The College Football Researchers Association (CFRA) would like to announce that it has elected the University of Alabama as its 2012 college football national champion.  We would like to congratulate the Tide for their amazing season which earned them their eleventh CFRA national championship.  There was one tie in this year’s final poll, and it occurs at # 22 between two former conference rivals, Nebraska and Oklahoma State.

1.  Alabama (10)- 298 points

2.  Oregon (1)- 278 points

3.  Notre Dame- 268 points

4.  Georgia- 245 points

5.  Texas A & M- 240 points

6.  Stanford- 234 points

7.  Ohio State (1)- 221 points

8.  South Carolina- 209 points

9.  Florida- 204 points

10.  Kansas State- 194 points

11.  Florida State- 190 points

12.  Clemson- 179 points

13.  LSU- 152 points

14.  Louisville- 142 points

15.  Oklahoma- 115 points

16.  Utah State- 99 points

17.  Boise State- 90 points

18.  Northwestern- 89 points

19.  Texas- 70 points

20.  Vanderbilt- 64 points

21.  Northern Illinois- 51 points

22.  Oklahoma State- 39 points

22.  Nebraska- 39 points

24.  San Jose State- 38 points

25.  Cincinnati- 35 points

Others Receiving Votes: Baylor 32, Michigan 27, Oregon State 26, Tulsa 15, Rutgers 8, Syracuse 5, Penn State 2, Arkansas State 1, Wisconsin 1

Dropped Out: UCLA 20, Kent State 23, Michigan 25

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than AP and Coaches Polls: Kansas State (10), Northern Illinois (21), Oklahoma State (22), Nebraska (22).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than AP and Coaches Polls: Florida State (11), Clemson (12), Louisville (14), Northwestern (18), San Jose State (24), Michigan (NR), Oregon State (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 3 Major Human Polls (AP, CFRA, and Coaches): Alabama (1), Oregon (2), Texas A & M (5), Oklahoma (15).

For the first-time ever, the College Football Researchers Association has crowned a Player of the Year, and it is Johnny Manziel from Texas A & M.  This award will hopefully become an annual tradition, and we’ll see this weekend how these results compare to the Heisman Trophy and other player of the year accolades.  Despite receiving less than half of the first-place votes, “Johnny Football” beat out Collin Klein by 6 points and Manti Te’o by 7.  After that, there was a huge drop off to Kenjon Barner and 8 other vote-getters.  Here are the full results:

1.  Johnny Manziel (4)- 39 points

2.  Collin Klein (2)- 33 points

3.  Manti Te’o (4)- 32 points

4.  Kenjon Barner- 8 points

5.  Jordan Lynch- 7 points

6.  Marquise Lee- 6 points

7.  Aaron Murray- 5 points

7.  Braxton Miller- 5 points

9.  Montee Ball- 4 points

9.  Teddy Bridgewater- 4 points

11.  Jadeveon Clowney- 2 points

11.  Tajh Boyd- 2 points

There is no change at the top of the Week 13 CFRA poll, as Notre Dame and Alabama continue to occupy the top two spots.  There is one tie in this week’s poll and it occurs at # 23 between two of this year’s biggest surprise teams, Kent State and Vanderbilt.  This marks the second straight week the Golden Flashes have been involved in a CFRA tie (see last week’s entry below).

1.  Notre Dame (9)- 249 points

2.  Alabama (1)- 235 points

3.  Oregon- 215 points

4.  Florida- 205 points

5.  Kansas State- 203 points

6.  Ohio State- 201 points

7.  Georgia- 193 points

8.  Stanford- 179 points

9.  LSU- 169 points

10.  Texas A & M- 163 points

11.  South Carolina- 152 points

12.  Oklahoma- 151 points

13.  Florida State- 134 points

14.  Clemson- 112 points

15.  Northern Illinois- 111 points

16.  Oregon State- 96 points

17.  Utah State- 79 points

18.  Boise State- 64 points

19.  Louisvile- 62 points

20.  UCLA- 57 points

21.  Northwestern- 38 points

22.  Nebraska- 35 points

23.  Kent State- 28 points

23.  Vanderbilt- 28 points

25.  Michigan- 22 points

Others Receiving Votes: San Jose State 15, Oklahoma State 11, Wisconsin 9, Texas 8, Fresno State 6, Baylor 5, Penn State 4, Rutgers 3, TCU 3, North Carolina 2, Tulsa 2, Cincinnati 1

