US LBM Coaches Poll: Indiana named No. 1 team
The latest U.S. LBM Coaches Poll has arrived, and Paul Meyerberg breaks down all the stories.
Miami replaced Notre Dame as the final at-large selection, with James Madison as the second representative in Group of 5 in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech earned the top four seeds. The Hoosiers defeated the Buckeyes in the Big Ten title game, becoming the only undefeated team in the bowl division.
The at-large selections were No. 5 Oregon State, No. 6 Mississippi State, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Alabama State, and No. 10 Miami.
An uncompetitive loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game wasn’t enough to cancel out the Crimson Tide’s comeback, which included an earlier win over the Bulldogs. The Hurricanes finished the regular season with four straight wins and also won a head-to-head matchup with Notre Dame.
Miami saved the ACC from a predicament with no team in the playoffs as Duke won the conference title with an 8-5 record.
Rounding out the 12-team field were two teams in the Group of 5: No. 11 seed Tulane and No. 12 seed James Madison.
Indiana, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas Tech will receive byes into the quarterfinals.
The opening game will be played at the home ground of the top team. Here are the matchups:
- No. 5 Oregon State has No. 12 James Madison.
- No. 6 Mississippi State hosts No. 11 Tulane.
- No. 7 Texas A&M hosts No. 10 Miami.
- No. 8 Oklahoma hosts No. 9 Alabama.
Tulane defeated North Texas to become the highest-rated team in the Group of Five. This secured the Green Wave a spot in the non-major conference playoffs.
However, JMU was a surprising second addition from the Sun Belt due to the ACC upset that resulted in Duke University winning the conference title at 8-5.
Final CFP ranking top 25
- Indiana (13-0)
- Ohio State (12-1)
- Georgia (12-1)
- Texas Tech (12-1)
- Oregon State (11-1)
- Mississippi State (11-1)
- Texas A&M (11-1)
- Oklahoma (10-2)
- Alabama (10-3)
- Miami (10-2)
- Notre Dame (10-2)
- Brigham Young (11-2)
- Texas (9-3)
- Vanderbilt (10-2)
- Utah (10-2)
- Southern California (9-3)
- Arizona (9-3)
- Michigan (9-3)
- Virginia (10-3)
- Tulane (11-2)
- Houston (9-3)
- Georgia Tech (9-3)
- Iowa State (8-4)
- James Madison (12-1)
- North Texas (11-2)
This story has been updated to change the video.
