The Times' top 25 college football rankings

This could be a first in the history of Rankman — two teams in the top 25 with the nickname Aggies: Texas A&M (11) and Utah State (24). Throw in Kansas State (8) if you count the nearby "Aggieville" bar scene. Missing the Aggies cut: North Carolina A&T, New Mexico State, UC Davis. Our mythical national title game this week is Notre Dame vs. Ohio State, just to irritate Alabama fans who don't know Ohio State is ineligible for postseason play. It's the closest we may get to a nonconference Notre Dame vs. Big Ten Conference game as Notre Dame moves mostly to the Atlantic Coast Conference for football and Jim Delany's Big 14 staff begins work on concocting goofy trophy names for fabricated rivalries such as Rutgers-Indiana and Maryland-Purdue.

Chris Dufresne

November 22, 2012