The Bulldogs received 32 first-place votes and 1,535 points in the Top 25 to easily reclaim No. 1. They were just two points behind Alabama at No. 2 last week.
Ohio State moved up a spot to No. 2, receiving 20 first-place votes and 1,507 points.
No. 3 is a season low for Alabama, which was the preseason No. 1 but fell to No. 2 after Week 2. The Crimson Tide received 11 first-place votes.
There were two notable season debuts in the Top 25: No. 24 Illinois is ranked for the first time since 2011, and James Madison is in the AP Top 25 for the first time in its program history. The Dukes are playing their first season as a member of the Sun Belt in Division I college football’s highest level.
Clemson overtook Michigan and moved up to No. 4 as the Wolverines fell one spot to No. 5.
Tennessee moved up to No. 6, which is the best ranking for the undefeated Volunteers since No. 5 early in the 2005 season. Tennessee stumbled to a 5-6 and unranked finish that year.
The shuffle that Georgia has made from No. 1 to 2 and back to No. 1 over three polls hadn’t happened in more than a decade.
Florida went back and forth between Nos. 1 and 2 in 2009, flip-flopping with Alabama as both teams won in late October.
The Crimson Tide are the first team to drop from No. 1 to No. 3 off a victory in 25 years, when Nebraska beat Missouri in overtime on the famous “Flea Kicker.” Michigan jumped from No. 4 to No. 1 on Nov. 10, 1997, after it won 34-8 at No. 2 Penn State.
IN
The week after Kansas handed the ignominious title of Power 5 conference team with the longest streak of being unranked to Illinois, the Illini are now off the schneid in their second year under coach Bret Bielema.
Illinois improved to 5-1 by beating Iowa and landed in the poll for the first time since Oct. 16, 2011, ending a drought of 178 polls.
Next up on the list of longest-ranking droughts for Power 5 schools: Rutgers (2012), Oregon State (preseason 2013) and Vanderbilt (final 2013).
• James Madison had been an FCS powerhouse for years, winning a national title in 2016 and losing to North Dakota State in the NCAA championship game in 2017 and 2019. The Dukes have had no issue moving up so far, going 5-0 and averaging 44 points per game.
James Madison’s move up has been different than transitions by other schools, which typically take a year or two to acclimate before playing a full FBS-type schedule as they build up from 63 scholarship players to 85.
Aided by temporary changes to eligibility rules due to the pandemic and loosened transfer rules, the Dukes were able to dive right in with a more FBS-ready roster, coach Curt Cignetti told the AP.
“There were a lot of unknows coming into the season,” Cignetti said. “The one thing about our program is we’ve had such great success from 2016 on. … There’s a culture here, a standard, an expectation. And our guys expect to win every time we go out.”
Since Division I football split into subdivisions in 1978, James Madison is the first team to be ranked in a season when it was transitioning up.
“All the national publicity that we have had is extremely positive for the university, the program, the athletic department and our boosters and supporters,” said Cignetti, the son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Cignetti, who died in September. “Making the Top 25, that’s just another step.”
• Texas is ranked again, tied with Kentucky at No. 22, after blowing out rival Oklahoma.
OUT
• BYU is unranked for the first time this season after losing to Notre Dame.
• Washington dropped out of the rankings after a second straight loss.
• LSU‘s return to the Top 25 was brief after getting thumped at home by Tennessee.
CONFERENCE CALL
The Sun Belt went from its inception in 2001 to 2015 without having a ranked team. The conference has now had at least one team ranked for at least one week each of the past five seasons and six of the past seven.
James Madison is the second Sun Belt team to reach the Top 25 this season, along with Appalachian State.
SEC — 6 (Nos. 1, 3, 6, 9, 16, 22) Big 12 — 5 (Nos. 8, 13, 17, 19, 22) ACC — 4 (Nos. 4, 14, 15, 18) Big Ten — 4 (Nos. 2, 5, 10, 24) Pac-12 — 4 (Nos. 7, 11, 12, 20) American — 1 (No. 21) Sun Belt — 1 (No. 25)
RANKED vs. RANKED
A season-high six games match ranked teams:
• No. 10 Penn State at No. 5 Michigan. Third top-10 matchup in the series and first since 1997.
• No. 3 Alabama at No. 6 Tennessee. The second top-10 matchup since 2000.
• No. 8 Oklahoma State at No. 13 TCU. The Horned Frogs have their best ranking since being No. 9 in 2017.
• No. 15 NC State at No. 18 Syracuse. First matchup of ranked teams at home for Syracuse since 2001.
• No. 16 Mississippi State at No. 22 Kentucky. First time the teams will meet with both ranked in 49 games.
