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Texas A&M fell out of the top five of the Associated Press college football poll on Sunday for the first time in two months, Texas Tech achieved its highest ranking in 17 years and a season-high four teams from Group of Five conferences were ranked as the top five was shuffled for a week before the postseason bracket is determined.
number 1 Ohio State and number 2 IndianaThe only remaining undefeated, the top two teams in the poll head to their seventh consecutive Big Ten title game on Saturday. No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Oregon each moved up one spot, and Texas Tech’s No. 5 ranking is its best since spending three weeks at No. 2 in November 2008.
Mississippi ranked sixth and was followed by Texas A&M, which slipped four spots after a 10-point loss at Texas. Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama Made the top 10 for the third consecutive week.
The weekend’s results created two top-10 matchups in the conference championship games this Saturday. In addition to the Big Ten showdown, Georgia and Alabama will play for the Southeastern Conference crown. The other Top 25 matchup pits Texas Tech against No. 11 BYU in the Big 12. In Atlantic Coast Conference play, No. 16 Virginia faces a Duke team that is 7-5 and received no votes in Sunday’s poll.
No. 12 Miami and No. 13 Vanderbilt traded places in the rankings. The Hurricanes, who finished the regular season with a 31-point road win over Pittsburgh, are the highest-ranked ACC team and are expected to receive an at-large bid into the College Football Playoff. Vanderbilt slipped despite defeating Tennessee by 21 points.
James Madison, which will host Troy for the Sun Belt championship game on Friday, moved up one spot to No. 19 and is the highest-ranked team in the Group of Five. Three teams from the American Conference trail the Dukes: No. 20 North Texas, No. 21 Tulane and No. 24 navy,
North Texas will visit Tulane on Friday for the American Championship game. Tulane, ranked No. 24, was the only G5 team in last week’s CFP rankings.
in and out
– No. 22 Arizona is ranked for the first time since September 2024. The Wildcats won 23–7 at Arizona State in the Territorial Cup battle and are on a five-game winning streak.
– No. 23 Navy, which won 28-17 at Memphis, is ranked in the top 25 for the first time this season and will seek its highest ranking since 2019 in the annual showcase game against Army on Dec. 13.
– No. 25 Missouri defeated Arkansas by two touchdowns and returned to the polls after a week’s absence.
Tennessee (No. 18), Pittsburgh (No. 24) and SMU (No. 25) were eliminated.
polling point
– The seven consecutive weeks with the same No. 1 and 2 teams is the longest since Georgia and Michigan had the top two for 11 consecutive weeks in 2023.
– The American Conference has three top 25 teams, the most since November 20, 2022, when the same number were ranked. The league record for teams ranked in 2015 and 2019 is four.
– Last time the group of five teams was ranked four in the final poll of the 2024 season.
– Tennessee’s streak of 33 consecutive poll appearances ended after falling to 8–4 with a loss to Vanderbilt.
conference call
SEC (8 ranked teams): No. 3 Georgia, 6 Mississippi, 7 Texas A&M, 8 Oklahoma, 10 Alabama, 13 Vanderbilt, 14 Texas, 25 Missouri.
Big Ten (5): No. 1 Ohio State, 2 Indiana, 4 Oregon, 17 Southern California, 18 Michigan.
Big 12 (4): No. 5 Texas Tech, 11 BYU, 15 Utah, 22 Arizona.
ACC (3): No. 12 Miami, 16 Virginia, 24 Georgia Tech.
Americans (3): No. 20 North Texas, 21 Tulane, 23 Navy.
Independent (1): No. 9 Notre Dame.
Sun Belt (1): No. 19 James Madison.
rank vs rank
No. 2 Indiana (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) vs. No. 1 Ohio State (12-0, 9-0), Saturday, at Indianapolis: It’s a matchup of the Heisman Trophy front-runners in Indiana’s QB Fernando Mendoza and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin. The Hoosiers are one of two teams to score more than 530 points this season (532). The Buckeyes are the only team to give up fewer than 100 points (93).
No. 4 Georgia (11-1, 7-1 SEC) vs. No. 10 Alabama (10-2, 7-1), Saturday, in Atlanta: This will be the fourth meeting of these teams in the SEC Championship Game since 2018. The Crimson Tide handed Georgia its only loss this season, 24–21, on September 27. The Bulldogs have won eight in a row since then.
No. 11 BYU (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) vs. No. 5 Texas Tech (11-1, 8-1), Saturday, in Arlington, Texas: Each team will play in the Big 12 championship game for the first time. The Red Raiders dominated the regular season meeting in Lubbock, winning 29–7.
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