On paper, this is not a successful season for most of college football, especially when you consider that there are more bowl invites this year than there are six-win teams.

But even in the bad years, the teams must be ranked against each other in order for us to see where they stand. We still need to know who is the best.

Take a look at where we think the teams should have fallen on the list.

HOW THE CFP POLL SHOULD’VE LOOKED

1. Alabama (11-1) – The Crimson Tide played close to perfect in Auburn last week. True, it wasn’t a spectacular win, and the boys in Crimson could have done better, but they made very few mistakes, and RB Derrick Henry laid it all on the line for the win.

2. Oklahoma (11-1) – The Sooners absolutely routed Oklahoma State in rivalry week. They played like the No. 2 team in the country, and the committee should have reflected that in the poll.

3. Clemson (12-0) – The Tigers may have left Columbia with a win, but it was downright ugly. The College Football Playoff committee has judged North Carolina harshly for losing to the Gamecocks in the season opener, but South Carolina has only gotten worse, and the No. 1 team in the nation struggled in a big way in Week 13. Clemson should be at its best right now, but that is not the message it sent Saturday. Being undefeated doesn’t always mean you’re the best. Sometimes it just means you haven’t yet played the best.

4. Michigan State (11-1) – The Spartans destroyed Penn State in their rivalry game, and despite their single loss and Iowa’s 12-0 record, they are a better team than the Hawkeyes.

5. Iowa (12-0) – Iowa’s 8-point win over Nebraska wasn’t nearly as impressive as Michigan State’s routing of the Nittany Lions.

6. Stanford (10-2) – The Cardinal has two losses on the season, but both are to great teams. And in Week 13 Stanford stunned Notre Dame with a last-second field goal.

7. Ohio State (11-1) – The Buckeyes got a dominant win over Michigan in rivalry week, but sometimes, two-loss teams (Stanford) are just better than one-loss teams.

8. Notre Dame (10-2)

9. North Carolina (11-1) – The Tar Heels took care of business last week against in-state rival NC State, and they’re playing for the ACC Championship in the Week 14. Two-loss Florida State is not playing for the title. North Carolina still has a shot at the playoffs, albeit a long one. Florida State does not. That’s enough for me.

10. Florida State (10-2) – The Seminoles beat Florida handily, but it’s too little, too late. They may be better than the Gators, but they’re not better than at least nine other FBS teams.

11. Ole Miss (9-3) – Maybe I’m underestimating the Big 12 or maybe TCU and Baylor just don’t have what it takes to beat a good SEC team. I’m betting on the latter considering that all four of their combined losses came once they finally reached the much anticipated meat of their Big 12 schedules. Either way, Ole Miss should be ranked above TCU and Baylor.

12. TCU (10-2)

13. Baylor (9-2)

14. Oregon (9-3) – The Ducks lost a few tough games early in the season, but two of those were to ranked teams that are still ranked, and the third was to a team that was eventually ranked. The last three weeks have been huge for Oregon, and they have proved the Ducks belong here. And they definitely belong above Northwestern.

15. Michigan (9-3) – Michigan garnered an ugly loss to Ohio State in rivalry week, but I still think the Wolverines would take care of business against Northwestern.

16. Northwestern (10-2)

17. Oklahoma State (10-2)

18. Florida (10-2) – The Gators suffered a humiliating loss at the hands of Florida State in rivalry week, and their drop in the rankings was warranted. They can save face by beating Alabama in the SEC Championship, but it would come at the expense of the SEC, locking the conference out of a title shot for the first time in a decade and weakening the 2016 strength of schedule rankings for the SEC.

19. Houston (11-1)

20. USC (8-4)

21. LSU (8-3) – The Tigers struggled there for a bit, but a timely win against Texas A&M snapped their losing streak and righted the rankings ship.

22. Navy (9-2) – Navy lost big to Houston last week, but I think the Midshipmen would get the win in a head-to-head matchup with Temple.

23. Temple (10-2) – The Owls’ big win in rivalry week is less impressive when you consider that it was against UConn.

24. Utah (9-3)

25. Tennessee (8-4) or Georgia (9-3) – The Volunteers had a huge win over Vanderbilt. But it is Vanderbilt. Tennessee is good, but why not have Georgia here instead? The Bulldogs did get a hard-fought win over Georgia Tech in Week 13, and they have a better record than the Volunteers. Though, one of Georgia’s losses was to Tennessee.