AP Poll Predictions: Week 12
Florida primed for the Playoff? Indiana vs Northwestern B10 Championship? North Carolina back??
Dropped from rankings: #19 SMU, #24 Auburn
#25 Louisiana- (7-1) W 38-10 vs South Alabama. Billy Napier's Cajuns continue to find ways to win, this game wasn't nearly as close as previous games boding well for a rematch with Coastal in the championship game.
#24 Tulsa- (4-1) W 28-24 vs #19 SMU. An under the radar Tulsa squad finally got a chance to prove themselves. The Golden Hurricane held SMU star Shane Buechele in check, and the Mustangs scoreless in the second half to snatch the victory after trailing by 17.
#23 North Carolina- (6-2) W 59-53 vs Wake Forest. Sam Howell set records as he rallied the Tar Heels from down 42-24 passing for 550 yards and 6 TDs with another TD rushing. The Deacs were on fire but Mack Brown keeps UNC rolling.
#22 Texas- (5-2) Bye
#21 Liberty- (8-0) W 58-14 vs Western Carolina. Malik Willis continues his dark horse Heisman campaign erupting for 306 yards passing and 3 TDs with a further 97 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. Hugh Freeze is in the driver seat for coach of the year.
#20 USC- (2-0) W 34-30 vs Arizona. Not until the final 2 minutes of the game did USC pull ahead for the win. The USC defense got gashed on the ground. The Trojans have now squeaked by two Arizona teams now and have yet to pass the eye test.
#19 Northwestern- (4-0) W 27-20 vs Purdue. Pat Fitzgerald's teams are either really good or really bad, but its hard to tell this year? Is Northwestern actually that good or is the rest of the Big 10 just that bad? Unknown, but the Wildcats control the Big 10 West currently.
#18 Oklahoma (5-2)- Bye
#17 Iowa State- (5-2) Bye
#16 Coastal Carolina- (7-0) Postponed vs Troy
#15 Marshall- (7-0) W 42-14 vs Middle Tennessee. The Herd stampeded to victory over MTSU on the 50th anniversary of the infamous plane crash. Marshall is well on their way to an undefeated season.
#14 Oklahoma State- (5-1) Bye
#13 Georgia- (4-2) Postponed vs Missouri.
#12 Wisconsin- (2-0) W 49-11 vs Michigan. The Badgers exhibited zero rust after multiple weeks off thanks to COVID. The biggest story here though is how bad Michigan is, adios Harbaugh.
#11 Miami- (7-1) W 25-24 vs Virginia Tech. Thanks to VT head coach Justin Fuente's terrible play calling, D'Eriq King was able to overcome an 11 point deficit to remain in the hunt for an ACC title berth.
#10 Oregon- (2-0) W 43-29 vs Washington State. Oregon's defense gave up a ton of yards but were able to get the job done despite Wazzu taking a lead into halftime.
#9 Indiana- (4-0) W 24-0 vs Michigan State. Michael Penix Jr. overcame a couple ugly interceptions with 320 yards passing and a pair of TDs. It was truly the Hoosier's defense that stood out though, harassing MSU QB Rocky Lombardi all night. Indiana now sits atop the Big 10 East...a sentence no one has ever typed before.
#8 BYU- (8-0) Bye
#7 Cincinnati- (7-0) W 55-17 vs East Carolina. Desmond Ridder is only getting better as the season goes on. The Bearcats pose a serious risk to the P5 Playoff hegemony with an excellent chance at winning out.
#6 Texas A&M- (5-1) Postponed vs Tennessee.
#5 Florida- (5-1) W 63-35 vs Arkansas. Controversial choice here to leapfrog the only team they've lost to this year, but the combination of A&M not playing and Kyle Trask's ridiculous performance put the Gators ahead. This team is playoff material and with Trask putting himself firmly in the Heisman conversation, Florida's odds are looking good moving forward.
#4 Clemson- (7-1) Bye
#3 Ohio State- (3-0) Bye
#2 Notre Dame- (8-0) W 45-31 vs Boston College. The Irish had their struggles against former ND QB Phil Jurkovec much the same as Clemson did with BC prior. ND pulled ahead and never looked back though as Ian Book continues to prove doubters wrong.
#1 Alabama- (6-0) Postponed vs LSU.