Steve Wiseman AP Top 25 ballot: The battle for No. 4 is all that matters now
College football heads into its conference championship weekend with three unbeaten teams all equally capable of winning the national championship.
LSU, Ohio State and Clemson ran the table in the regular season and all are favored to win their league championships before entering the four-team College Football playoff.
Who is the better of the three? Thankfully, we’ll get to decide that question on the field.
For now, LSU gets the edge, followed closely by Ohio State with Clemson third.
I had Clemson No. 1 most of the season and the Tigers, in reality, did nothing to cause a drop. But, through no fault of anyone at Clemson, LSU and Ohio State played better teams along the way.
Georgia remains No. 4, but just slightly ahead of Utah. Both teams are playing in their league title games this weekend and there’s a good chance this will change. I can easily see the Utes in the College Football Playoff as the fourth team along with the three unbeaten schools.
Oklahoma is hanging around for that fourth spot, too, but will have to beat Baylor for a second time, this time in the Big 12 title game, to have a chance.
At the bottom of the ballot, Virginia’s 39-30 win over Virginia Tech means the Cavaliers move on to my ballot while the Hokies fall off. With the Cavaliers playing Clemson for the ACC title, this will likely be a one-week stay for UVa.
I had Iowa State on my ballot last week but the Cyclones fall off after losing to Kansas State. Southern California is back among the top 25. The Trojans have four losses but are the only team to beat Utah this season.
Kansas State also has four losses but owns a win over Oklahoma. I think Utah is better than Oklahoma, so USC gets the top-25 spot over Kansas State.
Here is the ballot I submitted to the Associated Press Sunday morning, with last week’s ranking on my ballot in parenthesis:
LSU (1)
Ohio State (3)
Clemson (2)
Georgia (4)
Utah (7)
Oklahoma (5)
Florida (10)
Alabama (6)
Baylor (11)
Auburn (17)
Wisconsin (19)
Minnesota (9)
Penn State (8)
Oregon (13)
Michigan (12)
Notre Dame (14)
Memphis (18)
Cincinnati (16)
Iowa (15)
Boise State (20)
Appalachian State (21)
Navy (23)
Oklahoma State (22)
USC (NR)
Virginia (NR)
This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 12:29 PM.