INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Georgia took first place in the final Associated Press Top 25 college football poll, becoming the nation’s 12th straight league champion in league history after Monday night’s TCU debacle.
The Horned Frogs finished in 2nd place, their best overall ranking since the 2010 season. Michigan was No. 3, followed by the states of Ohio and Alabama.
Georgia received all 63 first-place votes in the poll presented by the Bank of Regions.
The Bulldogs won the College Football Playoff National Championship 65–7 to claim their third AP title overall. Their first school appeared in 1980. Georgia also became the 14th school with three national AP titles.
“Man, we hold ourselves to high standards,” Georgia quarterback Keli Ringo said after TCU’s historic failure at Sofi Stadium.
The most recent team to finish consecutive No. 1 seasons in the AP Top 25 was Alabama in 2011 and 2012.
Tennessee finished in 6th place, giving the Southeastern Conference half of the top six teams.
Penn State finished in 7th place, the first time since 2019 the Nittany Lions finished the season. 8th place in the ranking was taken by “Washington” for the first time since 2018.
Tulane finished in ninth place, his first appearance in the final poll since The Green Wave finished seventh in 1998.
Utah rounded out the top ten, giving the Utes a top ten finish for the first time since they finished 2nd in the 2008 final rankings.
Florida State No. 11 returned to the final top 20 for the first time since 2016. No. 12 USC is followed by Clemson, Kansas and Oregon at No. 15.
LSU ranked 16th and Oregon State ranked 17th for the first time since 2012.
At number 19, Troy has the best ranking in school history and is #1 in the final AP Top 25 rankings.
Mike Leach’s last team at Mississippi State finished the season in 20th place. Leach died suddenly of a heart attack last month before the Bulldogs won their bowl game against Illinois to finish 9-4.
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AP American Football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/ap_top25
