AP Top 25: Michigan back to No. 2 in rankings behind Georgia; Ohio State falls to No. 6
Georgia completed a wire-to-wire regular season by maintaining the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 college football poll Sunday ahead of Michigan, which moved back to No. 2 following its 30-24 win over Ohio State . Here’s what you need to know:
Full AP Top 25 after Week 13
t-21. NC State
t-21. Oregon State
Others receiving votes: Tennessee 98, Clemson 57, Kansas State 41, Utah 40, Troy 7, Kansas 6, New Mexico State 5, Kentucky 4, Memphis 1, North Carolina 1, Miami (OH) 1
How Rivalry Week changed the poll
The final week of the regular season came close to delivering upsets to shift the Playoff race, but Washington (against Washington State ), Florida State (Florida), Alabama ( Auburn ) and, depending on how you view it, Georgia ( Georgia Tech ) survived upset threats. There has not been a single upset by an unranked team against an AP top-five opponent this season, though Week 13 did include an unranked team beating a top-10 foe: Kentucky over Louisville for the Wildcats’ first top-10 road win since 1977. Louisville tumbled six spots to No. 15.
Michigan achieving a signature win against Ohio State while Georgia had a lackluster outing against Georgia Tech put a dent into the Bulldogs’ lead at the top of the rankings, but Georgia remains a clear-cut No. 1. Its share of first-place votes fell from 61 to 52, while Michigan got the other 10 — including mine.
How will conference championship games impact the poll?
Seven teams in the AP top 10 will play for conference championships next week. It starts with a top-five showdown in the Pac-12 between No. 3 Washington and No. 5 Oregon on Friday — the first time the Pac-12 title game will feature two top-five teams. The other top-10 matchup will be in the SEC, where No. 1 Georgia meets No. 8 Alabama. A Crimson Tide upset would end the Bulldogs’ No. 1 streak and open the door for Michigan to be ranked No. 1 for the first time since the end of the 1997 season — or perhaps Washington for the first time since November 1992, if it beats Oregon again.
The other ranked teams in action: No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 18 Iowa for the Big Ten title, No. 4 Florida State vs. No. 15 Louisville for the ACC title, No. 7 Texas vs. No. 19 Oklahoma State for the Big 12 title, No. 17 Tulane vs. No. 25 SMU for the AAC title, No. 20 Liberty vs. New Mexico State for the Conference USA title and No. 23 Toledo vs. Miami (OH) for the MAC title. Neither the Mountain West nor Sun Belt championship game features a ranked team, the latter because of James Madison’s ineligibility.
(Photo of J.J. McCarthy : Ezra Shaw / Getty)
