Post-Week 12 College Football Top 25

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Another relatively quiet week at the top, with Oklahoma/Baylor being the headliner of last week. My perception of the relative strength of the playoff contenders has been pretty constant over the last few weeks. And for the third week in a row, the same set of 25 teams occupies my top 25. The number in parenthesis next to each team represents their ranking last week.

1. Clemson (1)
2. Ohio State (2)
3. Alabama (3)
4. LSU (4)
5. Georgia (5)

For the third week in a row, the top 5 remains in the same order. Georgia will be a field goal underdog, or less, against LSU in the SEC title game, probably to the public's surprise. My ratings don't account for injuries, but Alabama probably deserves to be 5th or 6th without Tua.

6. Utah (9)
7. Michigan (11)
8. Oregon (6)
9. Florida (10)
10. Oklahoma (12)

Michigan is moving up significantly after their big win over Michigan State and is now at their highest ranking of the year. The Wolverines are playing just well enough to have a legitimate shot at Ohio State, although I said the same thing last year and we saw how that turned out.

11. Auburn (7)
12. Penn State (8)
13. Wisconsin (13)
14. Texas A&M (19)
15. Notre Dame (21)

Texas A&M is another team that has been quietly on the rise in the last few weeks. The Aggies have won the games they're supposed to have won, and I was quite surprised to not see them in the committee's top 25 this week. I give them about a 40% chance of upsetting at least one of Georgia or LSU in the next two weeks.

16. UCF (15)
17. Iowa (17)
18. Minnesota (16)
19. Iowa State (14)
20. Washington (18)

Minnesota's Big Ten title hopes took a bit of a hit at Iowa this week. However, the Golden Gophers remain in control of their own destiny with a trip to Northwestern this week and then a massive home game against Wisconsin, likely for the division title.

21. Appalachian State (22)
22. Texas (24)
23. Oklahoma State (23)
24. Baylor (25)
25. Kansas State (20)

It's a Big 12 heavy bottom of the top 25, which speaks to how strong the middle of the conference is. While there's no playoff caliber team in the conference, it's pretty impressive that the majority of a power conference is in my top 25.

Missed the Cut: Memphis, USC, Louisiana, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Washington State, Miami, Indiana, Cincinnati, Boise State

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