Hlas' final regular-season AP ballot: 1. Alabama, 2. TCU, 3. Texas, 4. Cincinnati, 5. Boise State, 6. Florida

I don't have to perpetrate fraud. I'll leave that to the masters of such chicanery, the BCS and the six major conferences that are its owners.

The two best teams in college football until proven otherwise are Alabama and TCU. Not Alabama and Texas.

Comparing scores is a fool's game, so naturally I'll play it. Texas nipped Oklahoma, 16-13. BYU nipped Oklahoma, 14-13. TCU destroyed BYU, 38-7. At BYU. And BYU didn't exactly fall apart before or after that game, going 10-2 this season.

TCU won at Clemson 14-10 on Sept. 26. Repeat, AT Clemson. The Tigers were in the ACC title game last night, and a great ACC title game it was. The ACC is a BCS conference, by the way.

Did Texas look like a national-title contender to you Saturday night against Nebraska? TCU has looked like one for the last two months, with a destructive offense and a defense that may nearly be the equal of Nebraska's, though it doesn't have anyone like Ndamukong Suh. But who does, other than maybe one or two NFL teams?

Oh, but TCU didn't play giants like all the teams Texas played. Yeah, right. Take a look at the Top 15 today, anybody's Top 15. Do you see a team that faced the Longhorns? You do not.

Not Oklahoma, not Oklahoma State, not Texas Tech, not Nebraska. But BYU is there.

And the Horned Frogs wiped out BYU, and wiped out a Utah team that ran the table last season including a convincing win over Alabama last year in the Sugar Bowl.

And, as I mentioned, they beat Clemson at Clemson. No one else won at Clemson this season except for Clemson.

Utah, by the way, lost at Oregon by only 31-24. That's the Oregon that won the Pac-10. The Pac-10 of the BCS.

But we'll surely get Alabama-Texas on Jan. 7, winner-take-all. Or is it? Associated Press has its own national title, and we AP voters aren't bound to cast our ballots for the BCS title-game winner like the joke coaches' poll. And if TCU whips up on someone in its bowl game and the 'Bama-Texas winner limps in like Texas did against Nebraska?

Horned Frogs, bay-bee!

My ballot:

1. Alabama. A nice little team.

2. TCU

3. Texas. Hey, going 13-0 is sensational. Doing what it took in the final 80 seconds to get that game-winning field goal against Nebraska was admirable. But what is the Longhorns' signature victory? At Oklahoma State?

The 'Horns beat Nebraska by one point on a (not really) neutral field. Iowa State beat the Huskers by twice as much at Lincoln.

4. Cincinnati. I wrestled for quite a while with Texas and Cincy, much more so than TCU

and Texas. The Bearcats won their conference title on the road, not close to home. And Texas doesn't have a nonconference win that begins to compare with Cincinnati's at Oregon State. But I truly believe Texas beat (slightly) better teams and has a superior defense. This, I assure you, was a difficult call. There is no reason to exclude Cincinnati from the national-title conversation.

5. Boise State. The Broncos went unbeaten and beat a BCS conference-champion (Oregon).  Florida did neither. In fact, name the best team the Gators defeated. It's LSU. Case closed. The Broncos can prove themselves as a Top Five team or expose themselves as just another good team in the Fiesta Bowl against Iowa. Or so a lot of people are expecting today.

6. Florida

7. Oregon. That 37-33 win over Oregon State Thursday night in Eugene started a great college football weekend.

8. Ohio State

9. Iowa

10. Penn State

11. Georgia Tech. I considered moving up Tech even more after it won the ACC title, but that home loss to Georgia last week didn't lose all its stench.

12. Virginia Tech

13. Miami

14. Oregon State

15. BYU

16. West Virginia

17. Pittsburgh

18. Nebraska

19. LSU

20. Stanford

21. Arizona. Three months ago, if you'd told me I would have ranked Stanford and Arizona on Dec. 6, but not USC or California . . .

22. Northwestern

23. Wisconsin

24. Central Michigan. Champion of the MAC, winner of 11 games. Well-done, Chippewas.

25. East Carolina. Champion of Conference USA. Well-done, Pirates.