Editor’s note: Be sure to check back for the final installment of the ESP when the final AV Ranking (AVR) will be used to predict the bowl game outcomes. The previous week’s results can be found here: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6.

The season ended with three undefeated teams but only two will be playing for the BCS National Championship in Glendale. TCU, once again, is on the outside looking in as Auburn and Oregon will meet January 10th to decide the 2010 season champion.

The top 10 teams in the final ESP rankings look very similar to the BCS with a few exceptions. Auburn, Oregon and TCU hold the top three spots in both but Stanford is 6th in the ESP and 4th in the BCS. Five of the remaining six teams—Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, Oklahoma, and Arkansas—round out the rest of the top 10 in both rankings. The only major disparity is with Boise State and LSU. The ESP has the Broncos at 7th, the BCS 11, while the BCS puts LSU at 10th and the ESP has the Tigers at 11th.

If there is one team who was left out of the mix for no good reason, it’s Michigan State. The Spartans had the same record as fellow Big Ten conference teams Wisconsin and Ohio State, beat the Badgers in the only head-to-head matchup, and were left out of the BCS despite the other two getting invites to the Rose and Sugar Bowls respectively.

The Irish finished the year ranked 26th in the AVR. Notre Dame played the toughest strength of schedule in the country, ranked 20th in quality wins/losses (QWL), 45th in adjusted win percentage (AWP), 49th in margin of victory (MOV), and 37th in team performance ratio (TPR). The relatively lofty TPR ranking is owed mostly to a defense that improved steadily over the course of the season to finish 16th in defensive TPR. The offense, on the other hand, regressed from 2009 to rank 69th in offensive TPR.

Elite Selection Playoff (ESP)

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AV Ranking (AVR)

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Adjusted Win Percentage (AWP)

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Strength of Schedule (SOS)

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Team Performance Ratio (TPR)

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Margin of Victory (MOV)

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Quality Wins/Losses (QWL)

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