AP top 25 poll: USC, Clemson trending up in Week 13 college football rankings
Another important weekend of college football has been played and now it's time to get a look at the updated AP top 25 rankings ahead of Rivalry Week as conference races heat up and playoff selection is fast approaching.
Ohio State and Michigan remained undefeated despite their close games over the weekend and are poised to meet in a rivalry game loaded with implications not only for the Big Ten Championship, but for the College Football Playoff, too.
The winner of that matchup is expected to win the conference title and basically clinch the No. 2 seed in the final playoff rankings to qualify for the semifinal.
TCU edged Big 12 rival Baylor on the road with a last-second field goal to stay perfect and still awaits their opponent in the conference championship game, but has no margin for error going forward to earn playoff consideration itself.
Georgia and LSU are set to meet in the SEC Championship Game in a few weeks' time, with most analysts projecting the Bulldogs will prevail in that game, but LSU could shake things up with what would be a huge upset there and is serious contention to become the first-ever two-loss College Football Playoff team.
Where do things stand as we enter Rivalry Week?
Here's your look at the official football rankings heading into the Week 13 regular season finale, according to the AP top 25 voters.
College football rankings: AP top 25 poll for Week 13 announced
AP top 25 college football rankings for Week 13
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- Georgia (62 1st-place votes)
- Ohio State (1)
- Michigan
- TCU
- USC
- LSU
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Oregon
- Penn State
- Washington
- Notre Dame
- Utah
- Kansas State
- Florida State
- UCLA
- North Carolina
- Tulane
- Ole Miss
- Cincinnati
- Oregon State
- Coastal Carolina
- Texas
- UCF
AP top 25 notes: Georgia leads the way with 1,574 total votes, followed by Ohio State (1,507) and Michigan (1,446), while TCU (1,395) and USC (1,293) round out the top five.
Others receiving votes
UTSA 85, South Carolina 44, Troy 34, Boise State 16, Illinois 12, Iowa 5, Louisville 5, South Alabama 3, Mississippi State 3, Oklahoma State 2, Arkansas 2, Purdue 2, Fresno State 1
AP top 25 poll biggest movers
Notre Dame (Up 5). The Irish won their fifth straight, a 44-0 rout over Boston College heading into a huge clash against rival USC to close out.
North Carolina (Down 5). A loss at home to Georgia Tech never looks good, but especially not when you're in ACC title contention.
USC (Up 2). The Men of Troy move into the top five this week with a statement win over UCLA to move into the Pac-12 title game and potentially College Football Playoff consideration.
Clemson (Up 2). Still at one loss and the favorites to win the ACC Championship, the Tigers are also still hanging around the playoff chase hoping for some chaos.
Teams that dropped out of top 25 rankings: No. 24 Oklahoma State, after losing to unranked Oklahoma on the road on Saturday.
College football top 25 losers
Rankings reflect College Football Playoff
No. 5 Tennessee. An ugly loss on the road to South Carolina, who piled on 63 points against the Vols in a surprise rout that should finally push Big Orange out of College Football Playoff contention.
No. 10 Utah. Cameron Rising had three picks and no touchdowns on the road against Oregon, dropping a close one to the Ducks and falling to 8-3 on the year.
No. 13 North Carolina. A surprise loss at home to lowly Georgia Tech drops the Tar Heels in the eyes of the rankings selection committee, and could end up costing the ACC come playoff time if Clemson beats them for the league title. That's not such a great win now.
No. 14 Ole Miss. The unranked Razorbacks piled on a 42-6 scoring rout on the Rebels, who somehow eclipsed 700 total yards and still got boat-raced. Which naturally led to some speculation that Lane Kiffin might be shifting his attention to a certain job that just came open in Auburn.
No. 16 UCLA. Dorian Thompson-Robinson went step for step with Caleb Williams, but he also had three interceptions, including the game-loser in the fourth quarter that finally sunk the Bruins' conference title hopes.
No. 20 UCF. Navy didn't complete a single pass in its upset over the Knights, who otherwise have tiebreakers over Cincinnati and Tulane, but it may not matter when it comes time to sort out the AAC title standings.
No. 22 Oklahoma State. The bookmakers knew something, naming the Cowboys a 7-point underdog going into Bedlam, and they finally couldn't recover after surrendering a 28-0 deficit to rival OU in the first quarter.
No. 24 NC State. Not having MJ Morris, who was playing in reserve for injured starting quarterback Devin Leary, didn't help the Wolfpack offense, which put up just 10 points at Louisville, dropping the third of its last five overall. Not long ago, NC State was a 4-0 team in the top 25 rankings.
Undefeated college football teams remaining
And then there were four
Georgia (11-0). It wasn't pretty, but the Bulldogs did everything they had to in holding off an aggressive Kentucky team, staying perfect with just Georgia Tech left before heading into the SEC Championship Game.
Ohio State (11-0). Give Maryland credit: behind quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, it gave the Buckeyes defense fits all night, but the scarlet and gray held out, scoring a late defensive touchdown to stay undefeated ahead of The Game.
Michigan (11-0). Likewise for the other side of that rivalry, the Wolverines weathered losing lead back Blake Corum to a knee injury, coming from behind at home to beat Illinois on a field goal. It's all on the line next weekend.
TCU (11-0). Another hectic second half comeback for the Horned Frogs, who came back from an 8-point deficit to kick the game-winning field goal as time expired to stay in the top four of the rankings this week.
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