College Football AP Top 25 Poll Predictions After Week 14: Ohio State, Miami Upsets Shake Up CFP Picture

The Game set the tone early for a raucous college football Saturday, flag planting and all.

A three-score underdog, Michigan grinded out a fourth straight win over rival Ohio State that kept the No. 2 Buckeyes out of the Big Ten title game and is certain to hurt their status in the upcoming polls and the penultimate College Football Playoff rankings. The Wolverines celebrated their upset by attempting to plant their flag at the 50-yard line at Ohio Stadium, which naturally caused a postgame brawl. Similar scenes followed in NC State-UNC, Florida-Florida State and Arizona State-Arizona.

Saturday also saw Syracuse win a shootout against No. 6 Miami, which kept the Hurricanes out of the ACC Championship and casts doubt over their hopes of an at-large playoff bid. No. 12 Clemson was the beneficiary of UM's loss, but the Tigers lost at home to No. 16 South Carolina. The Gamecocks are sure to get a good, long look from the committee the way they've performed lately while Clemson's only path into the field is now as the ACC champion. And in a renewed rivalry, No. 3 Texas took down No. 20 Texas A&M to clinch a spot in the SEC Championship against No. 6 Georgia in the Longhorns' first year in the league. 

Rivalry week really got going on Thanksgiving day when Memphis upset No. 18 Tulane to eliminate any chance for the Green Wave to work their way up to a playoff position, even with the AAC Championship still to be played against No. 25 Army. Black Friday brought an eight-overtime thriller that saw Georgia outlast Georgia Tech to keep its hopes for an at-large bid still intact.

The conference championship matchups are now (almost) set:

CUSA: Western Kentucky vs. Jacksonville State
Mountain West: No. 21 UNLV vs. No. 11 Boise State
AAC: No. 18 Tulane vs. No. 25 Army
Big 12: No. 17 Iowa State OR No. 23 Colorado vs. No. 14 Arizona State
MAC: Ohio vs. Miami (OH)
SEC: No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 3 Texas
Sun Belt: Marshall vs. Louisiana
Big Ten: No. 4 Penn State vs. No. 1 Oregon
ACC: No. 12 Clemson vs. No. 9 SMU

Ahead of the new AP Top 25 release on Sunday, here is Athlon’s projection for the rankings after Week 14.