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AP College Football Poll 2017: Top 25 Rankings for Week 15
December 3, 2017
If the Associated Press has its way, Alabama—and not Ohio State—will get the final spot in the College Football Playoff.
The Crimson Tide landed at No. 4 in the Week 15 rankings, sitting behind Clemson, Oklahoma and Georgia. Ohio State, which defeated Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game, was in the fifth spot.
Here's a look at the entire Top 25:
1. Clemson
2. Oklahoma
3. Georgia
4. Alabama
5. Ohio State
6. Wisconsin
7. Auburn
8. USC
9. Penn State
10. UCF
11. Miami
12. Washington
13. TCU
14. Notre Dame
15. Stanford
16. LSU
17. Oklahoma State
18. Michigan State
19. Memphis
20. Northwestern
21. Washington State
22. Virginia Tech
23. South Florida
24. Mississippi State
25. Boise State
Three of the four playoff spots were all but set Saturday. The ACC and SEC championship games were play-ins for the CFP semifinals, with Clemson and Georgia earning emphatic wins to lock up their berths.
The Tigers dominated Miami on both sides of the ball in a 38-3 win for their third straight conference title. The Hurricanes mustered just 214 yards, recording 10 first downs and turning the ball over three times in their worst performance of the season. Malik Rosier threw for 110 yards on 29 attempts and was picked off twice, and the running game averaged 3.5 yards per carry.
Clemson couldn't get anything going on the ground either, but Kelly Bryant played a nearly flawless game. The Tigers quarterback completed 23 of his 29 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown and added a rushing score. Ray-Ray McCloud hauled in six catches for 100 yards.
"We had a lot of questions about the guys who left," Bryant told reporters. "Having the guys around me who've believed in me has helped. And like Coach Dabo [Swinney] says, just be the best version of Kelly B I can be."
Georgia shut down the Auburn offense after its opening-drive touchdown and won 28-7 to avenge its only loss of the season. The Bulldogs racked up 238 yards on the ground, and Jake Fromm threw for two touchdowns, while the defense held the Tigers to just 259 yards.
"They flipped the script on us from the last game," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn told reporters.
Oklahoma also took care of business in a 41-17 trouncing over TCU, so the Big Ten Championship Game result became the focus of the college football world. Ohio State's 27-21 win over Wisconsin ended the Badgers' hopes for an undefeated season, and for the second straight year, the final spot was up in the air.
A year ago, one-loss Ohio State got into the playoff over two-loss Big Ten champion Penn State, which had a head-to-head win over the Buckeyes. A similar situation played out Sunday, as the two-loss Buckeyes were left in the cold in favor of one-loss Alabama.
The Crimson Tide were idle Saturday after they'd lost to Auburn in the final week of the regular season.