Georgia, Tide, Michigan, Cincinnati, Baylor top final Top 25
Jan 10, 2022, 9:16 AM | Updated: Jan 11, 2022, 8:08 am
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart celebrates after the College Football Playoff championship football game against Alabama Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, in Indianapolis. Georgia won 33-18. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Georgia is No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football poll of the season after winning its second national title by beating Alabama.
The Bulldogs received all 61 first-place votes in the poll presented by Regions Bank to be a unanimous No. 1 for the ninth time this season. Georgia’s only other time finishing No. 1 was 1980 after its first championship.
The Tide finished No. 2, giving the Southeastern Conference the top two teams in the final rankings for the third time since 2011.
Michigan was No. 3, the Wolverines’ best final ranking since winning the national championship in 1997 and their first top-10 finish since 2006.
No. 4 Cincinnati, which became the first team from outside the Power Five conferences to reach the playoff, finished with its best final ranking. So did No. 5 Baylor; the Bears’ previous best finish in the AP poll was No. 7 in 2014.
Ohio State was No. 6 and Oklahoma State finished seventh. The Cowboys had their best finish in the poll since they were third in 2011.
Notre Dame was eighth, Michigan State was ninth and Oklahoma was 10th, giving the Big 12 three top 10 teams.
It is Michigan State’s first top-10 finish since a string of three straight from 2013-15. The two Big Ten schools from the state of Michigan both finished the season ranked in the top 10 for the first time since 1999.
Utah was No. 12, BYU was 19th and Utah State was No. 24, marking the first time the Beehive State has had all three of its major college football teams finish the season ranked.
Clemson finished 14th, snapping a string of six straight seasons in which the Tigers were no worse than fourth in the final Top 25.
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