Chris Dufresne’s college football rankings

Last Friday is what you get when you ask Nick Saban for a favor. Or maybe it was Bear Bryant’s fault for dozing off on Cloud 9 after Alabama led Auburn, 24-0. Rankman took a chance on ranking Boise State No. 1 and it may turn out the Broncos miss the national title game because of a chip-shot kick that drifted one inch wide right (maybe) on goal posts at Nevada that appeared to have been purchased for the Pop Warner junior midget division. If you think Rankman went off his rocker with Boise State, consider that the USA Today coaches’ preseason top four of Alabama, Ohio State, Florida and Texas enter the final weekend with 16 combined defeats. And these are the “smart” guys.

1. Oregon 11-0; Hurry-up offense can’t wait for Saturday to get here. (2)

2. Auburn 12-0; Auburn, unlike USC, used the NCAA’s express “10 items or less” lane. (4)

3. Texas Christian 12-0; You guys might want to leave now for 2012 game against Syracuse. (3)

4. Stanford 11-1; Genius sophomore assures Orange Bowl he can clone 25,000 fans who will travel. (5)

5. Wisconsin 11-1; Might run over your mother to pick up points in the BCS polls. (8)

6. Arkansas 10-2; All we hear about is Newton when your QB is probably the better pro. (11)

7. Boise State 10-1; Still hasn’t trailed in regulation since fourth quarter against Virginia Tech. (1)

8. Nevada 11-1; Funding just came through to extend uprights in both end zones. (14)

9. Ohio State 11-1; James Madison has more victories over teams ranked in BCS top 25. (9)

10. Michigan State 11-1; Big Ten BCS tiebreaker: Eeny, meeny, miney, Sparty. (10)

11. Virginia Tech 10-2; Boise thanks you for your backbone, but you can go ahead and lose now. (13)

12. Louisiana State 10-2; Miles thought, like ‘07, loss to Arkansas would cinch BCS title-game spot? (6)

13. South Carolina 9-3; “Chicken Curse” could end at headquarters city of Chick-fil-A (Atlanta). (15)

14. Missouri 10-2; Rankman has no “insight” as to where Tigers will end up bowling. (16)

15. Oklahoma 10-2; Final Big 12 game vs. Nebraska will feature Switzer and Osborne in polyester bell bottoms. (19)

16. Oklahoma State 10-2; Mike Gundy, he’s a man, but no longer 40; wins Big 12 coach of the year. (12)

17. Texas A&M 9-3; Cotton balls in your ears? We said you’re going to the Cotton Bowl. (17)

18. Nebraska 10-2; Big 12 wishes you the very least Saturday against Oklahoma. (18)

19. Alabama 9-3; One bowl loss from maybe ending up behind three WAC teams in polls. (7)

20. Arizona 7-4; One mechanic thinks Stoops may have blown a gasket at Oregon. (20)

21. Mississippi State 8-4; Cam Newton, for a price, could have added four wins to this record. (21)

22. Florida State 9-3; Seeks only second 10-win season since 2000 campaign led by Hanging Chad. (24)

23. Utah 10-2; Utes told they cannot roll over their 401(10-2)k into a Pac-12 IRA. (25)

24. Northern Illinois 10-2; DeKalb: “We’re not just barbed-wire capital of the world anymore.” (NR)

25. Hawaii 9-3; Plays so many postseason games on island they should name bowl after school. (NR)

Moved in: Northern Illinois, Hawaii.

Dropped out: North Carolina State (22), Iowa (23).

chris.dufresne@latimes.com