Florida didn’t play during conference championship week after a disappointing 6-6 finish to the year, but there was still plenty of action that changed up the final USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll ahead of bowl season.
Georgia got the job done against LSU in convincing fashion and remained at the top of the poll. Michigan handled Purdue in the Big Ten Championship to hold on to the No. 2 spot, but disaster struck for the teams in the Nos. 3 and 4 spots.
USC tumbled against Utah — a team Florida beat at the start of the season and will face on the road to begin next season — by 23 points and fell out of the top four opening the door for an idle Ohio State team to jump back into the playoff field. TCU held onto a top-four spot following a much closer contest against Kansas State that went into overtime, and Clemson came out on top of North Carolina in the ACC Championship to wrap up the Power Five results.
Here’s a look at the penultimate USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll in its entirety.
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 1
Result: W (50-30, LSU)
© Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK
Last Week: No. 2
Result: W (43-22, Purdue)
Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 5
Result: Idle
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 5
Result: L (31-28, Kansas State)
Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 6
Result: Idle
Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 8
Result: Idle
AP Photo/Barry Reeger
Last Week: No. 7
Result: Idle
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 4
Result: L (47-24, Utah)
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 10
Result: W (31-28, TCU)
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 12
Result: W (47-24, USC)
Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY NETWORK
Last Week: No. 11
Result: W (39-10, North Carolina)
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 9
Result: Idle
Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat-USA TODAY NETWORK
Last Week: No. 14
Result: Idle
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 15
Result: Idle
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 13
Result: L (50-30, Georgia)
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 16
Result: Idle
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 18
Result: W (45-28, UCF)
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 17
Result: Idle
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 20
Result: Idle
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 19
Result: Idle
Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 21
Result: Idle
John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 24
Result: W (48-27, North Texas)
Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: No. 25
Result: Idle
Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Last Week: NR
Result: W (45-26, Coastal Carolina)
Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY NETWORK
Last Week: No. 22
Result: L (39-10, Clemson)
Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports
No. 23 Central Florida
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
NC State 60; Mississippi 44; Central Florida 43; Fresno State 37; Pittsburgh 28; Air Force 17; South Alabama 14; Purdue 12; Cincinnati 10; Minnesota 7; Duke 6; Coastal Carolina 5; Illinois 4; Boise State 3.
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