The new NCAA football Top 25 Poll has been released for Week 14, and for the first time in a long time, the Alabama Crimson Tide are not the number one team in the land. That honor goes to the defending champion Clemson Tigers.
According to CollegeFootball.ap.org, the just-released poll indicates that the Clemson Tigers are the new No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll, edging out the Oklahoma Sooners by the slightest of margins. The Top 25 poll looks a lot different than it did just one week ago as, for the first time since 2012, the top two teams in the nation both fell in the same week of play.
Which teams will be postseason bound?
It is going to be a very interesting and wild ride to see which teams make the college football playoffs this season. College football fans know that only the top four teams can make a run towards an NCAA Championship. However, several teams that may be on the outside looking in this week could have a good case if they win their upcoming conference championship games.
Many questions, no answers
The questions that NCAA fans want to be answered are still all up in the air. How do the Crimson Tide or Buckeyes make the postseason? Can Clemson repeat as champions? How about this question that Badgers fans want to know - if Wisconsin wins the Big Ten title game, will they be ranked No.
1?
Wisconsin has its best ranking since the Badgers were No. 2 on Oct. 21, 1963, yet the undefeated Badgers seem like an afterthought for many people on the inside who control the NCAA playoff system.
So who will be in the college football playoffs this upcoming January? The simplest way to look at it is like this. If the Wisconsin Badgers, Auburn Tigers, Clemson Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners all win next weekend on championship Saturday, it's a wrap.
Those will be the four teams that will compete for the 2017-18 NCAA football championship. If they all happen to lose, or even two of them fall, you may see a lot of arguing for several other teams that had great records, but just not enough to get into the final four, state their case.
Here is the latest Top 25 AP poll, along with the odds to win the 2017-18 National Championship.
AP Top 25 Poll
1. Clemson (27 first-place votes) -- (4-1)
2. Oklahoma (24) -- (7/2)
3. Wisconsin (10) -- (7/1)
4. Auburn -- (9/2)
5. Alabama (5-1)
6. Georgia (9-1)
7. Miami (11/1)
8. Ohio State (11-1)
9. Penn State
10. TCU
11. USC
12. UCF
13. Washington
14. Stanford
15. Notre Dame
16. Memphis
17. LSU
18. Oklahoma State
19. Michigan State
20. Northwestern
21. Washington State
22. Virginia Tech
23. South Florida
24. Mississippi State
25. Fresno State