Notre Dame holds top spot, but no team is truly dominant this season

Every time I click on Twitter, my mentions blend into the same message. Every team in the top 12 is overrated. No one played anybody good. Every conference stinks.

Fans of a particular team can punch holes in another team's schedule/best win/worst loss, and guess what? They're all correct. Is Notre Dame the best team in the country? I think so, but I could be wrong. Should the winner of the SEC title game automatically make the BCS title game? Maybe, but I could entertain arguments to the contrary.

The fact is there are no truly dominant teams this season. There is no 2001 Miami or 1995 Nebraska. There isn't a twosome like USC and Texas in 2005. Every team in my top 12, given the correct set of circumstances, could beat every other team in the top 12. That's where we're at. There is quite a bit of parity at the top this year. So when a Kansas State fan says the Wildcats could beat Alabama or Georgia, he's correct. On the right day, the Wildcats could. And on the wrong day, the SEC would roll. When a Florida fan says the Gators got stiffed after putting together the nation's best résumé, he might be correct. When a Stanford fan says his team is playing better than anyone in the country right now, that's tough to deny.

So are the rankings correct? Will the BCS match the two best teams for the national title? I don't know, and neither do you. It's not a satisfying answer, because it's not a satisfying system.

The four-team playoff will ease some of this in 2014, but that still wouldn't be satisfying in a year like this. So if your team is one of the 10 really good ones that will get stiffed on Sunday, I apologize in advance.

NCAA Football Power Rankings

Next five: USC, Boise State, Utah State, San Jose State, Fresno State

Andy Staples' Power Rankings also serve as his ballot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.