There were some close calls among the top four teams on my Associated Press Top 25 ballot but no changes from last week. It’s still Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU.
The remainder of my top 10, however, was shuffled after Tennessee’s loss to South Carolina.
USC made the biggest leap, moving up three spots to No. 5 on my AP ballot. The Trojans have a path to the College Football Playoff by defeating Notre Dame Saturday and then winning the Pac-12 Championship.
Oregon moved up five spots into my top 10 after beating Utah. UCF, after losing to Navy, fell out of my Top 25 and was replaced by Troy.
Here is my complete AP Top 25 ballot compared to Action Network’s senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.
Brett McMurphy's Week 13 AP Top 25 Ballot
AP denotes Brett McMurphy's Associated Press Top 25 ballot.
PR denotes Collin Wilson's College Football Betting Power Ratings.
1
Georgia
1
2
Ohio State
2
3
Michigan
3
4
TCU
6
5
USC
15
6
Tennessee
4
7
LSU
12
8
Alabama
5
9
Oregon
11
10
Clemson
7
Collin’s power ratings and my AP Top 25 ballot have the same top three teams — Georgia, Ohio State and Michigan.
But Collin still has Tennessee at No. 4 despite the Vols’ loss at South Carolina. I dropped UT to No. 6 and kept the Vols ahead of LSU and Alabama.
Collin also only rates TCU at No. 6, while I have the Horned Frogs holding steady at No. 4. Our biggest difference in the top 10 is USC. I ranked the Trojans No. 5, but Collin has USC at No. 15.
11
Washington
20
12
Penn State
9
13
Florida State
8
14
Utah
13
15
Notre Dame
17
16
Tulane
42
17
Kansas State
14
18
Oregon State
35
19
UCLA
21
20
UTSA
48
For teams ranked between 11 and 20 on my AP ballot, Collin and I have six schools in the same ballpark.
Collin has Florida State up to No. 8 and Penn State at No. 9 in his ratings, while I put the Nittany Lions at No. 12 and FSU at No. 13.
The biggest discrepancies were Tulane (my No. 16, Collin's No. 42), Oregon State (my No. 18, Collin's No. 35) and UTSA (my No. 20, Collin's No. 48).
21
Coastal Carolina
70
22
Cincinnati
40
23
Ole Miss
19
24
North Carolina
27
25
Troy
65
Of the final five teams on my ballot, Ole Miss and North Carolina are in the same neighborhood compared to Collin’s betting power ratings.
None of three Group of Five teams I ranked between No. 21 and No. 25 — No. 21 Coastal Carolina, No. 22 Cincinnati and No. 25 Troy — are anywhere near Collin’s top 25 teams. Collin has Coastal at No. 70, Cincinnati at No. 40 and Troy at No. 65.
Also, Collin had seven teams in his top 25 power ratings that I did not rank on my Top 25 ballot this week: No. 10 Texas, No. 16 Oklahoma, No. 18 Baylor, No. 22 Arkansas, No. 23 Texas Tech, No. 24 Iowa and No. 25 Minnesota.
