The top five were unchanged his week, however, there was a bit of turmoil behind this thanks to the PAC-12 having a mixed week. Good wins for USC & Utah were balanced off by bad losses for both Oregon & UCLA, results which leave the conference championship places wide open. The remaining unbeaten teams fill the first four places and will no doubt continue to until one or more of them loses. Something that has to happen as Michigan & Ohio State still has to play each other. These rankings are largely irrelevant as the CFP will make the final decision. Their updated rankings are due out later in the week.
On The Up
North Carolina has quietly moved into CFP contention thanks to Saturday’s narrow win at Wake Forest. They are already assured of a place in their Conference Championship game against Clemson and a 12-1 ACC Champ with a loss to an ascending Notre Dame could be good enough if results elsewhere go their way. They still have a long way to go but they are the lowest-ranked team with a realistic chance.
Welcome
The Chanticleers could still gate-crash the Cotton Bowl if they go 12-1.
Coastal Carolina who have entered the rankings for the first time this year at 23. They are having another solid season at 9-1 and are guaranteed a place in the Sun Belt Championship game. Their lack of meaningful games on their non-conference schedule has held them back, however, they are well placed to capitalise on any carnage in the AAC. It will be interesting to see if the CFP committee would rank a 12-1 Sun Belt Champion above a two or possibly even three-loss AAC one.
The full top 25 is below.
AP Top 25 Rankings Week Twelve
1 Georgia 10-0
2 Ohio State 10-0
3 Michigan 10-0
4 TCU 10-0
5 Tennessee 9-1
6 LSU 8-2
7 USC 9-1
8 Alabama 8-2
9 Clemson 9-1
10 Utah 8-2
11 Penn State 8-2
12 Oregon 8-2
13 North Carolina 9-1
14 Ole Miss 8-2
15 Washington 8-2
16 UCLA 8-2
17 UCF 8-2
18 Notre Dame 7-3
19 Kansas State 7-3
20 Florida State 7-3
21 Tulane 8-2
22 Cincinnati 8-2
23 Coastal Carolina 9-1
24 Oklahoma State 7-3
25 Oregon State 7-3
All Change
In – Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Oklahoma State & Oregon State
Out – NC State, Texas, Liberty & Illinois
Conference representation
PAC-12 6
SEC 5
ACC 3
Big Ten 3
Big 12 3
AAC 3
Sun Belt 1
Independents 1
You can check week nines rankings here
