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College football rankings 2020: Week 17 AP Top 25 projections – Alabama survives, Notre Dame chokes

By Connor Muldowney

Alabama Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris (22) runs the ball against Florida Gators defensive back Brad Stewart Jr. (2) in the SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Alabama Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris (22) runs the ball against Florida Gators defensive back Brad Stewart Jr. (2) in the SEC Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Championship Week of college football didn’t disappoint as the nation’s biggest teams took the field. How will these title games affect the AP Top 25?

Championship Week is what we’ve all been waiting for as college football fans. The nation’s top contenders all squared off on Friday and Saturday and they didn’t disappoint.

The weekend kicked off on Friday night with an interesting matchup between undefeated USC and disappointing 3-2 Oregon. The Ducks were expected to be national title contenders this season but lost consecutive games and fell out of the rankings. They did get a shot at a Pac-12 title with Washington opting out of the conference championship game due to COVID-19 concerns. It turns out, the Ducks were just as talented as we all thought as they took down USC.

Oregon set the tone for the weekend as Northwestern tried to follow suit and pull off a mammoth upset in their conference title game against Ohio State. The Wildcats held a 10-6 lead in the second half, but a missed field goal gave Ohio State new life and they fired back to score 16 straight points, securing another Big Ten title.

Texas A&M took care of Tennessee on the road, winning by three touchdowns in hopes of impressing the playoff committee for that last spot.

Notre Dame and Clemson’s rematch took place at 4 p.m. ET to kick off the afternoon slate and everyone expected a good game, but the Tigers dominated. After Notre Dame took a 3-0 lead, Clemson scored 34 straight points en route to a blowout win. This was the worst-case scenario for the Irish who may now miss out on the playoff.

With the Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 all playing their conference title games earlier in the day on Saturday and on Friday night, the SEC took center stage to close out the weekend — along with the American Athletic Conference.

Florida and Alabama met in what was supposed to be a playoff elimination game but LSU ruined that with an upset of the Gators last weekend. The Crimson Tide took advantage of the fact that Florida doesn’t really boast a stingy defense and they put up 35 points in the first half followed by just enough in the second half to hold off the Gators to win another SEC title.

And then there was a thriller in the AAC with Cincinnati and Tulsa going down to the wire but the Bearcats were able to sneak out a victory in the final minute.

What might the AP Top 25 look like heading into Sunday?

Week 17 AP Top 25 projections

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Ohio State
  4. Notre Dame
  5. Texas A&M
  6. Cincinnati
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Indiana
  9. Coastal Carolina
  10. Iowa State
  11. Georgia
  12. BYU
  13. North Carolina
  14. Florida
  15. Louisiana
  16. Northwestern
  17. Iowa
  18. Miami
  19. USC
  20. Texas
  21. Liberty
  22. Buffalo
  23. San Jose State
  24. NC State
  25. Oregon

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