• No. 7 USC at No. 20 Utah. Second straight game against a ranked Los Angeles team for the Utes.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Penn State quarterback Drew Allar said he was trying to throw the ball into the ground. Notre Dame defensive back Christian Gray dove for it anyway and — luck of the Irish — the ball ended up right in his hands.
A few seconds later, Gray and Notre Dame found themselves with a spot in the national title game after a thrill-a-minute 27-24 victory over Penn State on Thursday night in the Orange Bowl.
Gray’s snag of Allar’s ill-advised pass across the middle at the Nittany Lions’ 42 with 33 seconds left set up a 19-yard drive that ended with Mitch Jeter‘s winning 41-yard field goal.
The Irish (14-1), seeded seventh in this, the first 12-team college playoff, will have a chance to bring their 12th title and first since 1988 back under the Golden Dome with a game Jan. 20 in Atlanta. Their opponent will be the winner Friday night of the Texas-Ohio State semifinal in the Cotton Bowl.
“Just catch the ball. Just catch the ball,” Gray said about his interception. “That was going through my mind, and I knew I was going to make a play.”
Allar explained he saw his first two options covered on the play, then wanted to throw the ball into the turf. But the throw, under pressure and across his body, didn’t have enough zip on it to reach either receiver Omari Evans or the ground before Gray slid in.
“Honestly, I was trying to throw it at his feet,” said the junior quarterback, considered by some to be a first-round pick if he leaves for the NFL. “I should’ve thrown it away when I saw the first two progressions were not open. I didn’t execute.”
It was the most memorable play of a game that was the best of what has been a sleepy few weeks of playoff football. It featured three ties, three lead changes and 31 points in the fourth quarter alone.
In the final, Irish coach Marcus Freeman will try to become the first Black head coach to win the title at college football’s highest level. Freeman, whose mother is South Korean, also is the first coach of Asian heritage to get this far.
“We found a way to make a play when it mattered the most,” Freeman said. “In my opinion, great teams, great programs, find a way to do that.”
Penn State coach James Franklin fell to 4-20 with the Nittany Lions against teams ranked in the AP Top 10.
“Everyone wants to look at a specific play,” Franklin said. “But there’s probably eight to 12 plays in that game that could have made a difference. I’m not going to call out specific plays or specific players. There are a ton of plays where we could have done better.”
Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard shook off a hit late in the second quarter that sent him to the medical tent to be checked for a concussion. He came back and led the Irish on four scoring drives in the second half, including the last one.
“He’s a competitor and competitors find a way to win, and that’s what Riley does,” Freeman said. “That’s what this team does.”
Leonard finished with 223 yards passing, including a key 10-yard dart to Jaden Greathouse to convert third-and-3 on the last drive. Leonard also had 35 yards rushing, and passed and ran for a score each.
With 4:38 left in the game, the senior quarterback hit Greathouse for a 54-yard score to tie it at 24 after a defender slipped.
The game started slow, but Riley’s injury injected life into things. He led Notre Dame on TD drives of 75 and 72 yards in the third quarter to take a 17-10 lead.
At that point, the fun was just getting started.
Penn State had its chances, and Allar, along with all those Nittany Lions fans, will spend the offseason reliving that last throw — or trying to forget it.
Penn State forced a Notre Dame punt and looked assured of at least going to overtime when it took over at their 15 with 47 seconds left.
After a gain of 13, Allar dropped to pass and had pressure coming. He threw across his body to the middle of the field, where Gray dove for the pick.
A review showed it was a catch, and the Irish were onto the next step on a road that looked all but impossible when they fell 16-14 to Northern Illinois back in September.
Nick Singleton ran for 84 yards and all three Penn State touchdowns. Off target for much of the day, Allar finished 12 for 23 for 135 yards with the interception.
“He’s hurting right now. He should be. We’re all hurting,” Franklin said.
The quarterback didn’t duck questions about the play or his role in the loss.
“We didn’t win the game so it wasn’t good enough, it’s plain and simple,” Allar said. “I’ll try to learn from it, do everything in my power to get better and just grow from it.”
When Leonard went out, backup Steve Angeli came in and injected life into the Fighting Irish offense on the way to its first score.
Angelli went 6 for 7 for 44 yards and moved Notre Dame to field goal range to trim its deficit to 10-3 just before halftime.
“We have a lot of confidence in Steve,” Freeman said when asked why he allowed the Irish to play aggressively when he entered.
The kickoff temperature was 56 degrees, unseasonably cool for South Florida — and making it the second-coldest Orange Bowl ever, next to the Georgia Tech-Iowa game in 2010 that started at 49 and felt like the upper 30s.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday that quarterback Quinn Ewers, with the emergence of name, image and likeness and the transfer portal, has become the face of this “new era of college football.”
