The best rankings debate left the end of the season: Who's No. 1? It's Ohio State in the final Power Rankings of the 2019 season. That might not matter much. We have a College Football Playoff to decide things.

In the five prior editions of the playoff, a No. 1 team has never won it all. Here, in the Power Rankings the ranking is a salute to the Buckeyes' dominance.

The argument can be made that Ohio State played three bad quarters all season: the third against Penn State and the first half against Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game. It's fair to say Ohio State wasn't distracted this season, didn't let down. There are metronomes less consistent than the Buckeyes.

That was the beginning of a trend. Six Big Ten teams made the final Power Rankings -- most of any conference.

My, how far we've come. Nine teams that began the season in the Power Rankings are long gone in the final version. We don't know what got into us when we ranked the likes of Stanford, Nebraska and Texas.

My, how far Oregon has come. In winning the Pac-12, the Ducks made one of the biggest jumps of the season -- from No. 16 to No. 5.

Here's the final Power Rankings for 2019. We'll reengage you next month for the Way Too Early Top 25 for 2020.

Biggest Movers
9 Oregon
6 Wisconsin
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Teams
  
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1 Ohio State The Big Ten version of Clemson, so far ahead of its conference rivals that it's not even close. The Buckeyes get the final nod for being slightly more consistent than LSU. The nation's No. 1 offense and No. 2 defense has all the tools needed for a national championship. -- 12-1
2 LSU How many teams have had the coach of the year (Ed Orgeron), the Heisman Trophy winner (Joe Burrow) and the assistant coach of the year (Joe Brady) at the same time? Only twice previously, Michigan in 1997 and Auburn in 2010. -- 7-5
3 Clemson Sporting a 28-game winning streak, apparently the reigning national champions needed motivation. The first team since 1966 to finish the season ranked No. 1, go undefeated and finish third has plenty of incentive. -- 7-5
4 Oklahoma Let's not write off the Sooners against LSU in the CFP just yet. The defense is real having gone from 114th to 25th. This will be Jalen Hurts' fourth straight trip to the playoff. That's after winning a conference title in two leagues and becoming the third straight transfer quarterback to lead OU to the postseason. Being the Heisman runner-up somehow felt like a just honor at the end of his career. 1 10-2
5 Oregon Don't downgrade the Ducks for losing to Auburn, instead criticize them for losing a mediocre Arizona State. After winning the Pac-12, that's what kept them out of the playoff conversation. The Rose Bowl isn't a bad consolation prize. 9 11-1
6 Georgia The Dawgs were so beat up at the end of the season they didn't stand a chance against LSU. With Florida back and Tennessee getting better, there should be a challenge for Georgia next year in the SEC East. 2 12-1
7 Florida The Gators won 10 games, beat Auburn and lost only to LSU and Georgia. Florida had to overcome a season-ending injury to its quarterback. In the process, it found a new starter (Kyle Trask). Definitely a bright future while Feleipe Franks becomes a graduate transfer. -- 4-8
8 Auburn Alabama isn't used to looking up to Auburn in the rankings but here it is. Gus Malzahn had one of the best Xs and Os seasons in his career. Breaking in a true freshman quarterback (Bo Nix), Gus was smart enough to lean on a stout defense and win nine with one of the toughest schedules in the country. 1 5-7
9 Minnesota P.J. Fleck energized Minnesota football for the first time in forever. A win over Penn State on Nov. 9 put the Gophers in control of their Big Ten and playoff destiny. The program's first 10-win season since 2003 wasn't bad. Minnesota is suddenly a factor in the Big Ten. 2 7-5
10 Baylor From 1-11 two years ago to 11-2. Matt Rhule is quickly establishing himself as one of the best coaches in the country. An inspiring Big 12 Championship Game almost ended with a third-string quarterback beating Oklahoma. 2 5-7
11 Utah For some reason, the Utes didn't show up for the conference title game after being the best team in the Pac-12 for most of the season. They will be without All-Pac 12 safety Justin Blackmon against Texas in the Alamo Bowl. Kyle Whittingham will have a rebuilding job in 2020. 5 10-2
