New York, NY – LSU remained an undisputed choice as the top- ranked college football team in the country and Alabama held on to the No. 2 spot in the latest Associated Press poll despite Oklahoma State's convincing win over Oklahoma on Saturday night.
LSU kept the top spot for an 11th straight week and again is a unanimous choice with all 60 first-place votes after its 42-10 win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
Alabama, which didn't play on this week, narrowly kept the second spot. The Crimson Tide had received every second-place vote last week, but Oklahoma State swayed many media members with its 44-10 throttling of the Sooners to capture the Big 12 title. The difference was 181 points last week, but it was trimmed to a mere 18 this week.
The AP poll is not used in the convoluted BCS system, which will pit the top two teams in the BCS National Championship Game.
Stanford remained fourth this week and is followed by Southern California, Pac-12 champion Oregon, Arkansas, Boise State, Big Ten champ Wisconsin and South Carolina. Southern California, which is ineligible for postseason play, vaulted four spots from ninth, while Wisconsin's 42-39 win over Michigan State in the inaugural Big Ten title game enabled the Badgers to move up six spots from 15th.
The second 10 consists of Kansas State, Michigan State, Michigan, ACC champ Clemson, Baylor, TCU, Virginia Tech, Georgia, Oklahoma and Houston. Clemson jumped seven spots from 21st after its 38-10 thumping of Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game, while the Hokies plummeted 12 places from fifth. Houston also had a big tumble, falling 13 spots from seventh after its loss to Southern Miss in the Conference USA title tilt.
Nebraska, Southern Miss, West Virginia, Penn State and Florida State are the last five teams ranked heading into the bowl season. No teams dropped out this week.
