Alabama replaced Florida State at the top of the latest College Football 247 Top 25 Power Rankings, and Ohio State moved into fourth.
FSU was a unanimous No. 1 two weeks ago, received five of the seven first-place votes last week, but garnered just three first-place votes this week after a narrow win over Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship. Alabama, meanwhile, got four first-place votes and moved up from second. Oregon remained third and Ohio State moved from fifth to fourth. TCU dropped from fourth to fifth and Baylor remained sixth.
The SEC leads the way with seven teams in the poll, and the Pac-12 is second with six.
1. Alabama
Points: 171 (4 first-place votes)
W-L: 12-1
Previous ranking: 2
The skinny: The Tide is going for its fourth national title in the past six seasons. Who will pick against Nick Saban's team?
2. Florida State
Points: 168 (3 first-place votes)
W-L: 13-0
Previous ranking: 1
The skinny: The Seminoles played one game decided by single digits in 2013, when they won the national title. This season, they have played seven, including a two-pointer in Saturday night's ACC Championship.
3. Oregon
Points: 165
W-L: 12-1
Previous ranking: 3
Skinny: The Ducks gained some revenge in a second go-round against Arizona. An added bonus: It was gained in the Pac-12 Championship.
4. Ohio State
Points: 148
W-L: 12-1
Previous ranking: 5
The skinny: Braxton Miller? J.T. Barrett? Who are those guys? It's all about Cardale Jones now.
5. TCU
Points: 147
W-L: 11-1
Previous ranking: 4
Skinny: Yes, TCU lost to Baylor. But a strong case can be made that the Horned Frogs entire "body of work" is more impressive.
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6. Baylor
Points: 146
W-L: 11-1
Previous ranking: 6
The skinny: There's no doubt the Bears' pitifully weak non-conference schedule was the worst of the top playoff contenders.?
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7. Michigan State
Points: 131
W-L: 10-2
Previous ranking: 7
The skinny: With a bowl victory, the Spartans will have won at least 11 games for the fourth time in five seasons.
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8. Mississippi State
Points: 128
W-L: 10-2
Previous ranking: 10
The skinny: The Bulldogs twice have won 10 games in a season (1940 and 1999). They never have won 11, though.
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9. Ole Miss
Points: 105
W-L: 9-3
Previous ranking: 14
The skinny: Hugh Freeze earned a pay raise, to more than $4 million annually, by guiding the Rebels to nine wins. How much could he get if Ole Miss actually won the SEC West instead of finishing third in the division?
10. Kansas State
Points: 104
W-L: 9-3
Previous ranking: 9
The skinny: A bowl win would give K-State its third 10-win season in the past four years -- and its 10th such season under Bill Snyder.
11. Georgia Tech
Points: 99
W-L: 10-3
Previous ranking: 13
The skinny: Paul Johnson is the first Yellow Jackets coach to oversee two 10-win teams at Tech since Bobby Dodd in the 1950s.
12. Arizona
Points: 92
W-L: 10-3
Previous ranking: 8
The skinny: OK, so the Pac-12 Championship was a disaster. At least the Wildcats know they beat Oregon once this season.
13. Missouri
Points: 82
W-L: 10-3
Previous ranking: 12
The skinny: Yes, the Tigers lost for the second consecutive season in the SEC championship game. But just as it is better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, it's better to get to the title game and lose than to not get to the title game at all.
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14. UCLA
Points: 76
W-L: 9-3
Previous ranking: 17
The skinny: If you go by what coach Jim Mora says, it's likely that the Bruins' bowl game will be Brett Hundley's last college appearance.
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15. Clemson
Points: 75
W-L: 9-3
Previous ranking: 18
The skinny: This season may not have gone exactly as planned, but the presence of true freshman QB Deshaun Watson means the next few seasons could be quite good.
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16. Arizona State
Points: 74
W-L: 9-3
Previous ranking: 19
The skinny: The Sun Devils have gained fewer than 400 yards in each of their past three games; that's the longest such streak under 400 yards since late September/early October 2011.
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17. Georgia
Points: 70
W-L: 9-3
Previous ranking: 15
The skinny: You wonder if Mark Richt watched Alabama's dominating performance in the SEC Championship and thought to himself, "You know, it's OK after all that we're not there."
18. Auburn
Points: 63
W-L: 8-4
Previous ranking: 20
The skinny: The offense was national-title caliber. The defense, though, was awful, and that's why Ellis Johnson was fired as defensive coordinator.
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19. Boise State
Points: 62
W-L: 11-2
Previous ranking: 22
The skinny: The Broncos remain the nation's favorite outlier. Another season, another "big bowl" bid.
20. Wisconsin
The skinny: It could take the Badgers a while to recover from the beatdown Ohio State administered to them in the Big Ten Championship.
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21. Louisville
Points: 40
W-L: 9-3
Previous ranking: 21
The skinny: For most of the season, the defense was the reason the Cardinals were winning. And that's sort of bizarre for a Bobby Petrino-coached team.
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22. LSU
Points: 27
W-L: 8-4
Previous ranking: 23
The skinny: The "Could Les Miles go to Michigan?" questions will make things interesting down on the bayou for the next week.
23. USC
Points: 22
W-L: 8-4
Previous ranking: 25
The skinny: The 8-4 mark is OK. But this team had a legit shot to finish 11-1 in the regular season.
24. Utah
Points: 18
W-L: 8-4
Previous ranking: 24
The skinny: After back-to-back five-win seasons, the Utes have regained their footing this season.
25. Oklahoma
Points: 6
W-L: 8-4
Previous ranking: 16
The skinny: The Sooners had some momentum heading into the season. That momentum slowed during the season, and it came to a sudden stop in the "Bedlam" loss to Oklahoma State.
Others receiving votes:
Nebraska 5, Marshall 4, Minnesota 2, Memphis 1
Voters in the College Football 24/7 Top 25 Power Rankings include: NFL Media analysts Gil Brandt, Bucky Brooks, Charles Davis and Daniel Jeremiah, and College Football 24/7 writers Bryan Fischer, Chase Goodbread and Mike Huguenin.
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