Sunday, December 6, 2015

Top 25 College Football Playoff Poll; Alabama Meets Michigan State In CFP Semifinal; Associated Press Top 25 College Football Poll; Top 25 Coaches Poll


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Top 25 College Football Playoff Poll



      Five Southeastern Conference schools are in this week's CFP Top 25. They are ALABAMA (2)
Ole Miss (12), Florida (19), LSU (20) and Tennessee (25). Incidentally, the Crimson Tide played all of the other four SEC schools in the poll. 

     Alabama will meet Michigan State in one of the National Semifinal games, with Clemson and Oklahoma meeting in a rematch of last year's non-CFP bowl. (See accompanying story.)

     Here is a list of the CFP Top 25:

  1  Clemson
  2  ALABAMA
  3  Michigan State
  4  Oklahoma
  5  Iowa
  6  Stanford
  7  Ohio State
  8  Notre Dame
  9  Florida State
10  North Carolina
11  TCU
12  Ole Miss
13  Northwestern
14  Michigan
15  Oregon
16  Oklahoma State
17  Baylor
18  Houston
19  Florida
20  LSU
21  Navy
22  Utah
23  Tennessee
24  Temple
25  Southern California


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Alabama No. 2 In CFP
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Meets Michigan St. In Semifinal


     The University of Alabama Crimson Tide remains at No. 2 this week in the College Football Playoff Poll, the one that actually counts. The second-ranked Tide will face the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans in the Cotton Bowl on December 31st at AT&T Stadium.

     Michigan State moved up to No. 3 over the now No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners because of two factors, which are closely related. Reason one is that Michigan State is the Big 10 Champion by virtue of a championship game. Reason two is that Oklahoma had no championship in which to participate since the Big 12 has opted not to play one.

     The Alabama-Michigan State pairs two Saban-coached teams. Of course he's the current coach of the Crimson Tide, but he was head coach at Michigan State from 1995-1999 before he took over head coaching duties at LSU. His record broken down by seasons while at State were 6-5-1, 6-6, 7-5, 6-6, and 9-2. The last meeting between these two teams saw Saban and the Crimson Tide coming out on top of a 49-7 shellacking in the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando back in 2011. Alabama's record that year was 10-3.

     Clemson and Oklahoma return to the Orange Bowl, where last December 29th the Tigers blasted the Sooners 40-6 in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Now the Sooners get the "do-over" mentioned by several of the players last year.

     Clemson (13-0) has been the No. 1 selection all six weeks of the CFP weekly rankings. Alabama (12-1), the newly-crowned (repeat) Southeastern Conference Champion, was No. 2 for the fifth consecutive week. The No. 3 and No. 4 positions have been somewhat fluid during the process, with Michigan State (12-1) jumped Oklahoma (11-1) for those slots.

     The winners of the two semifinal games will face off in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on January 11, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona.



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Associated Press Top 25 College Football Poll

     The Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) is again ranked second in this week's A.P. Poll. There are a total of four Southeastern Conference schools listed in this week's poll. There are an additional four SEC schools receiving votes. The SEC schools in this weeks poll are ALABAMA (2), Ole Miss (16), Florida (19), LSU (22), Kentucky (25), Georgia (26), Tennessee (29), Arkansas (32) and Mississippi State (35).

     Schools receiving votes this week which have been University of Alabama opponents this season are Ole Miss (16), Florida (19), LSU (22), Wisconsin (23), Georgia (26), Tennessee (29), Arkansas (32) and Mississippi State (35). 

     Here are the Top 25 college football teams in America according to the Associated Press:

  1  Clemson
  2  ALABAMA
  3  Michigan State
  4  Oklahoma
  5  Stanford
  6  Iowa
  7  Ohio State
  8  Notre Dame
  9  Florida State
10  North Carolina
11  TCU
12  Northwestern
13  Oklahoma State
14  Houston
15  Oregon
16  Ole Miss
17  Michigan
18  Baylor
19  Florida
20  Utah
21  Navy
22  LSU
23  Wisconsin
24  Temple
25  Western Kentucky

Others receiving votes:  Georgia, Southern California, Brigham Young, Tennessee, San Diego State, Washington State, Arkansas, Memphis, Bowling Green, South Florida, Mississippi State, Toledo, UCLA and Arkansas State 

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Top 25 Coaches Poll

     The University of Alabama is once again ranked second in this weeks Coaches Poll. A total of five SEC schools make up this week's Top 25. They are ALABAMA (2), Ole Miss (15), Florida (18), LSU (21) and Georgia (25).

     Here is the complete list of the Top 25 according to the coaches:

  1  Clemson
  2  ALABAMA
  3  Oklahoma
  4  Michigan State
  5  Ohio State
  6  Stanford
  7  Iowa
  8  Florida State
  9  Notre Dame
10  TCU
11  North Carolina
12  Northwestern
13  Oklahoma State
14  Oregon
15  Ole Miss
16  Houston
17  Michigan
18  Florida
19  Baylor
20   Utah
21  LSU
22  Navy
23  Wisconsin
24  Temple
25  Georgia