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The 2021 college football season rolled on this weekend, and the Associated Press is giving us a look at how the competition stacks up. This weekend, the Week 12 AP Top 25 poll was officially released.
This week, Georgia continues its stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking, while the Alabama Crimson Tide jumped to No. 2. It sets up for what should be an incredibly important SEC Championship Game with serious College Football Playoff implications.
Rounding out the top five is the Cincinnati Bearcats, Oregon Ducks, and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Plummeting out of the top five and top 10, meanwhile, was the Oklahoma Sooners who suffered a devastating loss to the Baylor Bears.
Where does your favorite team stand entering the upcoming season in the eyes of the Associated Press voters?
The Week 12 AP Top 25 poll can be seen below.
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Cincinnati
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
- Michigan State
- Michigan
- Oklahoma State
- Ole Miss
- Baylor
- Oklahoma
- Wake Forest
- BYU
- UTSA
- Texas A&M
- Houston
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
- Pittsburgh
- Arkansas
- Louisiana-Lafayette
- San Diego State
- Utah
- North Carolina State
Others receiving votes: Mississippi State 52, Auburn 43, Appalachian State 32, Penn State 31, Coastal Carolina 28, Kansas State 12, Utah State 12, Kentucky 9, SMU 9, Purdue 4
The Associated Press rankings carry more weight than polls like the Coaches Poll and FWAA Poll, as they are part of the deciding factor on which teams reach the College Football Playoff. The Coaches Poll, which is not part of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s formula to determine the four teams that will compete for the College Football Playoff National Championship, is voted on by 65 FBS head coaches.
Longtime college football writers who vote in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll include Ben Jones, Bill Landis, Brett McMurphy, Brian Howell, Rece Davis, Rob Long, Robert Gagliardi, Steve Layman, Steve Virgen, Tom Murphy, and Tony Parks.
The Associated Press began its college football poll on Oct. 19, 1936, and it is now the longest-running poll of those that award national titles at the end of the season. The preseason poll was started in 1950. A panel of 62 sports writers and broadcasters from around the country votes on the poll weekly.