Dropped Out: Texas 22, Oklahoma State 23

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Utah State (17), Kent State (23), Vanderbilt (23).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Oregon State (16), UCLA (20), Michigan (25), San Jose State (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 4 Major Polls (BCS, AP, CFRA, and Coaches): Notre Dame (1), Alabama (2).

There is no change at the top of the Week 13 CFRA poll, as Notre Dame and Alabama continue to occupy the top two spots.  There are also no ties in this week’s rankings, but there are two major break of 30 or more points between # 7 and 8 (Kansas State and LSU) and # 15 and 16 (Nebraska and Kent State).  Coincidentally, the latter two teams played each other in basketball this past weekend with the Golden Flashes upsetting the Cornhuskers in Lincoln.

1.  Notre Dame (10)- 274 points

2.  Alabama (1)- 254 points

3.  Georia- 241 points

4.  Oregon- 234 points

5.  Florida- 222 points

6.  Ohio State- 221 points

7.  Kansas State- 216 points

8.  LSU- 185 points

9.  Texas A & M- 183 points

10.  Stanford- 182 points

11.  South Carolina- 171 points

12.  Oklahoma- 158 points

13.  Florida State- 143 points

14.  Clemson- 127 points

15.  Nebraska- 122 points

16.  Kent State- 84 points

17.  Northern Illinois- 80 points

18.  Oregon State- 75 points

19.  UCLA- 67 points

20.  Utah State- 61 points

21.  Boise State- 46 points

22.  Texas- 43 points

23.  Oklahoma State- 37 points

24.  Northwestern- 28 points

25.  Vanderbilt- 25 points

Others Receiving Votes: Louisville 20, Michigan 18, San Jose State 17, Rutgers 16, Michigan State 6, TCU 6, Cincinnati 4, Southern California 4, Mississippi State 2, Penn State 1, North Carolina 1, Fresno State 1

Dropped Out: Louisville 18, Rutgers 20, Michigan 21

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Kent State (16), Northern Illinois (17), Vanderbilt (25).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Nebraska (15), Oregon State (18), UCLA (19), Northwestern (24), San Jose State (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 4 Major Polls (BCS, AP, CFRA, and Coaches): Notre Dame (1), Alabama (2), Georgia (3).

The upsets of Oregon and Kansas State have given us a new CFRA # 1 and # 2.  Notre Dame now claims the top spot followed by Alabama.   There are no one major breaks in this week’s poll, but there is one tie at # 23 between Kent State and Oklahoma State.

1.  Notre Dame (9)- 249 points

2.  Alabama (1)- 234 points

3.  Ohio State- 219 points

4.  Georgia- 218 points

5.  Oregon- 206 points

6.  Florida- 194 points

7.  Florida State- 190 points

8.  Kansas State- 184 points

9.  Clemson- 169 points

10.  LSU- 154 points

11.  Texas A & M- 147 points

12.  Stanford- 144 points

13.  South Carolina- 129 points

14.  Oklahoma- 123 points

15.  Nebraska- 96 points

16.  Oregon State- 87 points

17.  UCLA- 86 points

18.  Louisville- 84 points

19.  Texas- 76 points

20.  Rutgers- 59 points

21.  Michigan- 35 points

22.  Northern Illinois- 34 points

23.  Kent State- 29 points

24.  Oklahoma State- 29 points

25.  Boise State- 23 points

Others Receiving Votes: Mississippi State 18, Utah State 15, Arizona 8, Vanderbilt 4, Washington 4, Tulsa 2, Louisiana Tech 1

Dropped Out: Louisiana Tech 19, Southern California 22

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Northern Illinois (22).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Georgia (4), LSU (10), Texas A & M (11), Stanford (12), Texas (19), Michigan (21), Oklahoma State (24), Washington (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 4 Major Polls (BCS, AP, CFRA, and Coaches): Notre Dame (1), Alabama (2).

