Welcome back all! An exciting Championship weekend is in the books. All 10 FBS Conferences have crowned their respective Champs & Bowl bids have been handed out. We know who will be playing on the big stages in the New Year's Six Bowl games, & have some very high-quality matchups to look forward to this Bowl season. There are a handful of games or so to cover, and there was still plenty of movement throughout the rankings in the aftermath of yesterday's outcomes. With the 2019 regular season in the books, let's get to this week's updated top 25:
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We start in the Pac-12, where Oregon put a surprise spanking on Utah in the Pac-12 Title game on Friday night. The Ducks' speed caused some issues for the Utes top-ranked run defense, as HB CJ Verdell ran wild in the victory. It was a disappointing conclusion to the regular season for Utah, who was in prime position to move into the fourth spot in the final CFP rankings. The Utes struggled on both sides of the ball, and fell into a 20-0 halftime hole before ultimately falling to the Ducks 37-15. The resounding victory sends Oregon all the way up to #5 this week as they slide just ahead of Georgia in the final set of rankings before bowl season gets underway. The lackluster defeat sends the Utes tumbling 8 spots, landing just behind Alabama at #13.
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Speaking of Georgia, the Bulldogs took on top-ranked LSU in a highly anticipated SEC Title game, and at least one participant didn't disappoint. The Tigers, behind the outstanding play of QB Joe Burrow routed the Bulldogs & their much ballyhooed defense in a 37-10 demolition. Burrow shredded one of the nation's best defensive units for 349 yards and 4 scores through the air, and added another 41 on the ground. It was a fitting way to add an exclamation point to his running away with the Heisman Trophy. The much-maligned LSU defense as of late, completely shutdown the vaunted Georgia rushing attack, limiting the Bulldogs to just 61 yards on 25 carries. It was an impressive, dominant effort, that caused the CFP committee to slide the Tigers backup to #1 - where they belong after that performance. LSU stays in the top spot ahead of the Bowl games & playoff, while Georgia slides back two spots to #6.
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The Big XII Title game got things going in exciting fashion early yesterday, with Oklahoma & Baylor meeting up in a rematch at AT&T Stadium. It was an outstanding back-and-forth affair with Oklahoma jumping out to an early lead, before Baylor came back to take a 13-10 advantage into the locker room at the half. The Sooners - just like in the first meeting between these two - came storming out to start the second half, and after a quick 10 points took a 20-13 lead. After a FG early in the 4th quarter made it 23-13 Sooners, it appeared they might start to pull away. The Bears, behind their third different QB in the game, hit on a couple of big pass plays and came storming back themselves, though, to tie it up 23-23 and force OT.
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The Sooners ultimately prevailed in the extra frame, pulling out a 30-23 victory - punching their ticket to the CFP. The Bears did an excellent job of limiting Jalen Hurts as the OU QB was held to just 38 rush yards on 23 attempts. The same could not be said about WR CeeDee Lamb, who light up the Baylor secondary for 173 yards on 8 receptions. The victory moves the Sooners up two spots to #4, while Baylor remained at #7. The Bears finish up the season with just the pair of close losses to Oklahoma - by the combined total of only 10 points.
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In other Conference Title game action, Clemson absolutely destroyed Virginia in the ACC to finish up another unbeaten season at 13-0 & remain at #3. The Cavaliers looked like a team that didn't even belong on the same field as the Tigers, and without much of a resume despite the 9 wins, fall from the rankings after that disappointing beatdown.
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Memphis took care of Cincinnati for the second week in a row, this time in the American Athletic Title game. The Tigers had to come-from-behind this time, but were able to rally for a 29-24 victory. Memphis remains at #17 following the win & the Bearcats actually moved up a spot in defeat to #21, thanks to Virginia's stinker & subsequent fall from the rankings.
