SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Clemson finished No. 1 in The Associated Press poll for the third time after routing Alabama in the national championship game.
The Tigers received all 61 first-place votes. The Crimson Tide, which was trying to become just the third team to go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country, finished second. Clemson beat Alabama 44-16 in the College Football Playoff national championship Monday night. Clemson also finished No. 1 in 2016 and 1981.
This is Clemson.#NationalChampionship | #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/NUTp6miwPt
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) January 8, 2019
Ohio State finished third. Oklahoma, which lost to Alabama in the Orange Bowl semifinal, was fourth. Notre Dame, which lost to Clemson in the Cotton Bowl semifinal, was fifth.
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LSU was sixth and Southeastern Conference rivals Florida and Georgia were tied for seventh.
View the final AP Top 25 poll below:
| RANK | school | record | points | previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clemson (61) | 15-0 | 1,525 | 2 |
| 2 | Alabama | 14-1 | 1,462 | 1 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 13-1 | 1,364 | 5 |
| 4 | Oklahoma | 12-2 | 1,356 | 4 |
| 5 | Notre Dame | 12-1 | 1,286 | 3 |
| 6 | LSU | 10-3 | 1,119 | 11 |
| T-7 | Georgia | 11-3 | 1,103 | 6 |
| T-7 | Florida | 10-3 | 1,103 | 10 |
| 9 | Texas | 10-4 | 1,076 | 14 |
| 10 | Washington State | 11-2 | 959 | 12 |
| 11 | UCF | 12-1 | 898 | 7 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 10-3 | 820 | 16 |
| 13 | Washington | 10-4 | 806 | 9 |
| 14 | Michigan | 10-3 | 745 | 8 |
| 15 | Syracuse | 10-3 | 683 | 17 |
| 16 | Texas A&M | 9-4 | 552 | 21 |
| 17 | Penn State | 9-4 | 492 | 13 |
| 18 | Fresno State | 12-2 | 466 | 19 |
| 19 | Army | 11-2 | 418 | 22 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 8-4 | 296 | 15 |
| 21 | Northwestern | 9-5 | 284 | NR |
| 22 | Utah State | 11-2 | 188 | NR |
| 23 | Boise State | 10-3 | 184 | 23 |
| 24 | Cincinnati | 11-2 | 171 | NR |
| 25 | Iowa | 9-4 | 120 | NR |
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This article is written by Ralph D. Russo from The Associated Press and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
