This year is over. All tasks, good or bad, have been completed. Unfortunately, there is no opportunity to receive additional credits.
Now that the issues surrounding Ohio State’s national championship are resolved, it’s time to distribute report cards in the form of season scores to all teams in the bowl division. This annual grade takes into account overall performance compared to preseason expectations, and further examines how teams perform in key games against rivals and other high-profile opponents. will be given importance.
Please note that grades will be given on a scale that corresponds to these expectations. This helps explain the difference between Marshall and Mississippi State, for example.
With both teams going 10-3, the Thundering Herd earned an A grade with the Sun Belt championship, the program’s first conference championship since 2014. The Rebels tied for B+ with blowout losses to Kentucky and Florida and missed the College Football Playoff.
Similarly, Vanderbilt went 7-6 and earned an A-, while Southern California earned a disastrous C- for the same record.
Four elite A+ grade teams tied, led by Indiana. The Hoosiers had the most successful regular season in program history under new coach Curt Cignetti. Four teams were D-minus, including Arizona and Purdue. Three teams, led by Florida State University, were given the dreaded F spot.
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Ohio State earned an A instead of an A+ despite its win over Notre Dame on Monday night. That’s because the Buckeyes lost to Michigan in the regular season, knocking them down a peg despite having one of the most remarkable postseason performances in FBS history.
Like all great professors and talent evaluators, like members of the playoff selection committee, grades ignore names and focus only on results. As a result, some of the largest programs in the country have poor report cards.
After losing to the Commodores and Oklahoma, Alabama earned the C with a 9-4 record under first-year coach Karen DeBoer. Michigan finished the year with an 8-5 record and a C+, with wins over Ohio State and the Crimson Tide. Oklahoma State earned a C+ after landing with a thud as a newcomer to the SEC.