The Associated Press (AP) released its new college football rankings for the week, with Oregon remaining unbeaten at No. 1 for the seventh consecutive week. Eight of the top-10 teams moved up one spot in the rankings.
Oregon will face off against No. 3 Penn State in the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis. The Ducks’ only loss came to Washington State earlier this season. Texas, the nation’s second-ranked team, will play No. 5 Georgia in the Southeastern Conference championship game in Atlanta.
Ohio State, Miami, and Clemson dropped out of the top-10 after losses over the weekend. Ohio State fell to No. 7 after losing to Michigan for the fourth straight time. Miami dropped six spots to No. 14 after a loss to Syracuse, while Clemson fell to No. 18 after losing at South Carolina.
Tennessee takes the top spot in the Big Ten standings, followed by Penn State and Oklahoma State. SMU is the highest-ranked Group of Five team, ranked No. 8, ahead of Indiana and Boise State.
The College Football Playoff bracket will be announced on Saturday, with several conference championship games scheduled for the same day. These matchups include Oregon vs. Penn State, Texas vs. Georgia, and Clemson vs. SMU.
Key statistics from this week’s rankings include that top-five teams have lost to unranked opponents five times this season, a record since 2017. South Carolina earned its highest ranking in over a decade, while Notre Dame reached its highest mark since December 2020.
The latest rankings can be found on the AP website at apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and apnews.com/hub/college-football.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-25-poll-13fcda111d7bf58edfa8cf214c0938ad