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Week 13 College Football Rankings, No. 1-128: Alabama Still On Top
The college football rankings are now all about who the best teams really are. Alabama is still the best of the bunch as the cream is rising to the top.
November 29, 2015
FBS college football rankings for Week 13 of the 2015 season.
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It’s all coming into focus now. After the big rivalry week, and with the championships coming up, the top teams have risen up. It’s now time to see if the conference title games play out as expected.
Top 25 College Football Rankings
1. Alabama (11-1)
2. Oklahoma (11-1)
Don’t completely forget about the near-collapse to TCU a few weeks ago, but the Sooners showed just how good they could be when fully focused and rolling. Oklahoma State was playing for a spot in the playoff, and it was a speedbump.
3. Clemson (12-0)
Enough is enough. Yeah, this is a good team. Yeah, Deshaun Watson is fantastic. No, this isn’t as good a team as everyone else is making it out to be. Fortunately for the Tigers, no one has really watched them play – no one was watching that South Carolina game while Ohio State-Michigan was going on – in several weeks.
4. Michigan State (11-1)
Take a step back for a moment now. The Spartans not only throttled a decent Penn State team in the biggest game of the year, but they beat Ohio State in Columbus, Michigan in Ann Arbor, a strong Oregon team, and an Air Force squad that’s playing for the Mountain West title.
5. Ohio State (11-1)
If you want to argue that this really is one of the four best teams in college football, there’s no real complaining. No one would want to see the Buckeyes in the playoff, and thanks to an all-time clunker of a gameplan against Michigan State, that’s not going to be a problem.
6. Oregon (9-3)
Oregon State might have come back to make it interesting, but the Ducks are now on a six-game winning streak including back-to-back victories over the two teams – Stanford and USC – playing for the Pac-12 title next week. If by some miracle Georgia State beats Georgia Southern, nine of the last 11 teams Oregon played will end up in a bowl game.
7. Iowa (12-0)
Win three more games, and everyone will shut up. Until then, this is a very good team with a very mediocre schedule. However, the Northwestern thumping is great – that’s what’s keeping the Hawkeyes from being lower than this. An elite team’s third-best win shouldn’t be 27-24 to Pitt.
8. Stanford (10-2)
Good teams win the tight games. Washington State missed a game-winning kick, Stanford connected on its game-winning kick – that’s how this works. The Cardinal put themselves in a position to win the game, and yeah, sometimes it really does come down to one play …
9. Notre Dame (10-2)
Yeah, Brian Kelly, you’re two plays away from being 12-0 and ranked No. 1. Your team also struggled to beat Virginia and Temple. It’s a shame the Fighting Irish aren’t 100% healthy, but too bad. Don’t grab Kevin Hogan’s facemask, don’t give up a huge pass play, and you’d be hovering around the playoff discussion.
10. Ole Miss (9-3)
Good luck trying to figure this team out. This might be an inconsistent team, but beating Mississippi State on the road a week after thumping LSU – and winning four of the last five games, with that one loss coming on a fluke against Arkansas – showed great resolve after the Memphis loss.
11. TCU (10-2)
It’s a shame the Horned Frogs weren’t healthier, but give them credit for the gut-check of gut-check wins to screw up Baylor. Considering all the problems and injuries, 10-2 is really, really good.
12. Baylor (9-2)
Chris Johnson will someday be fantastic – he has the ability – but Baylor is a Seth Russell injury away from going into the Texas game with a shot at the College Football Playoff. Weather might have played a wee bit of a factor, too. It would’ve been fun to have seen what the Bears could’ve done against TCU on a dry track.
13. Michigan (9-3)
It seems so obvious now. Michigan beat Northwestern 38-0 – and that’s it. Ohio State was going to rip up any team in its path after the horrible loss to Michigan State, and Michigan just so happened to be in the way.
14. Oklahoma State (10-2)
Oklahoma State had everything set up perfectly. It had all three big boys at home, and all it had to do was win two out of the final three, but it was exposed by the losses. All year long the Cowboys were playing with fire, and while they got past TCU, in hindsight, that was about it.
15. North Carolina (11-1)
The offense is impressive, but the wins over good teams just aren’t there. There’s a long series of decent victories – at Pitt, Duke, Miami, at Virginia Tech, at NC State – and now it’s time to go big game hunting. Everything is building towards the showdown against Clemson. The Tar Heels have their shot at respect.
16. Northwestern (10-2)
It’s impossible to look or win uglier than Northwestern has done. From Wisconsin, to Nebraska, to Penn State, to Ball State, now, to Illinois, it’s not anything to get too fired up about, but 10-2 is 10-2.
17. Florida State (10-2)
The Georgia Tech fluky loss is still on the books, but now, the Seminoles have a tight loss to Clemson, a dominant win at Florida, and all the other mediocre ACC wins teams like North Carolina have. Winning ten games in a season is never anything to be disappointed about.
18. Florida (10-2)
Obviously this is a different team with Treon Harris under center. The offense simply doesn’t work, and for Florida to get to four wins out of its last five is tremendous. The Gators are about to run into the Alabama buzzsaw, though.
