NCAA Football Rankings 2018: Top Reaction to Week 13 College Polls and Standings

Joe Tansey @JTansey90Featured ColumnistNovember 19, 2018

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 17: Adrian Killins Jr. #9 of the UCF Knights runs in a touchdown during the third quarter against the Cincinnati Bearcats on November 17, 2018 at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

The top of the college football polls may look the same for another week, but there's a debate starting to brew beneath the nation's elite programs.

The combination of UCF's controlling victory over Cincinnati, West Virginia's loss to Oklahoma State and underwhelming performances by Oklahoma and Ohio State led to a change in the bottom half of the Top 10 in both the AP Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll.

At the bottom of each poll, a few deserving programs made their debuts among a collection of four-loss teams.

While the top part of the polls didn't experience change, there was one interesting trend regarding Alabama and Clemson that was highlighted again after Week 12.

Week 13 Polls

AP Top 25

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1. Alabama (11-0)

2. Clemson (11-0)

3. Notre Dame (11-0)

4. Michigan (10-1)

5. Georgia (10-1)

6. Oklahoma (10-1)

7. Washington State (10-1)

T-8. UCF (10-0)

T-8. LSU (9-2)

10. Ohio State (10-1)

11. Texas (8-3)

12. West Virginia (8-2)

13. Florida (8-3)

14. Utah State (10-1)

15. Penn State (8-3)

16. Washington (8-3)

17. Kentucky (8-3)

18. Utah (8-3)

19. Syracuse (8-3)

20. Northwestern (7-4)

21. Boise State (9-2)

22. Mississippi State (7-4)

23. Army (9-2)

24. Pittsburgh (7-4)

25. Iowa State (6-4)

Amway Coaches Poll

1. Alabama (11-0)

2. Clemson (11-0)

3. Notre Dame (11-0)

4. Michigan (10-1)

5. Georgia (10-1)

6. Oklahoma (10-1)

7. Washington State (10-1)

8. LSU (9-2)

9. UCF (10-0)

10. Ohio State (10-1)

11. Texas (8-3)

12. West Virginia (8-2)

13. Florida (8-3)

14. Penn State (8-3)

15. Utah State (10-1)

16. Washington (8-3)

17. Utah (8-3)

18. Kentucky (8-3)

19. Syracuse (8-3)

20. Mississippi State (7-4)

21. Northwestern (7-4)

22. Boise State (9-2)

23. Fresno State (9-2)

24. Army (9-2)

25. Pittsburgh (7-4)

Poll Reaction

Alabama once again ruled the rankings when they were released Sunday, as it earned 61 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 and 63 of 64 first-place votes in the Amway Coaches Poll.

Securing the No. 1 spot in the AP poll meant the Crimson Tide are the top program in the poll for the 80th time in the last 10 years, which is more than the rest of the teams ranked No. 1 during that time combined, per ESPN:

ESPN @espn
Alabama is on top of the AP Poll ... AGAIN. https://t.co/IyHoALRNrq

A majority of the voters were on the same page in both polls, but there were a few exceptions, as Reddit College Football pointed out:

RedditCFB @RedditCFB
The #APTop25 are nearly unanimous in the Top 5 that: • Alabama is #1 • Clemson & Notre Dame are #2-3 • Michigan and Georgia are #4-5 With exceptions of 1 #4 vote for UCF, 3 #5 votes for LSU, and 1 #5 vote for Wazzu and Oklahoma.

The one vote that didn't go in favor of the Crimson Tide in the Coaches poll came from their head coach Nick Saban, who continued to pick Clemson at No. 1 in one of a few interesting coaches votes, as Reddit College Football noted:

RedditCFB @RedditCFB
The Coaches Poll doesn't release full ballots until Week 15. Here are some fun highlights from Week 13: • Nick Saban has Clemson at #1 over Alabama (as he has all year) • Mike Leach has Washington State at #4 • Justin Fuente has UCF at #3

UCF made the most noise in the AP poll, as it jumped over Ohio State and tied with LSU on votes for eighth place.

As SiriusXM's Danny Kanell pointed out, the Knights outperformed a few top teams on defense in Week 12, and that should lead to more recognition, including in Tuesday's College Football Playoff rankings release:

Danny Kanell @dannykanell
I've heard so many complaints about UCF defense...let's check some facts: UCF gave up 13 pts to a top 25 Cincinnati (33rd in Total O) Bama gave up 17 pts to 4-6 Citadel squad Georgia gave up 27 pts to 4-6 UMass Oklahoma gave up 40 pts to 3-8 Kansas Will the committee notice?

Washington State came in one spot ahead of the Knights in the AP Top 25, and Mike Leach's team landed at No. 7 in both polls.

The Cougars face in-state rival Washington Friday in a battle of ranked foes for the third straight season, per ESPN.com's Kyle Bonagura:

Kyle Bonagura @BonaguraESPN
This will be the third straight Apple Cup where both UW and WSU are ranked in the AP Top-25. In the 96 other editions, there were only five such games.

The bottom half of the polls continued to look ugly, with a quartet of four-loss teams landing in the AP Top 25. As Ralph D. Russo of the AP noted, that's an unusual thing to see this late in the year:

Ralph D. Russo @ralphDrussoAP
Continuing a trend, there are four teams in this week's AP Top 25 that have lost four games. Over the last five seasons, the total number of 4-loss teams that have been ranked after week 12 is 1.

Army debuted in the AP poll at No. 23 and at No. 24 in the Coaches poll with a 9-2 record that it will carry into the December 8 clash with Navy, and the Black Knights could rise in the weeks leading up to the meeting with their top rival, as College Football Talk's Kevin McGuire noted,:

Kevin McGuire @KevinOnCFB
The highest Army has been ranked din the AP Top 25 since 1963 is No. 19. Army is currently No. 23. Off for a few weeks before playing Navy. Can Army do any climbing while idle?

Army and Pittsburgh became the 52nd and 53rd programs to enter the AP Top 25 in 2018, which marks the largest amount of teams to appear in the poll since 1989, per The Athletic's Matt Brown:

Matt Brown @MattBrownCFB
With Army and Pitt joining the AP Top 25, 53 teams have been ranked in the AP poll this season, the most since it expanded to 25 teams in 1989 https://t.co/oeawj0U78K

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.