College football polls: Updated AP Top 25, Coaches Poll rankings after Week 12

Zac Al-Khateeb

College football polls: Updated AP Top 25, Coaches Poll rankings after Week 12 image

College football chaos came back with a vengeance during Week 12 of the season, seeing two one-loss, top-10 teams fall out of contention for the College Football Playoff.

One of those losses was expected, though not perhaps in the manner it happened. No. 4 Ohio State absolutely demolished No. 7 Michigan State, upending the Spartans 56-7 after jumping out to an absurd 49-0 halftime lead. The other top-10 team to lose was Oregon, which was similarly dismantled in a 38-7 defeat to No. 23 Utah. (The Utes jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead by way of a last-second punt return for touchdown).

MORE: College Football Playoff Picture for Week 13

Those losses and more will affect the latest set of AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll rankings. Another game to consider is No. 2 Alabama's 42-35 win over No. 21 Arkansas, a game that didn't feel particularly close but somehow ended up with a one-possession difference. Will that score, coupled with Ohio State's dominance, sway voters to put the Buckeyes ahead of the Crimson Tide? If nothing else, the battle between those teams on the Heisman Trophy front — quarterbacks C.J. Stroud and Bryce Young are the clear frontrunners at this point of the season — will be worth watching as well.

With that, Sporting News takes a look at the latest top-25 rankings following Week 12 action:

TOP-10 LOSSES: Michigan State | Oregon

College football rankings for Week 13

Coaches Poll

RankTeamRecordPoints (No. 1 votes)
1Georgia11-01,550 (62)
2Alabama10-11,450
3Ohio State10-11,428
4Cincinnati11-01,388
5Notre Dame10-11,258
6Michigan10-11,250
7Oklahoma State10-11,210
8Ole Miss9-21,049
9Oklahoma10-11,010
10Baylor9-2977
11Oregon9-2864
12Iowa9-2722
13Michigan State9-2698
14Texas A&M8-3683
15BYU9-2675
16Houston10-1572
17Pitt9-2507
18Wisconsin8-3485
19Utah8-3478
20UTSA11-0475
21Wake Forest9-2404
22San Diego State10-1257
23Louisiana10-1236
24N.C. State8-3196
25Kentucky8-391

Others receiving votes: Arkansas 67; Clemson 56; Mississippi State 42; Penn State 22; App State 20; Purdue 10; Coastal Carolina 9; Air Force 9; Oregon State 2.

DAN MULLEN FIRED: Coaching replacements | Why Florida moved on

AP Top 25

RankTeamRecordPoints (No. 1 votes)
1Georgia11-01,550 (62)
2Ohio State10-11,434
3Alabama10-11,423
4Cincinnati11-01,416
5Notre Dame10-11,262
6Michigan10-11,246
7Oklahoma State10-11,209
8Ole Miss9-21,060
9Baylor9-21,046
10Oklahoma10-11,001
11Oregon9-2849
12Michigan State9-2778
13BYU9-2771
14Texas A&M8-3628
15UTSA11-0583
16Utah8-3561
17Iowa9-2538
18Wisconsin8-3517
19Houston10-1516
20Pitt9-2445
21Wake Forest9-2344
22San Diego State10-1273
23Louisiana10-1246
24N.C. State8-3141
25Arkansas7-4105

Others receiving votes: Clemson 101; Mississippi State 44; Penn State 26; App State 24; Kentucky 10; Purdue 3.

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.