College football rankings, Week 15: Ohio State new No. 2 in polls, Auburn close
Alabama is a loser in the polls, but who else? And the Buckeyes claim No. 2, but get ready for a week of yelling about the SEC. Official BCS standings will be released at 8:40 p.m. ET, and we’ll have them right here.
A loss to hated rival Auburn did far more than lose the Iron Bowl for Alabama -- it ensured that they would fall out of the No. 1 spot in the polls, as well. Florida State got to reap the benefits of that, as did Ohio State. If nothing goes wrong for them next week in their respective conference championship games, they should be your BCS Championship Game representatives.
First up, the AP, which doesn’t count toward the BCS:
| Rank | Team | Record | Votes | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida State (58) | 12-0 | 1,498 | 2 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 12-0 | 1,418 | 3 |
| 3 | Auburn (2) | 11-1 | 1,387 | 4 |
| 4 | Alabama | 11-1 | 1,294 | 1 |
| 5 | Missouri | 11-1 | 1,281 | 5 |
| 6 | Oklahoma State | 10-1 | 1,197 | 7 |
| 7 | Stanford | 10-2 | 1,067 | 8 |
| 8 | South Carolina | 10-2 | 1,066 | 10 |
| 9 | Baylor | 10-1 | 1,020 | 9 |
| 10 | Michigan State | 11-1 | 1,002 | 11 |
| 11 | Arizona State | 10-2 | 843 | 13 |
| 12 | Oregon | 10-2 | 815 | 12 |
| 13 | Clemson | 10-2 | 813 | 6 |
| 14 | LSU | 9-3 | 690 | 15 |
| 15 | UCF | 10-1 | 621 | 17 |
| 16 | Northern Illinois | 12-0 | 596 | 18 |
| 17 | UCLA | 9-3 | 510 | 22 |
| 18 | Oklahoma | 9-2 | 503 | 20 |
| 19 | Louisville | 10-1 | 482 | 21 |
| 20 | Duke | 10-2 | 348 | 24 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 9-3 | 299 | 14 |
| 22 | Texas A&M | 8-4 | 186 | 19 |
| 23 | Texas | 8-3 | 156 | NR |
| 24 | Fresno State | 10-1 | 124 | 16 |
| 25 | Georgia | 8-4 | 111 | NR |
| Others Receiving Votes: Cincinnati 45, USC 28, Miami (FL) 26, Notre Dame 26, Iowa 23, Vanderbilt 16, Washington 6, Minnesota 2, North Dakota State 1 |
And the Coaches, which does count toward the BCS:
Rivalry Saturday
Wildest Iron Bowl ever - Spencer Hall on undead Auburn
- The craziest play ever
- Tigers fans lose their minds
- Malzahn's going to Waffle House
1. Florida State (12-0) (1546 points) (58 first-place votes)
2. Ohio State (12-0) (1462) (4 first-place votes)
3. Auburn (11-1) (1437)
4. Alabama (11-1) (1333)
5. Missouri (11-1) (1315)
6. Oklahoma State (10-1) (1248)
7. Baylor (10-1) (1100)
7. South Carolina (10-2) (1100)
9. Michigan State (11-1) (1037)
10. Stanford (10-2) (1034)
11. Clemson (10-2) (853)
12. Oregon (10-2) (843)
13. Arizona State (10-2) (765)
14. LSU (9-3) (720)
15. Oklahoma (9-2) (660)
16. Louisville (10-1) (625)
17. Central Florida (10-1) (572)
18. Northern Illinois (12-0) (547)
19. UCLA (9-3) (473)
20. Duke (10-2) (402)
21. Wisconsin (9-3) (266)
22. Fresno State (10-1) (215)
23. Cincinnati (9-2) (167)
24. Texas (8-3) (149)
25. Texas A&M (8-4) (121)
Dropped out:Â No. 23 Southern California (9-4, lost to then-No. 22 UCLA 35-14)
Others receiving votes:Â Miami (Fla.) (9-3) 47; Georgia (8-4) 41; Vanderbilt (8-4) 18; Iowa (8-4) 13; Marshall (9-3) 13; Southern California (9-4) 10; Washington (8-4) 6; Minnesota (8-4) 4; Virginia Tech (8-4) 4; Notre Dame (8-4) 3; Ball State (10-2) 1
And the Harris, which also counts for a third of the BCS: 
Oklahoma State, South Carolina and Stanford also saw mild bumps in their poll rankings, thanks to No. 6 Clemson’s 31-17 loss to the Gamecocks.
Besides Alabama, the weekend’s poll losers included Wisconsin, who shockingly fell to Penn State 31-24, and Fresno State, who lost a wild shootout to San Jose State on Black Friday. That leaves Northern Illinois in firm position to snab a BCS bid, assuming they can defeat Bowling Green in the MAC title game.
USC and Notre Dame fell out of the polls after losses to UCLA and Stanford, respectively, while Duke saw a small climb in its ranking, and Texas managed to return to the bottom of the polls after a dominating victory over Texas Tech.
Texas A&M also fell after a tough loss to Missouri, while the Tigers have an opportunity to reclaim their national title hopes if they can defeat Auburn in the SEC title game and both Florida State and Ohio State lose their conference championship appearances.
Remember, the official -- and updated -- BCS standings will be released at 8:40 p.m. ET, and we’ll have those results for you as soon as they come live.
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