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Appalachian State got off to a hot start against 10-2 UL-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Title game. The Mountaineers raced out to a 35-17 halftime lead, before hanging on for a 45-38 victory. Make it two in a row for App State as they improved to 12-1 on the season and moved up a spot in this week's rankings to 18. Boise State also dispatched Hawaii with relative ease in chilly Boise, ID, taking care of the Rainbows 31-10 to also finish up 12-1. The Broncos remained at #16 after capturing the Mountain West Conference for the second time in the last three years.
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Finally, we get to the Big TEN Title game, which delivered the biggest surprise of the day - for a half at least. The Wisconsin Badgers jumped on the Ohio State Buckeyes early behind a 44-yard TD run from HB Jonathan Taylor. QB Jack Coan added a 14-yard TD run at just under 10 minutes in the second quarter to put the Badgers up 14-0. Ohio State got on the board with just under a minute to go in the half, but Coan & UW were able to answer again in the closing seconds to extend the lead to 21-7 Wisconsin at the half.
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The Buckeyes came out on fire to start the second half, and quickly scored a TD and added a FG after a special teams gaffe by the Badgers. Just like that, the Buckeyes had cut-it to 21-17. Wisconsin just wasn't able to sustain the momentum from the first half, and the offense got stagnant as the second half wore on, as the Buckeyes were able to rally back for a 34-21 victory to capture their 3rd straight Big TEN Title. The Buckeyes remain at 2 and will face Clemson in what should be one hell of a CFP Semifinal, and the Badgers are headed to the Rose Bowl to take on Oregon in what should be an excellent matchup.
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There was one other game on Championship Saturday, and while it didn't impact this week's top 25, it was noteworthy in that Florida Atlantic routed UAB to capture their second consecutive Conference USA Title. The Owls improved to 10-3, which is good enough to land them in the "next" group of teams just outside of the top 25.
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It was an exciting Championship weekend, and now that the dust has settled, and we've covered all the action, it's time to take a look at this week's updated College Football Ultimate Top 25 presented by @sportsguychris ahead of Bowl season:
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College Football Ultimate Top 25
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1 LSU (13-0) 🏆
2 OHIO STATE (13-0) 🏆
3 CLEMSON (13-0) 🏆
4 OKLAHOMA (12-1) 🏆
5 OREGON (11-2) 🏆
6 GEORGIA (11-2)
7 BAYLOR (11-2)
8 WISCONSIN (10-3)
9 PENN STATE (10-2)
10 FLORIDA (10-2)
11 AUBURN (9-3)
12 ALABAMA (10-2)
13 UTAH (11-2)
14 MINNESOTA (10-2)
15 NOTRE DAME (10-2)
16 BOISE STATE (12-1) 🏆
17 MEMPHIS (12-1) 🏆
18 APPALACHIAN STATE (12-1) 🏆
19 IOWA (9-3)
20 MICHIGAN (9-3)
21 CINCINNATI (10-3)
22 NAVY (9-2)
23 AIR FORCE (10-2)
24 USC (8-4)
25 KANSAS STATE (8-4)*
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🏆- Denotes Conference Champion
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*-New to the rankings this week
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Dropped Out:
21 Virginia (9-4)
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Next:
Virginia (9-4), SMU (10-2), Indiana (8-4), UCF (9-3), Florida Atlantic (10-3)
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Looking ahead to Bowl season, we have plenty of quality matchups to look forward to starting with the New Year's Six Bowl games. #8 Wisconsin will face #5 Oregon in the Rose Bowl, #9 Penn State will face #17 Memphis in the Cotton Bowl, Virginia will take on #10 Florida in the Orange Bowl, and #6 Georgia will square off with #7 Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. The two National Semifinals will pit LSU & Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl and Ohio State & Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. I believe the Tigers are going to handle the Sooners just fine, but that Clemson-OSU game should be a dandy.
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As always, appreciate all of the support and I would love to get your thoughts in the comments section below. Be sure to check back for plenty of coverage during Bowl season, including picks for all of the games, previews, and team profiles for the 4 CFP semifinalists. Enjoy all of the Bowl games & best of your luck to your school!
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