AP College Football Poll 2019: Week 15 Top 25 Rankings Announced

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Bring on the conference championships.   

With Week 14 complete, all that's left to do to decide the four teams that will end up in the College Football Playoff is play the conference championship games. There were a number of fascinating results ahead of them, however, that impacted the Week 15 Associated Press rankings.

Below, we'll take a look at the updated rankings and the results that triggered the changes in the AP Poll. 

Rankings

1. LSU

2. Ohio State

3. Clemson

4. Georgia

5. Utah

6. Oklahoma

7. Florida

8. Baylor

9. Alabama 

10. Wisconsin 

11. Auburn

12. Penn State

13. Oregon

14. Notre Dame

15. Minnesota

16. Memphis

17. Michigan 

18. Iowa

19. Boise State

20. Appalachian State

21. Cincinnati 

22. Virginia

23. Navy

24. USC

25. Air Force

Analysis

The dream is dead for Alabama. For the first time in College Football Playoff history, the Crimson Tide won't be among the final four. 

Auburn handed Alabama a 48-45 loss in another classic edition of the Iron Bowl, though Alabama will be left to lament what might have been after Joseph Bulovas missed what would have been the game-tying field goal with two minutes left and the Crimson Tide were called for an illegal substitution on fourth down of the ensuing possession, giving Auburn a first down that allowed it to run out the clock.

Auburn was also aided by two pick-sixes in the victory. It's been rare that the Crimson Tide have beaten themselves during Nick Saban's reign. On Saturday, they certainly didn't aid their own cause with crucial mistakes. 

"The disappointing thing to me was the idea that we came here to play with a lot of discipline, not get a lot of penalties, do a great job of executing and doing our job on a consistent basis," Saban said after the loss, per Alex Scarborough of ESPN. "... I don't think we did that great. We got way too many penalties, put ourselves in a lot of bad situations."

And out of the playoff.

The issue for Alabama is that even if Ohio State, LSU and Clemson lose in the conference title games, there's a strong chance none would fall out of the playoff picture, given that they each would have just one loss. Ohio State staked its claim as a playoff team with an impressive 56-27 win over archrival Michigan.

It was Ohio State's eighth straight win over the Wolverines.

"It feels great just to continue the legacy of this great Ohio State tradition," superstar defensive end Chase Young told reporters. "We're just going to try to keep it moving and keep it rolling next week."

LSU smashed Texas A&M 50-7, while Clemson hammered South Carolina 38-3. 

But there are plenty of one-loss teams that are ahead of Alabama in the pecking order as well. Georgia has just one loss after Saturday's 52-7 win over Georgia Tech. Ditto for Utah, Oklahoma and Baylor, which all won this week. 

Heading into conference championship week, it's fair to assume that three of the playoff berths are secure. Maybe Clemson would drop out of contention with a loss given its weaker schedule, but don't bet on the Tigers losing to Virginia. 

And if Georgia beats LSU, it's likely that the current top four in the rankings will slide into the playoff. But if LSU beats Georgia, things get more interesting. 

In that scenario, the committee will have to decide between Utah (assuming it wins the Pac-12 title) and the Big 12 champion (either Oklahoma or Baylor). To this point, Utah has remained ranked ahead of both teams. It will be fascinating to see if that holds. 

And there are some doozies to watch next week. Buckle up for Utah vs. Oregon, Baylor vs. Oklahoma, Cincinnati vs. Memphis, Georgia vs. LSU, Virginia vs. Clemson and Ohio State vs. Wisconsin. It's gonna be fun.