Ewers initially committed to Texas, but he then opted to skip his senior year of high school and reclassify to the 2021 recruiting class before enrolling a year early and joining Ohio State during preseason practice.
Still the nation’s No. 1 ranked overall prospect, Ewers landed one of the first marquee NIL deals worth $1.4 million.
Ewers, who lasted one season with the Buckeyes before transferring to Texas, will square off against Ohio State on Friday night in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl with a trip to the College Football Playoff national championship on the line.
“It’s not been an easy journey for him,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “There’s been ups, there’s been downs, there’s been injuries, there’s been great moments, there’s been tough moments. … But at the end of the day, he’s always stayed true to who he is. The guy’s been a steady sea for us.”
Ewers has been making college football headlines since Ohio State offered him a scholarship when he was just in middle school. This week, Buckeyes coach Ryan Day recalled meeting Ewers for the first time when he was an eighth-grader visiting a Buckeyes football camp.
“He was a boy at the time really, who just had a tremendous release,” Day recalled. “And I remember grabbing him and grabbing his dad and said, ‘Man, you got a bright future ahead of you. I don’t know if this is good or bad, but we’re going to offer you a scholarship to Ohio State.'”
C.J. Stroud, who has since led the Houston Texans to the NFL playoffs, emerged as a star quarterback for the Buckeyes then, prompting Ewers to transfer to Texas.
“Boy, it was strange how it all shook out,” Day said. “He decided he really wanted to play. And it was disappointing for us, but we certainly understood. From afar I’ve watched him. He’s a really good player. He comes from a great family, and he’s had a great career at Texas and a lot of people here still have good relationships with him and think the world of him.”
At Texas, Ewers has started in 27 wins and led the Longhorns to back-to-back playoff appearances. This season, he has thrown for 3,189 yards and 29 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.
Ewers noted that the “coolest part” of the NIL era is being able to provide for his parents. He has even hired his mom, making her CFO of his finances while giving her a salary.
“Which is nice just because all the effort and work they put into me growing up,” he said. “I mean, when we were living in South Texas, they both quit their jobs and moved up to Southlake [to support Ewers’ budding athletic career].”
Whatever happens in the playoff — whether it be a loss Friday or a national championship victory against the winner of Notre Dame–Penn State on Jan. 20 — Ewers’ career at Texas figures to be coming to a close.
Though Ewers still has one season of eligibility remaining, blue-chip quarterback prospect Arch Manning appears primed to finally take over in Austin next season.
Manning, the nephew of NFL quarterback greats Peyton and Eli Manning, who could become the No. 1 overall prospect for the 2026 NFL draft, has backed up Ewers for two seasons waiting for his opportunity. Sarkisian even momentarily benched Ewers in favor of Manning during Texas’ 30-15 loss to Georgia on Oct. 19.
Still, Ewers figures to have options.
ESPN football analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranks him as the No. 6 quarterback prospect eligible for the upcoming draft. Rumors have also emerged recently that Ewers could put off the NFL for another year and transfer to a third school for millions more in NIL money.
Amid those distractions, Ewers has thrived in the playoff bouncing back from oblique and ankle injuries from earlier in the year to complete 69% of his passes with four touchdowns in Texas’ two victories.
In the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl quarterfinal, Ewers tossed 29- and 25-yard touchdown passes in the overtimes, lifting Texas to the 39-31 win over Arizona State.
“I’ve just been proud of him,” Sarkisian said, “because he’s found a source for him that has been a motivating factor, where he can play free and play loose and play confident.”
Ewers added that, whatever the future holds, even contemplating it now would be “selfish,” with a national title still in reach for him and the Longhorns.
“I owe my teammates the best version of me right now,” he said. “I can’t be looking forward or I’ll trip on the rock that’s sitting right in front of me. I’ve got to be locked in on what’s right here.”
Jake Trotter covers college football for ESPN. He joined ESPN in 2011. Before that, he worked at The Oklahoman, Austin American-Statesman and Middletown (Ohio) Journal newspapers. You can follow him @Jake_Trotter.
Jan 9, 2025, 02:44 PM ET
ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas starting right tackle Cameron Williams will return for the College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State on Friday, Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
Williams suffered a right knee sprain in the playoff opener against Clemson. The injury forced him to miss Texas’ quarterfinal overtime victory over Arizona State.
A junior, Williams has played in 37 games in his career with 16 starts for the Longhorns. Williams is rated as the No. 28 overall prospect and fifth offensive tackle in ESPN’s NFL draft rankings.
