Associated Press Top 25, new poll: Texas, Penn State fall while Georgia, Notre Dame rise
On the day the first 12-team College Football Playoff bracket is announced, the Associated Press Top 25 poll got get a head start assessing the teams.
After league championship games were played Friday and Saturday, the poll saw a top-10 shakeup after three top-10 teams suffered losses.
Georgia’s 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the SEC final propelled the Bulldogs to No. 2 while Texas only fell two spots to No. 4.
No. 1 Oregon’s 45-37 win over Penn State caused the Nittany Lions to fall three spots to No. 5.
Clemson’s 34-31 win over SMU earned the Tigers (10-3) a College Football Playoff berth and caused voters to move the Tigers five spots higher to No. 13. SMU (11-2), meanwhile, fell four spots to No. 12.
Oregon (13-0) enters the playoffs as the nation’s top-rated team, followed by Georgia with Notre Dame (11-1) at No. 3. Ohio State and Tennessee, despite not playing, swapped places with the Buckeyes (10-2) moving up to No. 6 and Tennessee (10-2) falling to No. 7.
Arizona State (11-2), after hammering Iowa State, 45-19, in the Big 12 title game, moved up two spots to No. 10.
Lower in the poll, UNLV (10-3) and Army made moves after their league title game results. The Rebels fell five spots to No. 24 after Boise State beat them 21-7 on Friday night in the Mountain West title game.
Army (11-1), whose lone loss was to Notre Dame, moved up five spots to No. 10 after beating Tulane, 35-14, in the American championship game on Friday night.
This week’s AP Top 25 poll
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Oregon |
| 2 | Georgia |
| 3 | Notre Dame |
| 4 | Texas |
| 5 | Penn State |
| 6 | Ohio State |
| 7 | Tennessee |
| 8 | Boise State |
| 9 | Indiana |
| 10 | Arizona State |
| 11 | Alabama |
| 12 | SMU |
| 13 | Clemson |
| 14 | South Carolina |
| 15 | Miami |
| 16 | Mississippi |
| 17 | BYU |
| 18 | Iowa State |
| 19 | Army |
| 20 | Colorado |
| 21 | Illinois |
| 22 | Syracuse |
| 23 | Missouri |
| 24 | UNLV |
| 25 | Memphis |
This story was originally published December 8, 2024 at 9:43 AM.