Indiana was ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25 for the first time in program history on Sunday, the latest improbable milestone of coach Curt Cignetti’s remarkable turnaround with the Hoosiers.
Indiana (13-0) received all 66 first-place votes to be a unanimous No. 1. The Hoosiers are the 45th team to hold the top ranking in the 89-year history of the Associated Press poll. Before this season, Indiana had never been ranked higher than No. 4 in the AP poll.
The last new No. 1 was Mississippi State in 2014.
SEC champion Georgia (12-1) was No. 2 and Ohio State (12-1) slipped two spots to No. 3 after losing the Big Ten championship 13-10 to Indiana on Saturday. The defending national champion Buckeyes had been No. 1 for 14 straight weeks.
Big 12 champion Texas Tech was No. 4.
Indiana, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas Tech were expected to be the top four seeds in some order in the College Football Playoff when the 12-team bracket was announced later Sunday.
No. 5 Oregon, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Notre Dame all held their spots after being idle.
Alabama fell a spot to No. 11 after losing the SEC title game to Georgia and BYU slipped a spot to No. 12 after losing in the Big 12 championship to Texas Tech.
Miami moved up two spots to No. 10. If the AP poll were to decide the Playoff, that would put Notre Dame and Miami in the bracket and Alabama out.
AP Top 25 after Week 15
RankTeamRalph’s voteRecordPrev
1
1
13-0
2
2
2
12-1
3
3
3
12-1
1
4
4
12-1
5
5
5
11-1
4
6
7
11-1
6
7
6
11-1
7
8
10
10-2
8
9
9
10-2
9
10
8
10-2
12
11
11
10-3
10
12
13
11-2
11
13
14
10-2
13
14
12
9-3
14
15
15
10-2
15
16
16
9-3
17
17
18
11-2
21
18
17
9-3
18
19
25
12-1
19
20
20
10-3
16
21
23
9-3
22
22
NR
9-2
23
23
NR
11-2
20
24
NR
9-3
24
25
21
8-4
25
NR
19
8-4
NR
NR
22
9-3
NR
NR
24
8-4
NR
Others receiving votes: Houston 82, Iowa 74, Tennessee 61, New Mexico 21, Duke 18, Boise State 16, UNLV 10, South Florida 10, SMU 8, Arizona State 6, Louisville 6, UConn 5, Washington 4, Pittsburgh 3, Kennesaw State 3, Illinois 2, Iowa State 2, Western Michigan 1, TCU 1
Also considered by Ralph: Washington, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, SMU, Duke, Navy
How I voted
There really wasn’t much to change this week except for the obvious at the top. I gave some thought to dropping Ohio State to only No. 2, but Georgia’s overall strength of schedule combined with the Bulldogs’ strong finishing kick to the season made that a fairly easy call.
It was hard to find good reason to move down any of the power conference title games losers in a significant way.
I was already a bit lower on Alabama than the consensus, having the Tide at No. 11 behind Miami, Notre Dame and Oklahoma. I left the Tide at No. 11 because I didn’t think the teams behind them deserved to move ahead. I dropped BYU one spot to No. 13 after it was soundly beaten for a second time by Texas Tech and moved Texas (9-3) up a spot.
I tinkered with moving Texas ahead of both Alabama and Oklahoma but ditched the idea. Alabama at least beat Georgia once this season, and while the Longhorns can claim a victory against the Sooners, Texas’ up-and-down play just didn’t merit that big a bump.
Even Virginia, which lost the ACC title game in overtime to Duke, only dropped three spots to No. 20.
What’s next? Follow live coverage of the College Football Playoff reveal here.
