AP Top 25 Poll shuffled up after upset-heavy Week 12 of college football

On3 imageby:Jonathan Wagner•11/20/22•

Jonathan Wagner

College football season might be winding down, but the action certainly isn’t. Entering this weekend, there were two weeks left in the regular season before conference championships got underway. The action in Week 12 was upset-heavy, and the results have resulted in the AP Top 25 Poll being shuffled up throughout the rankings.

There were two matchups on Saturday between two AP-ranked teams going head-to-head, coming in the form of No. 7 USC vs. No. 16 UCLA and No. 10 Utah vs. No. 12 Oregon. USC vs. UCLA was an all-time matchup, and the action went back-and-forth until the very end. Ultimately, USC snuck away with a 48-45 victory and rose in the rankings because of that. Oregon came away with a 20-17 victory over Utah, resulting in another rise for the Ducks in the rankings.

Five other AP-ranked teams lost over the weekend. No. 5 Tennessee was blown out against South Carolina, which completely shocked the nation and could have major ramifications for the eventual College Football Playoff. No. 13 North Carolina (21-17 vs. Georgia Tech), No. 14 Ole Miss (42-27 vs. Arkansas), No. 17 UCF (17-14 vs. Navy), and No. 24 Oklahoma State (28-13 vs. Oklahoma) also lost on Saturday.

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The rankings were just a couple of plays away from being completely blown up, as each of the top four teams played in a close games. No. 1 Georgia beat Kentucky 16-6, and No. 2 Ohio State beat Maryland 43-30. No. 3 Michigan needed a last-second field goal to beat Illinois, as did No. 4 TCU against Baylor.

Even though the top four exited the weekend unscathed, the rankings were definitely shaken up as the final week of the true regular season begins.

AP Top 25 Poll following Week 12

  1. Georgia (11-0) (62 first-place votes)
  2. Ohio State (11-0) (1)
  3. Michigan (11-0)
  4. TCU (11-0)
  5. USC (10-1)
  6. LSU (9-2)
  7. Clemson (10-1)
  8. Alabama (9-2)
  9. Tennessee (9-2)
  10. Oregon (9-2)
  11. Penn State (9-2)
  12. Washington (9-2)
  13. Notre Dame (8-3)
  14. Utah (8-3)
  15. Kansas State (8-3)
  16. Florida State (8-3)
  17. UCLA (8-3)
  18. North Carolina (9-2)
  19. Tulane (9-2)
  20. Ole Miss (8-3)
  21. Cincinnati (9-2)
  22. Oregon State (8-3)
  23. Coastal Carolina (9-1)
  24. Texas (7-4)
  25. UCF (8-3)

Texas joins this week’s rankings at No. 24, taking the spot of last week’s No. 24 team, Oklahoma State. UCF remained just inside the top 25, dropping eight spots to the final spot in the rankings.

UTSA was the top vote-getting team outside of the top 25, receiving 85 votes. South Carolina (44), Troy (34), Boise State (16), Illinois (12), Iowa (5), Louisville (5), South Alabama (3), Mississippi State (3), Oklahoma State (2), Arkansas (2), Purdue (2), and Fresno State (1) also received votes this week.