Just about everyone held off on the ‘good stuff’ until the last game of the season as Top 25 teams struggled and in some cases lost over the weekend. Whether it’s a sign that injuries are plaguing teams (in some cases, yes) or that other teams are finally coming into their own (in some cases, yes, yes they are) it created some nail-biting moments. Before we take a look at (essentially) the last Top 25 rankings of the regular season let’s make note of the closer than they should have been games and enjoy that wonderful, ‘are they really going to pull this off’ feeling we had watching.
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First up is No. 1 Georgia, national champs, vaunted powerhouse in the SEC and the betting man’s choice to repeat in the title game. State rivalry games are always full of surprises but who would have seen this battle coming from unranked Georgia Tech? The Ramblin’ Wreck ‘dawged’ Georgia right down to the wire but couldn’t find that final score to at least tie things up at the end losing to the champs, 31-23.
No. 2 Ohio State went down to their despised rivals, No. 3 Michigan, 30-24. No. 4 Washington pulled the rabbit out of the hat with a 24-21 win over unranked Washington State. No. 5 Florida State battled their way back over unranked in-state rival Florida, 24-15. No. 8 Alabama needed a wing and a prayer to knock off unranked Auburn, 27-24. No. 10 Louisville stumbled against an unranked Kentucky, 38-31. No. 17 Iowa pulled off a 13-10 win over unranked Nebraska. No. 19 Kansas State lost to unranked Iowa State, 42-35. And No. 24 Clemson held off unranked in-state rival South Carolina, 16-7.
Top 25
Top 25 – ACC+1
| COACHES | TEAM | AP | TEAM |
| #1 | GEORGIA | #1 | GEORGIA |
| #2 | MICHIGAN | #2 | MICHIGAN |
| #3 | WASHINGTON | #3 | WASHINGTON |
| #4 | FLORIDA STATE | #4 | FLORIDA STATE |
| #5 | OREGON | #5 | OREGON |
| #14 | LOUISVILLE | #15 | LOUISVILLE |
| #16 | NOTRE DAME | #16 | NOTRE DAME |
| #20 | NC STATE | #21 | NC STATE |
| RV | RV | ||
| #27 | CLEMSON | #27 | CLEMSON |
| #35 | NORTH CAROLINA |
What’s up next? The latest CFP Top 25 that will let us know if any teams have their work cut out for them in the conference championship games ahead. There are 11 of 14 ACC teams that are qualified for bowls, the most of any conference. Notre Dame, an independent in football is qualified for a bowl appearance and because of their agreement with the conference will get one of the slots designated for the ACC.
Future ACC teams, Cal from the PAC-12 and SMU from the AAC have also qualified for bowl spots.
