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With Florida State's impressive come-from-behind victory over No. 2 Auburn in last night's final BCS National Championship game, the 2013 College Football season has came to a close. It's been a fun one, that saw several historic moments and games on the national stage.
But even on the Mid-American Conference front, it was a fun year. All season long MAC fans watched as NIU flirted with, and then slowly climbed up the major college football polls. Unfortunatley, it didn't all go as planned. After flirting with a BCS bid, NIU fell to Bowling Green in the MAC Championship and followed it up with a 21-14 loss to Utah State in the Poinsettia Bowl (which we attended). So now that all the dust has settled and the final chapter in the book that is the 2013 college football season is finished, the final polls have came out.
Bad news for the MAC, and specifically Northern Illinois. The two-straight losses were noticed, and voters didn't like it. After checking in at No. 23 in the previous Coaches Poll, and No. 24 in the AP Poll, the Huskies have dropped from the polls completely. They've landed in that shady "Other's Receiving Votes" nether-region.
It seems fair considering in the two biggest games of NIU's season it crumbled under pressure. The Huskies finish the 2013 season with 22 points in the AP Poll and 21 points in the Coaches Poll. No other MAC team ever cracked the Top 25 of either poll this season, and no other MAC team received votes in these final rankings.
Here's a look at the final AP Poll.
| Ranking | School | Last Week |
| 1 | Florida State | 1 |
| 2 | Auburn | 2 |
| 3 | Michigan State | 4 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 8 |
| 5 | Missouri | 9 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | 11 |
| 7 | Alabama | 3 |
| 8 | Clemson | 12 |
| 9 | Oregon | 10 |
| 10 | UCF | 15 |
| 11 | Stanford | 5 |
| 12 | Ohio State | 7 |
| 13 | Baylor | 6 |
| 14 | LSU | 14 |
| 15 | Louisville | 18 |
| 16 | UCLA | 17 |
| 17 | Oklahoma State | 13 |
| 18 | Texas A&M | 20 |
| 19 | USC | 26 |
| 20 | Notre Dame | 25 |
| 21 | Arizona State | 16 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 19 |
| 23 | Duke | 22 |
| 24 | Vanderbilt | 29 |
| 25 | Washington | 33 |
And here's a look at the full Coaches Poll:
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK | CHANGE | HI/LOW* |
| 1 | Florida State Seminoles |
14-0 | 1475 | 59 | 1 | 1/10 | |
| 2 | Auburn Tigers |
12-2 | 1388 | 0 | 2 | 2/NR | |
| 3 | Michigan State Spartans |
13-1 | 1375 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3/NR |
| 4 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
11-2 | 1219 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4/20 |
| 5 | Missouri Tigers |
12-2 | 1200 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 5/NR |
| 6 | Oklahoma Sooners |
11-2 | 1189 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6/18 |
| 7 | Clemson Tigers |
11-2 | 1091 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 4/11 |
| 8 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
11-2 | 1086 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1/8 |
| 9 | Oregon Ducks |
11-2 | 975 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 2/12 |
| 10 | Stanford Cardinal |
11-3 | 872 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4/13 |
| 10 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
12-2 | 872 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2/10 |
| 12 | Central Florida Knights |
12-1 | 865 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 12/NR |
| 13 | Baylor Bears |
11-2 | 796 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 4/NR |
| 14 | LSU Tigers |
10-3 | 719 | 0 | 14 | 6/19 | |
| 15 | Louisville Cardinals |
12-1 | 703 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 6/17 |
| 16 | UCLA Bruins |
10-3 | 597 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 10/22 |
| 17 | Oklahoma State Cowboys |
10-3 | 587 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 6/20 |
| 18 | Texas A&M Aggies |
9-4 | 443 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 6/25 |
| 19 | USC Trojans |
10-4 | 313 | 0 | NR | 19/NR | |
| 20 | Arizona State Sun Devils |
10-4 | 302 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 13/NR |
| 21 | Wisconsin Badgers |
9-4 | 266 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 14/NR |
| 22 | Duke Blue Devils |
10-4 | 202 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 20/NR |
| 23 | Vanderbilt Commodores |
9-4 | 180 | 0 | NR | 23/NR | |
| 24 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
9-4 | 125 | 0 | NR | 13/NR | |
| 25 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
9-4 | 123 | 0 | NR | 15/NR |
Others Receiving VotesWashington 67; Fresno State 54; Northern Illinois 21; Marshall 17; Texas Tech 13; Kansas State 11; Mississippi 7; Texas 4; Miami (Fla.) 4; East Carolina 3; Cincinnati 3; Arizona 2; North Texas 2; Utah State 2; Navy 1; Louisiana-Lafayette 1.
