Agree with about everything you said in your post but the above statement - I simply think the Big 12 teams were over-ranked from the begining....thus continually helping them in the polls as the season went -
But completely agree - how you win by 10 on the road and drop is crazy (CAL) -
A&M wasn't ranked early. Neither was OkSU or tech if I recall correctly, or if they were it was right around 25. OU was top 3 and t.u. was top 10, and both lived up to that. So, in that respect, none were overranked at any time, and 4 moved up in their ranking. Now, OU goes NC game, t.u. goes Rose Bowl, A&M Cotton, tech Holiday, and OkSU Alamo Bowl. Can you name 5 teams out of any division, much less conference, with as high of Bowls?
The point about Cal can easily be made, but the South wasn't overrated.