Steve Wiseman’s AP Top 25 ballot: Clemson stays No. 1. Barely.
In the end, I made no changes to the top 15 spots on the Top 25 ballot I filed to the Associated Press Sunday morning.
The final 10 spots on the ballot saw plenty of shuffling, but let’s get to that later.
Yes, I kept Clemson at No. 1 and Alabama at No. 2. But not without serious contemplation.
I had convinced myself to make Alabama the top team in the land after Clemson’s 21-20 escape of a win at North Carolina on Saturday. Having seen the Crimson Tide with my own eyes, they are worthy of the No. 1 ranking and I’m more and more convinced they will get it at some point this season.
But this takes me back to last season.
A year ago, all season long, I was certain Alabama was unbeatable. As good as I thought Clemson was then, I didn’t think the Tigers could beat the Crimson Tide.
I was wrong.
So here we are again. Alabama continues to run roughshod over its opponents, like its 59-31 smashing of Mississippi on Saturday. Clemson keeps winning, with 20 consecutive victories over the last two years, but Saturday at Chapel Hill looked and felt like a losing performance.
That is, until it wasn’t because the Tigers’ defense stopped UNC’s valiant two-point attempt.
So Clemson stays at No. 1 but is on notice. The differences between the top seven teams in the country are so slight that it won’t take much for one to jump over another even when both win.
Don’t do that again, Clemson. Final warning.
Now to the movement down ballot.
The only team to fall off my ballot was Southern California, a 28-14 loser at Washington on Saturday. Normally I don’t penalize teams that lose to higher ranked teams. Notice that Virginia stays at No. 17 on my ballot despite losing 35-20 at Notre Dame on Saturday.
But that loss, coupled with an earlier loss to BYU, means the 3-2 Trojans are outside the Top 25 in my opinion. They’ll have a chance to play their way back in Oct. 12 when they travel to Notre Dame.
Arizona State enters my ballot for the first time this year. I held off on ranking the Sun Devils after their 10-7 win at Michigan State on Sept. 14. After they lost 34-31 the following week at home to Colorado, that logic looked sound.
But going on the road to beat previously unbeaten California, 24-17, on Friday convinced me to give Arizona State the No. 23 spot.
I swapped Wake Forest and Texas A&M on the ballot though both won. The Demon Deacons won an ACC road game 27-24 at Boston College while the Aggies struggled with a bad Arkansas team before prevailing 31-27 on a neutral field.
Texas A&M’s only two losses are to Clemson and Auburn. No slight needed there. But the Aggies need to be more impressive in their wins.
Here’s the full ballot I submitted to the Associated Press on Sunday morning.
Steve Wiseman’s AP Top 25 football ballot
Clemson (1)
Alabama (2)
Georgia (3)
Ohio State (4)
LSU (5)
Oklahoma (6)
Auburn (7)
Notre Dame (8)
Wisconsin (9)
Texas (10)
Florida (11)
Penn State (12)
Oregon (13)
Iowa (14)
Boise State (15)
Washington (20)
Virginia (17)
Wake Forest (19)
Texas A&M (18)
Utah (23)
Michigan (21)
Central Florida (24)
Arizona State (NR)
California (16)
Appalachian State (25)
This story was originally published September 29, 2019 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Steve Wiseman’s AP Top 25 ballot: Clemson stays No. 1. Barely.."