With week 12 behind us, we saw many college football teams play beyond their normal levels. Some teams performed like expected, and some were upset. Every year, the Associated Press releases its rankings for the top 25 college football teams. 

The Top 5 teams are 1. Alabama, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Ohio State, 4. Clemson, 5. Texas A&M. These teams are absolutely lethal. There are no other words to describe them. They have put up numbers that no one has seen for years. 

Even with their star quarterback Trevor Lawrence out for weeks, the Clemson Tigers somehow managed to go 3-1, losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Alabama continues to let the Tide keep rolling. They have put up numbers like 72 and low 60s against teams that used to be ranked. I don’t see them leaving the number one spot this year. Ever since Patrick Mahomes left Texas A&M in 2017, they have struggled to produce a solid quarterback. This year, they finally have a solid team that has cracked the top 5, the last time being in 2012 going 8-1. And lastly, Ohio State: They have a franchise quarterback that goes by the name of Justin Fields. He is projected to get drafted within the top 5 in the upcoming NFL draft. I don’t see Buckeyes leaving the top 5.

The following five spots are still very good, but the dropoff from 5 to 6 is pretty big this year. These teams have rightfully earned their spots to round out the top 10: 6. Florida, 7. Cincinnati, 8. BYU, 9. Miami, 10. Indiana. 

Starting off with Florida, they upset the powerhouse of Georgia at the beginning of the season, moving Georgia out of the top 10. There is lots of hope for this team. Cincinnati has been playing utterly insanely this year, really putting their name out there for the top spots. BYU has always been a solid football team, this year being no different for that conference. Miami has had a long drought since they were last in the glory days, finally making it back to the top 10 this year. They look very promising if they keep up the wins. Indiana is also having a great season, with lots of promise after putting up fights with great teams.

As we go down the list, former top 10 teams started to emerge as they were beaten earlier this year. The next five are: 11. Georgia, 12. Iowa State, 13. Oklahoma, 14. Coastal Carolina, 15. Marshall. 

Georgia has had a rough year ever since star quarterback Jake Fromm left them in 2019. This team has struggled all year to find the groove of their offense. Iowa State is just playing great right now; there is lots of hope for them, too. Oklahoma is having a very big let-down year ever since they let two different star quarterbacks through their program. Coastal Carolina is having a year to remember—some people didn’t even know they had a football team. Hats off to them for playing well this year. Marshall hasn’t been placed in the top 20 since 2014. They are having a very good year.

Numbers 15-20 seem to always change every year, not having a steady two or three teams that stick around. These teams include: 16. Northwestern, 17. Southern Cal, 18. Wisconsin, 19. Oklahoma State, 20. Louisiana. 

There isn’t much to say about these teams other than the fact that they are having a good season. Wisconsin has always been a ranked team, and they are having a solid but somewhat disappointing year. Oklahoma State is usually ranked higher but has had an off-year; however, they could bounce back next year. Northwestern is having an incredible year for their franchise. They are staying put in the top 20 no matter the loss—solid year.

And lastly, the final five slots in the AP top 25 are:  21. Oregon, 22. Tulsa, 23. Washington, 24. Iowa, 25. Liberty. 

After a very disappointing loss to the Oregon State Beavers in late November, the Oregon Ducks fell 12 spots from number 9 to 21 in a span of two days. The Ducks had a lot of hope of making the playoffs, but those chances faded away after the loss. Tulsa and Liberty are having amazing years, not being very consistent teams when it comes to rankings. Washington is usually ranked higher, but they lost their star quarterback last year to the draft. Iowa is always ranked in the top 25; it just depends on where. They had a lot of hope coming in, but the hope was recently crushed as they were placed last.