Rich Rodriguez votes Alabama No. 1, Texas No. 2

Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez revealed his final top 25 ballot of the college football season.

Melanie R. Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Former Big East rival Cincinnati came in third on Rodriguez's ballot, ahead of fellow unbeaten TCU, while one-loss Florida ranked fifth and Boise State, the nation's last undefeated team, was sixth.

Rodriguez slotted 3 Big Ten teams in his top 10 - Ohio State was seventh, Penn State ninth and Iowa 10th - and his top 12 were the same as the overall top 12, albeit it in slightly different order.

Michigan finished 5-7 this year and 1-7 in Big Ten play, losing to Ohio State, 21-10, in its season finale. The Wolverines also lost at home to Penn State, 35-10, and at Iowa, 30-28.

Wisconsin was the only other Big Ten team on Rodriguez's final ballot, at No. 20.

Rodriguez also ranked his old West Virginia team 18th and gave Central Michigan and good friend Butch Jones the final spot in his poll at No. 25. The Chippewas finished 26th in the overall ballot.

Nebraska was the only team to rank more than 3 spots high or lower on Rodriguez's final ballot than it did in the actual poll. Rodriguez put the Cornhuskers 13th after their Big 12 championship game loss to Texas; Nebraska finished 19th overall.

Here's Rodriguez's final poll:
1. Alabama
2. Texas
3. Cincinnati
4. TCU
5. Florida
6. Boise State
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Penn State
10. Iowa
11. Virginia Tech
12. Georgia Tech
13. Nebraska
14. LSU
15. BYU
16. Miami (Fla.)
17. Oklahoma State
18. West Virginia
19. Pitt
20. Wisconsin
21. Arizona
22. Oregon State
23. Utah
24. Stanford
25. Central Michigan

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.