With the Alabama’s loss to Texas A & M, we have a new # 1 in this week’s CFRA poll.  The Oregon Ducks claim the top spot over Kansas State by a four-point margin.  There are is one major break of more than 30 points in this week’s poll, and it occurs between # 14 Stanford and # 15 Nebraska.  Oddly enough, the same major break existed between those two teams in last week’s poll at the # 16 and 17 spots.

1.  Oregon (7)- 295 points

2.  Kansas State (5)- 291 points

3.  Notre Dame- 276 points

4.  Alabama- 257 points

5.  Georgia- 250 points

6.  Florida State- 224 points

7.  Florida- 217 points

8.  LSU- 195 points

9.  Clemson- 194 points

10.  Ohio State- 193 points

11.  Texas A & M- 183 points

12.  South Carolina- 167 points

13.  Oklahoma- 156 points

14.  Stanford- 147 points

15.  Nebraska- 111 points

16.  Louisville- 108 points

17.  Oregon State- 90 points

18.  Texas- 89 points

19.  Louisiana Tech- 88 points

20.  UCLA- 87 points

21.  Rutgers- 57 points

22.  Southern California- 48 points

23.  Northern Illinois- 33 points

24.  Michigan- 29 points

25.  Boise State- 27 points

Others Receiving Votes: Kent State 26, Texas Tech 22, Arizona, 12, Oklahoma State 9, Mississippi State 8, Wisconsin 6, Vanderbilt 3, Cincinnati 2

Dropped Out: Mississippi State 21, Toledo 22

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Louisville (16), Northern Illinois (23).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Texas A & M (11), UCLA (20), Southern California (22), Michigan (24), Washington (NR), Oklahoma State (NR), Texas Tech (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 4 Major Polls (BCS, AP, CFRA, and Coaches): Notre Dame (3).

There’s not much shakeup in this week’s CFRA poll as the top 4 teams in the country all remain the same.  There are no ties in this week’s poll, but there are two major breaks of 30 or more points.  The first break divides the four national title contenders and everybody else (between Notre Dame at # 4 and Georgia at # 5) and the other is between Stanford and Nebraska (# 16 and 17).

1.  Alabama (9)- 295 points

2.  Oregon (2)- 285 points

3.  Kansas State (1)- 281 points

4.  Notre Dame- 267 points

5.  Georgia- 237 points

6.  Florida State- 226 points

7.  Florida- 221 points

8.  Louisville- 204 points

9.  Clemson- 201 points

10.  Ohio State- 186 points

11.  LSU- 179 points

12.  South Carolina- 152 points

13.  Oregon State- 151 points

14.  Oklahoma- 143 points

15.  Texas A & M- 132 points

16.  Stanford- 119 points

17.  Nebraska- 89 points

18.  Louisiana Tech- 81 points

19.  Texas- 70 points

20.  UCLA- 61 points

21.  Mississippi State- 52 points

22.  Toledo- 40 points

23.  Rutgers- 38 points

24.  Southern California- 37 points

25.  Northern Illinois- 29 points

Others Receiving Votes: Kent State 18, Boise State 18, Northwestern 17, Ohio 16, Texas Tech 15, TCU 14, Arizona 14, Cincinnati 4, Baylor 3, Michigan 3, Vanderbilt 2

Dropped Out: Boise State 16, Texas Tech 20, West Virginia 22, Arizona 25

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): Louisville (8), Toledo (22), Northern Illinois (25).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than Other 3 Major Polls (BCS, AP, and Coaches Polls): LSU (11), UCLA (20), Southern California (24), Texas Tech (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 4 Major Polls (BCS, AP, CFRA, and Coaches): Alabama (1), Notre Dame (4), Georgia (5).