Alabama is No. 1 in final AP poll for 11th time

By
The Associated Press
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18
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Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith celebrates after making the game-winning catch off a pass from Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in overtime of the NCAA Championship game between Georgia and Alabama in Atlanta, Ga. Monday, Jan. 8, 2018. (Joshua L. Jones/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)
ATLANTA — Alabama was voted No. 1 in the final Associated Press college football poll after the Crimson Tide beat Georgia in the national championship game. Unbeaten Central Florida finished sixth.

The Crimson Tide received 57 of 61 first-place votes from the media panel after its 26-23 overtime win on Monday night. UCF received the other four and finished with the best ranking in the history of the program. The Knights are the first bowl-eligible team to finish the season undefeated and not win a national title since TCU in 2010. Ohio State was 12-0 in 2012, but banned from the postseason by the NCAA.

Georgia finished second, its best ranking since 2007, and Oklahoma was third, followed by Clemson and Ohio State.

The AP national championship is the 11th for the Crimson Tide, three more than any other school, and fifth under coach Nick Saban since 2009. Saban joins the late Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant as the only coaches with five AP titles.

Alabama is the first preseason No. 1 to finish No. 1 since Southern California in 2004 and the 11th overall. For the fourth time, two teams from the same conference finished Nos. 1 and 2. The last three times it has happened involved Southeastern Conference teams at the top (2007, 2011 and now 2017).

Washington State, which lost to Michigan State 42-17 in the Holiday Bowl, was the only team ranked in the final regular-season poll to fall out of the Top 25 after the bowl season. North Carolina State moved in after beating Arizona State 52-31 in the Sun Bowl and finished No. 23.

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CONFERENCE CALL

Big Ten – 5

SEC — 5

ACC — 4

Big 12 — 3

AAC — 3

Pac-12 — 3

Mountain West — 1

Independent — 1

Final AP Top 25

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press final college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Record Pts Pv
1. Alabama (57) 13-1 1521 4
2. Georgia 13-2 1454 3
3. Oklahoma 12-2 1374 2
4. Clemson 12-2 1292 1
5. Ohio St. 12-2 1286 5
6. UCF (4) 13-0 1248 10
7. Wisconsin 13-1 1194 6
8. Penn St. 11-2 1120 9
9. TCU 11-3 974 13
10. Auburn 10-4 917 7
11. Notre Dame 10-3 857 14
12. Southern Cal 11-3 839 8
13. Miami 10-3 769 11
14. Oklahoma St. 10-3 758 17
15. Michigan St. 10-3 705 18
16. Washington 10-3 668 12
17. Northwestern 10-3 528 20
18. LSU 9-4 368 16
19. Mississippi St. 9-4 359 24
20. Stanford 9-5 336 15
21. South Florida 10-2 267 23
22. Boise St. 11-3 251 25
23. NC State 9-4 232 NR
24. Virginia Tech 9-4 126 22
25. Memphis 10-3 119 19

Others receiving votes: Washington St. 84, South Carolina 46, Iowa St. 36, Army 33, FAU 32, Troy 14, Fresno St. 13, San Diego St. 3, Iowa 2.

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18 COMMENTS

    • Joseph. I agree. But the playoffs are about the four best teams and not about the four best conference champions. The long lay off from the end of the regular season until now really helped Bama get healthier and become the best team in the country again. Not sure it should work that way. Both things seem to make the regular season meaningless.

  2. UCF should have been #2. No matter what the commissioners think about. Could have went toe to toe with any of the playoff teams this year. Unless I’m mistaken Nick’s now got 6 titles, 5 at Bama, 1 at LSU. Congrats to Bama. SEC wins again. Wow, what a great game !!!

  3. I must have been the only person in the world who saw this, but did Alabama back M. Brown, or did he not, attack one of his coaches (or staff) on the sidelines in the 3rd quarter? If he did (I’m believing my lyin’ eyes, obviously), why then did he re-enter the game later? Or, more importantly, why is he still on the team?

  4. One of the worst officiated games I have seen. Wait let me correct that they miss four or 5 obvious calls against Bama and catch every infraction against Georgia. And yes if your Bama you can lose your division not even play in SEC Championship game sit back heal up and make the playoffs

    • D.R. keep in mind that Ohio State did the EXACT same thing last year when Penn. State won their conference and they chose Ohio State for the playoffs. Also remember this year when Bama was selected by the same measure as Ohio State, Ohio State had the nerve to complain about being left out because this year they won the conference. Go Figure, what good for the goose last year BIT him in the ASS this year. Now they know how Penn State felt last year. And BAMA won the National Championship!!

    • That kid was some exception to what I have witnessed in an Alabama player, usually they are much more discipline. I am waiting to see what Nick does in this case, I’m not sure he was aware of what happened when it did happen. Nick usually handles those type incidences pretty swiftly, that’s how he maintains complete control of players and coaches alike.

      • I’m as astonished at that as you are, Creek. In my world, that would have been a court martial offense, and I don’t care how good you think you are. I saw something a few years back that disgusted me just as much, and that was when Kevin Sumlin pulled Johnny Manziel to the side after an interception….coach started talking to him, and damned if Manziel didn’t just turn his back on him and walk away while Sumlin was still talking. Couldn’t believe my eyes, but the truth is if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the justice system in this country nowadays, it’s that the law doesn’t apply to some of certain status.

  6. As a long time Gator Fan I can say with certainty that the QB play in last night’s game was subpar in comparison to UF’s great quarterbacks. Let’s hope DM can rediscover that quality of play for us.

    • That was LARGELY because there were two great SEC defenses performing on that field. They may have seemed subpar but as a long time Gator fan I can’t honestly say that was the reason we were super – subpar all year and it was not because we were playing some of the better defenses in the league. We were just plain “BAD”.

  7. The Hairy Dawgs got screwed plain and simple. That blocked point certainly cost them three and more likely seven point points.

    I was mildly backing the Dawgs before that call. My support became very loud and very profane after it. Bama is good enough not to need the refs to win, on most days anyway, but definitely not last night. My language only got worse with the two personal fouls committed by the same Bama player against the same Georgia player on the same play.

    Bama should not even have been there. That’s twice now in the last six years they’ve been allowed to play for a national title after not even winning their own GD division in the SEC. The rules need to be changed, otherwise the regular season and the conference championship game mean absolutely nothing. Why the f even bother having them play the regualr season. Let them sit in Toothlesscaloosa in the fall and just show up wherever in January.

    I hate them and the egregiously entitled jackass that coaches them with the white hot heat of a thousand suns and it’s got nothing to do with the Gators being so bad the last nine years. It’s got to do with what is right. I am sick of the so-called experts on these committees planting twolips on Saban’s posterior. If you’re so friggin good win your friggin conference or stay the f home.