With only a few weeks left in the 2018 NCAA football regular season, the notion that every single game counts has certainly been reinforced. Losing at this point in the season pretty much guarantees that a team won’t make it into the College Football Playoff (CFP). After this past weekend, the new Coaches Poll and Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll are out — and there was a lot of movement away from past standings, mostly due to numerous teams losing so late in the year.
Less than a week after the first CFP rankings were released, two of the top four faced off in Baton Rouge. Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide shut out the LSU Tigers 29-0, showing the nation that it is not going to be easy to knock them off their pedestal position. The Alabama Crimson Tide hold the No. 1 spot, as displayed on the official Associated Press website.
LSU didn’t fall out of the top 10 following their loss, but a spot in the CFP seems almost impossible for them to attain at this point. Michigan did move into the top four, but there is still a bit of football left to play — and there could be numerous changes before the final polls are released.
On Tuesday evening, the new College Football Playoff rankings will be released, and those teams will be that much closer to the biggest games of the year.
Here is the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for Week 11 of the 2018 season:
1.) Alabama Crimson Tide 2.) Clemson Tigers 3.) Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4.) Michigan Wolverines 5.) Georgia Bulldogs 6.) Oklahoma Sooners 7.) West Virginia Mountaineers 8.) Ohio State Buckeyes 9.) LSU Tigers 10.) Washington State Cougars 11.) UCF Golden Knights 12.) Kentucky Wildcats 13.) Syracuse Orange 14.) Utah State Aggies 15.) Texas Longhorns 16.) Fresno State Bulldogs 17.) Boston College Eagles 18.) Mississippi State Bulldogs 19.) Florida Gators 20.) Washington Huskies 21.) Penn State Nittany Lions 22.) North Carolina State Wolfpack 23.) Iowa State Cyclones 24.) Michigan State Spartans 25.) Cincinnati Bearcats
Central Florida fans aren’t going to be happy — the Knights have fallen two spots in this week’s @AmwayUS Coaches Poll despite remaining undefeated. https://t.co/ey72SzmCey pic.twitter.com/kqmLUjrrJm
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) November 4, 2018
Here is the Top 25 Coaches Poll for Week 11 of the 2018 season:
1.) Alabama Crimson Tide 2.) Clemson Tigers 3.) Notre Dame Fighting Irish 4.) Michigan Wolverines 5.) Georgia Bulldogs 6.) Oklahoma Sooners 7.) Ohio State Buckeyes 8.) West Virginia Mountaineers 9.) Washington State Cougars 10.) LSU Tigers 11.) UCF Golden Knights 12.) Kentucky Wildcats 13.) Syracuse Orange 14.) Boston College Eagles 15.) Mississippi State Bulldogs 16.) Utah State Aggies 17.) Fresno State Bulldogs 18.) Washington Huskies 19.) Texas Longhorns 20.) Penn State Nittany Lions 21.) Florida Gators 22.) NC State Wolfpack 23.) Cincinnati Bearcats 24.) Utah Utes 25.) Iowa State Cyclones
At this point in the year, the NCAA football rankings may not change a whole lot before the end of the regular season. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the top six or eight teams are in contention for spots in the 2018 College Football Playoff. The rest of the teams simply need to keep working to up their position in the major polls — in hopes of getting a better bowl game in December 2018 or in January 2019.
