NCAA Football Rankings 2020: Analyzing Week 12 Polls and Top 25 Standings

Do the Week 12 college football polls look familiar? They should; they're almost identical to last week's, save for a handful of teams moving a couple spots.

The top four of Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Clemson is unchanged, and Texas A&M, Florida, Cincinnati and BYU remain on the cusp of the College Football Playoff with a month left in the regular season. In the Coaches Poll, the top 11 teams remained unchanged. Northwestern, which moved up three spots from No. 23 to No. 20, had the biggest leap of any ranked team.

Tulsa joined the Top 25 in the AP Poll after its upset win over then-No. 19 SMU, and Liberty, now at 8-0, continued its ascent up the polls. With nearly every Top 25 team set to be in action in Week 12, including a handful of matchups featuring two ranked teams, we could see a little more excitement.

As it stands, the teams who would make up the College Football Playoff control their own fate the rest of the season. Alabama, if it wins out, will likely face Florida in the SEC Championship Game, with the winner going to the CFP. It's also possible that if Florida did win that game, Alabama could still find itself in the playoff. Clemson, which lost an overtime heartbreaker to Notre Dame without the services of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, has a chance at revenge in the ACC title game.

If the Tigers win that rematch and Florida beats Alabama, it will be all-out chaos for the No. 4 spot in the playoff. As for Week 12, here are three matchups featuring ranked teams that carry playoff and New Year's Six implications.

Associated Press Top 25 Poll

1. Alabama (60 first-place votes)

2. Notre Dame (1)

3. Ohio State (1)

4. Clemson

5. Texas A&M

6. Florida

7. Cincinnati

8. BYU

9. Indiana

10. Wisconsin

11. Oregon

12. Miami

13. Georgia

14. Oklahoma State

15. Coastal Carolina

15. Marshall

17. Iowa State

18. Oklahoma

19. Northwestern

20. USC

21. Liberty

22. Texas

23. Auburn

24. Louisiana

25. Tulsa

Coaches Poll

1. Alabama (57 first-place votes)

2. Notre Dame (3)

3. Ohio State (2)

4. Clemson

5. Florida

6. Texas A&M

7. Cincinnati

8. BYU

9. Miami

10. Indiana

11. Georgia

12. Wisconsin

13. Oregon

14. Oklahoma State

15. Marshall

16. Iowa State

17. Oklahoma

18. Coastal Carolina

19. USC

20. Northwestern

21. Auburn

22. Liberty

23. Texas

24. North Carolina

25. Louisiana

(9) Indiana vs. (3) Ohio State

Had anyone told you that a matchup between Indiana and Ohio State would likely decide which team plays in the Big Ten Championship Game before the start of this season, they would have been promptly mocked. The Hoosiers' Cinderella opening to 2020 is only missing an appearance from Jimmy Chitwood at this point.

Las Vegas doesn't deal in fairy tales, though, and the Buckeyes are 21-point favorites, a shockingly high number for a top-10 matchup. It's unlikely that Indiana could pull off this upset, but it seemed impossible they would beat then-No. 8 Penn State in its first game of the season and send the Nittany Lions into an 0-4 tailspin. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. will need to summon a bit more magic to compete with Heisman contender Justin Fields, but it's college football after all—chaos happens.

(10) Wisconsin vs. (19) Northwestern

Despite playing just two games so far because of COVID-19-related issues, the Badgers are in prime position to represent the Big Ten West in the league title game. Standing in their way are matchups with this surprising Northwestern squad and Indiana on December 5.

Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz was downright incredible in their season opener, completing 20 of 21 passes for 248 yards and five touchdowns. But it was Wisconsin's running game that stole the show Saturday against Michigan, racking up 341 yards and five touchdowns as the Badgers rolled to a 49-11 demolition of the Wolverines.

Northwestern's offense, meanwhile, hasn't been anything to write home about. Their defense has held every opponent this season to fewer than 21 points, though, and they are averaging just 91.8 rushing yards against, which ranks No. 8 nationally. When an immovable object meets an unstoppable force, something has to give. We'll see which one it is Saturday.

(14) Oklahoma State vs. (18) Oklahoma

The game they call Bedlam is often reserved for the final week of the season, but nothing has been typical about 2020. That includes the Sooners' early-season struggles—a pair of consecutive losses to Kansas State and Iowa State—that have Oklahoma looking up in the standings at their archrivals.

Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler seems to have settled into his role as the offensive leader, and OU has won four straight, including a 62-9 drubbing of Kansas on Nov. 7.

As it stands, Oklahoma State sits a game ahead of the Sooners in the Big 12 standings and would face No. 16 Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship Game if the season ended today. If OU can knock off the Cowboys and win out the rest of the year, it will likely have a rematch with the Cyclones in the title game. If not, the Sooners will fall a full two games behind and have virtually no shot at securing the conference's automatic New Year's Six bid.

Follow Keegan on Twitter, @ByKeeganPope.