19. Mississippi State (8-4)
The win over Arkansas two weeks ago deserve a little more respect. All four losses came against SEC West teams. Victories over Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech are a bit more impressive, and wins over Kentucky and Missouri were dominant. 8-4 is a solid rebuilding year.
20. Arkansas (7-5)
It’s certainly been an entertaining ride. The Hogs won five of their last six games and got better as the season went on. Don’t focus on the 7-5. Remember the 5-1 second half.
21. Tennessee (8-4)
The Vanderbilt defense had a good season, and it got absolutely destroyed by the Tennessee offense. The Vols ended the regular season winning five straight and six of their last seven games. Granted, Georgia and Bowling Green are the only two wins over teams that are going bowling, but it was still a good finish.
22. Wisconsin (9-3)
Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly talked after the Stanford game about being two plays away from being unbeaten and No. 1. Wisconsin is two plays away from being 11-1 and going off to face Michigan State for the Big Ten title game and a spot in the playoff. However, how many wins were there against teams going bowling – or, at least, finished with six wins or more? Zip-a-dee-doo-da.
23. LSU (8-3)
Okay, LSU, your head coach is still around. 8-3 won’t work next year with the loaded team returning. The Texas A&M win was good, but the bar has been set – SEC title or bust going forward.
24. USC (8-4)
USC closed out winning five of its last six games, beat UCLA, won the South, and is now going off to play in the Pac-12 championship. Considering where the program was six weeks ago, the turnaround has been tremendous.
25. West Virginia (7-4)
A win over Kansas State would mean a five-game winning streak to close out the regular season and a good eight-win run. The Mountaineers are going bowling, and that’s not an easy task outside of the Big 12 big boys this year.
No. 26-128 College Football Rankings
26. UCLA (8-4)
27. Texas A&M (8-4)
28. Houston (11-1)
29. Navy (9-2)
30. Washington (6-6)
31. Washington State (8-4)
32. Memphis (9-3)
33. Texas Tech (7-5)
34. Bowling Green (9-3)
35. Georgia (9-3)
36. Utah (9-3)
37. California (7-5)
38. Arizona State (6-6)
39. Arizona (6-6)
40. Northern Illinois (8-4)
41. Western Michigan (7-5)
42. Toledo (9-2)
43. South Florida (8-4)
44. Temple (10-2)
45. Auburn (6-6)
46. Penn State (7-5)
47. Nebraska (5-7)
48. Cincinnati (7-5)
49. Miami (8-4)
50. Pitt (8-4)
51. Louisville (7-5)
52. Minnesota (5-7)
53. Illinois (5-7)
54. San Diego State (9-3)
55. Vanderbilt (4-8)
56. Kentucky (5-7)
57. Missouri (5-7)
58. BYU (9-3)
59. Indiana (6-6)
60. WKU (10-2)
61. Marshall (9-3)
62. Southern Miss (9-3)
63. Louisiana Tech (8-4)
64. Texas (4-7)
65. Kansas State (5-6)
66. Virginia Tech (6-6)
67. Central Michigan (7-5)
68. NC State (7-5)
69. Virginia (4-8)
70. Connecticut (6-6)
71. Duke (7-5)
72. New Mexico (7-5)
73. Air Force (8-4)
74. Iowa State (3-9)
75. Georgia Tech (3-9)
76. Purdue (2-10)
77. Colorado State (7-5)
78. Nevada (6-6)
79. Middle Tennessee (7-5)
80. Tulsa (6-6)
81. Utah State (6-6)
82. Boise State (8-4)
83. Arkansas State (8-3)
84. Appalachian State (9-2)
85. Georgia Southern (8-3)
86. Syracuse (4-8)
87. Maryland (3-9)
88. Rutgers (4-8)
89. Wake Forest (3-9)
90. East Carolina (5-7)
91. Boston College (3-9)
92. Colorado (4-8)
93. South Carolina (3-9)
94. Oregon State (2-10)
95. San Jose State (5-7)
96. Wyoming (2-10)
97. UNLV (3-9)
98. Fresno State (3-9)
99. Akron (7-5)
100. Buffalo (5-7)
101. Ohio (8-4)
102. FIU (5-7)
103. South Alabama (5-6)
104. Kent State (3-9)
105. Old Dominion (5-7)
106. Kansas (0-12)
107. Hawaii (3-10)
108. UTEP (5-7)
109. UTSA (3-9)
110. Rice (5-7)
111. Army West Point (2-9)
112. Florida Atlantic (3-9)
113. SMU (2-10)
114. Tulane (3-9)
115. Charlotte (2-10)
116. Ball State (3-9)
117. Miami University (3-9)
118. Massachusetts (3-9)
119. Troy (3-8)
120. New Mexico State (3-7)
121. Georgia State (4-6)
122. Louisiana-Lafayette (4-7)
123. Idaho (4-8)
124. UCF (0-12)
125. Texas State (3-8)
126. North Texas (1-11)
127. Eastern Michigan (1-11)
128. ULM (1-11)
