Ohio State remained No. 1 and Michigan was ranked 15th in the AP Top 25 on Sunday, setting up the 50th ranked matchup in the history of the series, more than any other rivalry in college football.
The defending champion Buckeyes (11-0) received 58 first-place votes to keep the top ranking for the 13th straight week. Big Ten rival Indiana (11-0) is No. 2 with seven first-place votes and No. 3 Texas A&M (11-0) got one first-place vote.
None of the top 14 teams in last week’s poll lost, which led to little movement at the top.
Georgia (10-1) is No. 4, followed by Oregon (10-1), which moved up a spot to No. 5 after beating USC. Ole Miss (10-1) dropped to sixth and Texas Tech (10-1), which was tied for sixth with the Ducks last week, is now No. 7. USC (8-3) fell three spots to No. 19.
No. 8 Oklahoma (9-2), Notre Dame (9-2) and Alabama (9-2) all held their spots and rounded out the top 10.
For the Buckeyes and Wolverines, Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich., marks the first time since 2006 that either enters the game ranked No. 1. That was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Columbus, Ohio, won by the top-ranked Buckeyes.
Michigan has won four straight meetings, with Ohio State ranked No. 2 in the AP poll in all of them, including last year when the Wolverines were unranked.
AP Top 25 after Week 13
RankTeamRalph’s voteRecordPrev
1
1
11-0
1
2
2
11-0
2
3
3
11-0
3
4
4
10-1
4
5
6
10-1
6
6
7
10-1
5
7
5
10-1
6
8
8
9-2
8
9
11
9-2
9
10
9
9-2
10
11
12
10-1
11
12
14
9-2
12
13
10
9-2
14
14
13
9-2
13
15
17
9-2
18
16
16
8-3
17
17
18
9-2
19
18
20
8-3
20
19
15
8-3
16
20
25
10-1
21
21
22
10-1
22
22
21
9-2
24
23
NR
9-2
15
24
24
8-3
NR
25
19
8-3
NR
NR
23
8-3
NR
Others receiving votes: Arizona State 77, Navy 44, Missouri 23, Arizona 20, San Diego State 19, Washington 16, Iowa 10, UNLV 7, South Florida 4, UConn 3, Wake Forest 2, Illinois 1
Also considered by Ralph: Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Houston, Arizona State, Iowa, Missouri, Navy
Oklahoma-Texas is the rivalry with the second-most ranked matchups at 44, though Red River didn’t add to that total earlier this year because the Longhorns were unranked at the time. Notre Dame-USC is next at 36 ranked matchups, followed by Alabama-LSU at 32.
Two other famous and often impactful rivalries won’t add to their ranked matchup totals on Thanksgiving weekend.
Alabama and Auburn have met while both are ranked in the Iron Bowl 24 times, but the Tigers will be unranked next week hosting the Crimson Tide.
Neither Florida nor Florida State will be ranked or bowl eligible when they meet in Gainesville on Saturday. The Gators and Seminoles have played 23 times when both are ranked.
On the flip side, No. 12 Vanderbilt plays at No. 18 Tennessee in the first ranked matchup between the in-state SEC rivals in 119 meetings. The last time the Commodores were ranked heading into their game with the Volunteers was 1958.
No. 16 Texas hosts Texas A&M on Black Friday night, marking the 12th time the Longhorns and Aggies have both been ranked when they played.
No. 23 Georgia Tech and No. 4 Georgia play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in what will also be the 12th ranked matchup in that series and first since 2014.
How I voted
Mostly by just cutting and pasting last week’s ballot. The top 11 all stayed the same on my ballot. I gave a little thought to moving Oregon up to No. 5 ahead of Texas Tech after the Ducks beat USC 42-27, but it’s not as if the idle Red Raiders did anything to justify being dropped.
I reassessed eight through 11 with Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami and Notre Dame, but again, saw no reason to make any moves there. The Sooners did what they do against a solid Missouri team on Saturday, winning 17-6. Alabama had a walk-through against an FCS school. Miami controlled the game against Virginia Tech, though again, it would be nice to see the Hurricanes be a little more efficient in locking games down in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame dropped 70 on a Syracuse team that is noncompetitive right now.
None of those teams made a compelling case to be moved up or dropped down.
I considered dropping Utah behind Vanderbilt in the Nos. 13 and 14 spots, after the Utes’ epic comeback against Kansas State. The Utes and Commodores have a lot in common, insofar as they both lost to their best two opponents.
I dropped USC only three spots to No. 15 after the Trojans played a competitive game at Oregon. I gave USC the benefit of the doubt over a Michigan team that the Trojans beat. The Wolverines are No. 17 on my ballot.
Georgia Tech’s loss cleared out some space in that part of the rankings. In fact, I dropped the Yellow Jackets all the way out. Tech is collapsing down the stretch. The Yellow Jackets have lost two of three, and the only win was on a late field goal against Boston College. That might seem harsh, but the way they have played lately, combined with a pretty weak schedule overall, has me thinking Georgia Tech needs a timeout.
In and out
Houston and Missouri both dropped out of the rankings this week after losing and were replaced by Pitt at No. 24 and SMU at No. 25.
The Panthers have been yo-yoing in and out of the rankings for the past few weeks, both times setting them up for ranked matchups at home.
That didn’t turn out too well when they played Notre Dame. But they bounced back with a win at Georgia Tech and head into the regular-season finale at home against No. 13 Miami with a chance to reach the ACC title game with a victory and some help.
SMU began the season ranked and coming off a Playoff appearance in 2024, but it fell out of the poll after a couple of early-season nonconference losses to Baylor and TCU.
The Mustangs dominated Louisville on Saturday and are back this week. They head into their season finale against Cal with a chance to return to the ACC title game for a second straight season with a victory.