Central Michigan University Athletics
Head Coach Brian Kelly's Final Top 25
12/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 5, 2005
MOUNT PLEASANT - Central Michigan University head football coach Brian Kelly was one of 62 voters in the 2005 USA Today Coaches Poll. Each week, a portion of his top 25 was made available right here on cmuchippewas.com. The final coaches poll of the 2005 season was released on Sunday, and Kelly's ballot for the final poll is listed below.
Kelly's final top 25 for 2005:
1. USC
2. Texas
3. Penn State
4. Ohio State
5. Notre Dame
6. Oregon
7. Auburn
8. Miami (Fla.)
9. West Virginia
10. Georgia
11. LSU
12. Virginia Tech
13. Alabama
14. TCU
15. UCLA
16. Texas Tech
17. Louisville
18. Florida
19. Boston College
20. Wisconsin
21. Michigan
22. Florida State
23. Clemson
24. Iowa
25. Boise State
Wire-to-Wire: USC (12-0) and Texas (12-0) completed a wire-to-wire run as the top two teams in the country and will meet for the national title in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4. The Trojans received 55 first-place votes following a 66-19 win over UCLA on Saturday, while Texas collected the other seven No. 1 nods after its 70-3 demolition of Colorado in the Big 12 title game.
USC and Texas completed a season-long run as one and two not only in the national poll, but on Kelly's ballot as well.
Surprise, Surprise: Penn State is clearly the surprise team of 2005. The Nittany Lions, who who were off most people's radars in August, are two seconds from a perfect season and ranked No. 3 in the poll. Penn State was unranked in the preseason poll and did not appear on Kelly's preseason ballot.
Other notable climbs include Oregon (unranked preseason, No. 5 final poll) and Notre Dame (unranked to No. 6).
Strong at the Top: The SEC claims three teams in the top 10 of the national poll (Auburn, Georgia, LSU). The Big 10, however, has two of the top four in Penn State and Ohio State. The ACC was represented by six teams in the national top 25.
On the Outside: An unprecedented level of parity within the Mid-American Conference in 2005 left the league on the outside looking in when the final poll was released. Toledo garnered the league's lone top 25 vote in the final tally. Following a run of six straight seasons that saw the MAC place at least one team in the final poll, the conference has been left out of the last two year-end polls.
