Little has changed from week eleven to twelve of the ESP. The difference in the top teams lies largely in who does and who doesn’t control their own desitiny.

As the season draws to an end, the national championship picture becomes more clear and the AV Ranking more closely approaches Sagarin. Similarly, the ESP approaches the BCS although subtle differences will remain at the season’s end.

Prior to the conference championships the AV Ranking will be used to predict the winners. The same will be done for the BCS bowl and national championship games at the end of the season.

Elite Selection Playoff

Alabama seems to be in control of their destiny. With a manageable game against Auburn next week and then the SEC championship showdown with Florida on the horizon, the Crimson Tide will lock up a trip to the national championship by winning out. Texas Tech is in a similar situation, currently tied with Alabama for the top ESP spot. Texas and Oklahoma, however, need some help from other teams.

Elite Selection Playoff

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Strength of Schedule

Washington holds on to the top strength of schedule spot and may have locked it up for the year as they hold a fairly substantial edge over Purdue. Of note is that only two teams in the top ten strength of schedule are in the top 15 of the AV Ranking. While many of the top teams have impressive resumes, as a whole they are largely untested.

Notre Dame comes in with the 79th toughest strength of schedule, a value that figures to move slightly North after the season ending contest against USC.

Strength of Schedule

[table id=25 /]

AV Ranking

The AV Ranking also shows relatively little change in the top teams. While Alabama jumped Florida, the top few teams remained largely the same. Texas Tech, Alabama, and Utah haven’t proven too much by the teams they have faced, but that will change for the Red Raiders and Crimson Tide over the next couple of weeks as they will likely reach their conference championships.

The Irish come in at 54th in the AV Ranking, just missing the top 50.

AV Ranking

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