LSU only team with top 10 SOS to finish in top 25

I know how much some of you hate context, but LSU was the only school in the country to finish in the top 25 with a tough strength of schedule....

an excerpt from a FSU site (followed by link to full entry):
First we should start with some context. Performance is irrelevant without context. In this case the context is schedule strength. We'll use Brian Fremeau's SOS numbers. Strength of schedule, based on the likelihood of an elite team going undefeated against this team's schedule. Florida State played the 13th toughest schedule in 2007, including the bowl game. In 2008 they played the 12th toughest. This past season the 'Noles played the 5th toughest. No team that played a top 9 schedule managed 10 wins against division-1 teams, even including the bowl game! Here is a list of that top 9 and the records against division 1 competition:

1. Tennessee: 7-6
2. Arkansas 7-5
3. South Carolina 6-6
4. LSU 9-4
5. FSU 6-6
6. Mississippi State 4-7
7. Florida International 3-9
8. Virginia 3-8
9. North Carolina 6-5

That's a combined 51-56 record. I'd argue that all but Virginia and Florida International were in the 45 best teams in the country. And I'd argue that Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida State, LSU, and North Carolina are among the 30 best teams in the country. But those teams effectively scheduled themselves out of the final polls. Of the 9, only 1 team ended up ranked in the final polls- LSU at #17. To further illustrate what a joke college football really is, take a look at the final top 25 and the corresponding strength of schedules. Keep in mind that these include the bowl game and thus teams playing against excellent competition in bowl games will have a schedule much higher than their regular season schedule for which they were responsible. That is the case with Texas, Alabama, and Florida, all of which received a massive bump from their conference championship game and bowl game.