dame Beat Miami in Sun Bowl
- West Virginia (Big East) Share of Big East Title, Lost to NC State in Champs Sports Bowl

- Maryland (ACC) Beat East Carolina in Military Bowl
- Tulsa (Conference USA) Beat Hawaii in Hawaii Bowl
- Florida (SEC) Beat Penn St in Outback Bowl
- Arizona (Pac-10) Lost to Oklahoma St in Alamo Bowl
- Michigan (Big Ten) Lost to Mississippi St in Gator Bowl
- Penn State (Big Ten) Lost to Florida in Outback Bowl
- San Diego St (Mountain West) Beat Navy in Poinsettia Bowl
- Miami (FL) (ACC) Lost to Notre Dame in Sun Bowl
- Hawaii (WAC) Share of WAC Title, Lost to Tulsa in Hawaii Bowl
- Navy Lost to San Diego St in Poinsettia Bowl
- UNC (ACC) Beat Tennessee in Music City Bowl
- USC (Pac-10) Banned from postseason play
- Pitt (Big East) Share of Big East Title, Beat Kentucky in the BBVA Compass Bowl
- Northwestern (Big Ten) Lost to Texas Tech in TicketCity Bowl
- Miami (OH) (MAC) MAC Champions, Beat Middle Tennessee in GoDaddy.com Bowl
- Air Force (Mountain West) Beat Georgia Tech in Independence Bowl
- BC (ACC) Lost to Nevada in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
- Syracuse (Big East) Beat Kansas St in Pinstripe Bowl
- Northern Illinois (MAC) Beat Fresno St in Humanitarian Bowl
- Southern Miss (Conference USA) Lost to Louisville in Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl
- Baylor (Big 12) Lost to Illinois in Texas Bowl
- Kansas St. (Big 12) Lost to Syracuse in Pinstripe Bowl