12 Penn State One of four Big Ten teams with at least 10 wins. The Nittany Lions' fastest player, K.J. Hamler, was nicked up down the stretch (10 catches, 124 yards in the last three game) or Penn State might be doing better than the Cotton Bowl against Memphis. -- 6-6
13 Alabama Fascinating matchup against Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. Who among the draft-eligible juniors will make it that far? Who will declare for the draft? One of those juniors, Tua Tagovailoa, says his return is still possible. Fascinating offseason ahead as Nick Saban tries to retool a dynasty. -- 10-3
14 Memphis AAC champions and the New Year's Six entrant from the Group of Five. The reward for getting to the Cotton Bowl berth is losing coach Mike Norvell to Florida State. Offensive line coach Ryan Silverfield takes over after a forever season by the Tigers (12-1). 1 8-4
15 Notre Dame There's already upheaval in South Bend. Offensive coordinator Chip Long left Brian Kelly's side by "mutual agreement." Strange because Long is widely respected in the industry and was a finalist for the Broyles Award (assistant coach of the year). Quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees has emerged as a possible replacement. 1 10-2
16 Wisconsin This is enough to get you to the Rose Bowl these days: The Badgers played one good half against Ohio State in two meetings. There was an embarrassing loss to Illinois. Wisconsin was back as the class of the Big Ten West. Jonathan Taylor won the Doak Walker Award. 6 4-8
17 Boise State Mountain West champs finished as the Group of Five runner up for the Cotton Bowl, if that means anything. Coach Bryan Harsin's name came up for several jobs. He remains in place suggesting he is (a) comfortable at Boise, (b) comfortable in the West and (c) waiting for a Pac-12 opening. -- 9-4
18 Appalachian State Sun Belt champions lost coach Eli Drinkwitz to Missouri after one season. That shouldn't distract from the fact that App State is one of the best overall Group of Five programs. It has transitioned nicely to FBS, going 53-12 in the last five seasons. -- 5-7
19 Iowa This is one of my favorite notes from the 2019 season: Coach Kirk Ferentz got a $500,000 bonus for winning eight games. Eight wins, half a million. Where do I sign up? Not bad for the game's longest-tenured coach, who has averaged 7.7 wins in 21 seasons. -- 8-4
20 Michigan A victory gives Jim Harbaugh 10 wins for the fourth time in five seasons at Michigan. That is balanced against an 0-5 record against Ohio State. To the naked eye, the Wolverines are miles behind the Buckeyes in talent. A Citrus Bowl win over Alabama would be Harbaugh's biggest at Michigan. 1 9-3
21 Navy It's a shame Navy quarterback Malcolm Perry didn't make it as Heisman finalist. He deserved it. Navy completed the biggest turnaround in the country this season going from 3-10 to 10-2. The Army West Point win broke a three-game losing streak to the Black Knights. 2 9-2
22 USC For all the negativity surrounding the program, the 8-4 season wasn't bad. Clay Helton kept his job and got a new boss (athletic director Mike Bohn). Offensive coordinator Graham Harrell successfully ran the Air Raid. Helton also found a quarterback in Kedon Slovis who took over for the injured J.T. Daniels. NR 9-3
23 Air Force I'm shocked Troy Calhoun's name didn't surface more in places like Missouri and Arkansas, which hired relatively inexperienced head coaches. Calhoun deserves a move up to Power Five after winning 10 games for the third time since 2014. NR 4-8
24 Cincinnati A 10-win season ends with back-to-back losses to Memphis, the last for the AAC title. How did Luke Fickell not get one of the Power Five jobs? Cincinnati continues to be one of the more underappreciated programs in the country. Since 2007, the Bearcats have won at least nine games nine times with the likes of Brian Kelly, Butch Jones and Tommy Tuberville. 4 7-5
25 Oklahoma State Chuba Hubbard led the country in rushing, became the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, should have won the Doak Walker Award and may be back for more. The redshirt sophomore posted on Instagram last week, "One more." Hmm. NR 1-11