NCAA Football Rankings: New AP Top 25 And Coaches Polls Released — Shake-Up As Iowa Rises, Ohio State Falls

The NCAA football rankings have seen a major shake-up as a lot of teams are seeing their stock climb, but so many others are seeing theirs fall. The Ohio State Buckeyes lost to Michigan State and saw their 23-game win streak thrown out the window, and possibly their championship hopes dashed. Now, the new Associated Press Top 25 Poll and Coaches Poll have been released, and things look very different.

The Clemson Tigers are placing a stranglehold on the No. 1 spot of both polls as they continue to win — and look impressive doing it, too. At 11-0, the Tigers face off with the South Carolina Gamecocks to finish the season and should end up undefeated.

Alabama was thought to be falling earlier this season, but are 10-1 and sitting at number two in both polls. Actually, both polls have the top four exactly the same, with Iowa and Notre Dame following up in third and fourth, respectively.

Bleacher Report made a point to show that it wasn’t just Ohio State who fell, but Oklahoma State, as well. The Cowboys fell to ninth in the AP Top 25 Poll, and tenth in the Coaches Poll for this week.

Here is the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for this week, and it looks like there will also be another shake-up in the College Football Playoff rankings coming on Tuesday, too.

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

The SEC still has a strong showing, but the LSU Tigers are not part of it. LSU fell out of the both polls and are no longer in the top 25 for the NCAA rankings. Ever since starting off the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 2, the Tigers have lost three straight.

The Coaches Poll also saw some changes this week and again, the Buckeyes saw a fall from No. 2 down to No. 8. That loss at the hands of Michigan State, or the foot of kicker Michael Geiger, really put a damper on their playoff hopes.

Here is the Coaches Poll for this week and make sure to notice the tie between Stanford and Michigan at No. 12.

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Iowa
4. Notre Dame
5. Oklahoma
6. Michigan State
7. Baylor
8. Ohio State
9. Florida
10. Oklahoma State
11. North Carolina
12. Stanford (t)
12. Michigan (t)
14. Florida State
15. Navy
16. TCU
17. Northwestern
18. Oregon
19. Ole Miss
20. Washington State
21. Houston
22. Mississippi State
23. UCLA
24. Temple
25. Utah

NBC Sports made it known that the Clemson Tigers are obviously the favorite for the championship now, and have 58 of a possible 64 first-place votes in the Coaches Poll. Despite winning, Florida did fall one spot since their victory came in overtime by escaping Florida Atlantic University.

Time is running out for teams this season, as most only have one game remaining, and any final push needs to be done now. There will be the championship games for some conferences, but it’s the final weekend of regular season play that will say a lot about the final rankings.

Right now, it appears as if Clemson, Alabama, Iowa, and Notre Dame will be the final four, unless something drastic happens. It would take winning by teams behind them a loss by one or two teams in the top four to move up.

The NCAA football rankings tell a whole lot about what is to come as the playoffs draw closer, and losing this late in the season is really difficult to bounce back from. Every game is important and it goes to show you that playing strong throughout brings the spoils.

[Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images]