Indiana, Georgia, and Ohio State were the top three teams in the final AP Top 25 before the playoff field was announced. Indiana earned the No. 1 spot for the first time in AP poll history after finishing the regular season and the Big Ten championship game undefeated at 13-0, snapping Ohio State’s 14-week stranglehold atop the rankings.
Indiana’s 13-10 victory over Ohio State in Indianapolis on Saturday night secured their unanimous No. 1 designation as they eye a top seed for their second consecutive appearance in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Georgia, fresh off a lopsided three-touchdown win over Alabama in the SEC title game, moved up one place to No. 2 — its highest ranking of the season. Ohio State, the defending national champion, dropped to No. 3.
Texas Tech climbed to No. 4 after routing BYU by 27 in the Big 12 championship, marking its best ranking of the year. Oregon sits at No. 5, followed by Mississippi, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Miami in the top 10.
Miami jumped two spots to rejoin the top 10 for the first time since October. Alabama and BYU each fell one notch to Nos. 11 and 12, respectively.
Among the Group of Five, Tulane, the American Conference champion, rose four spots to No. 17 for its highest ranking in two years, while James Madison of the Sun Belt remained at No. 19.
The final AP Top 25 will be revealed on Jan. 20, the day after the national championship game.
Poll highlights
— Indiana, which once posted the most losses in major college football before the arrival of Curt Cignetti two years ago, had never climbed higher than No. 2 prior to this season’s finish. The Hoosiers held that top spot for seven straight weeks before ascending to No. 1, finishing 100 points ahead of Georgia. Georgia trailed Ohio State by just 12 points in the final tally.
— With a restrained schedule, every team that was in the Top 25 remained in the poll.
— Virginia experienced the steepest drop after an overtime loss to Duke in the ACC championship, falling from No. 16 to No. 20.
Conference breakdown
SEC: 8 ranked teams — No. 2 Georgia, No. 6 Mississippi, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 11 Alabama, No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 14 Texas, No. 25 Missouri.
Big Ten: 5 — No. 1 Indiana, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 5 Oregon, No. 16 Southern California, No. 18 Michigan.
Big 12: 4 — No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 12 BYU, No. 15 Utah, No. 20 Arizona.
ACC: 3 — No. 10 Miami, No. 21 Virginia, No. 24 Georgia Tech.
American: 3 — No. 17 Tulane, No. 22 Navy, No. 23 North Texas.
Independent: 1 — No. 9 Notre Dame.
Sun Belt: 1 — No. 19 James Madison.
Get alerts for AP Top 25 results and updates all season by subscribing to AP News newsletters and mobile app.
