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The Stanford Cardinal end their season in the top 10 of both the AP Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll for the third consecutive season. Stanford finished the year with a 20-14 win over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl to improve to 12-2 on the season, placing them at No. 7 in the AP and No. 6 in the USA Today polls respectively (they are one spot higher in the USA Today Poll, because that poll does not rank 12-0 Ohio State due to their one-year suspension).
Alabama finished the season as the unanimous No. 1 team in both polls after their dismantling of Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship Game on Monday. The Cardinal's Pac-12 rival Oregon finished at No. 2 in both polls. Stanford was the only team to defeat Oregon this season, beating them 17-14 in overtime on Nov. 17. The Pac-12 placed two teams in the top 10, and three teams in the top 25 with Oregon State coming in at No. 20 and 19 in the two polls respectively.
Stanford was not the only area team to finish the season in the top 25. San Jose State put together an 11-2 record and ended the season ranked 21st in both polls after defeating Bowling Green 29-20 in the Military Bowl.