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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After entering the the inaugural College Football Playoff as the top-seeded team, the University of Alabama dropped to No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll of the 2014-15 season.
Ohio State, which defeated Oregon 42-20 in Monday night’s national championship game, was the unanimous No. 1 team, landing all 59 first-place votes, with the Ducks second.
TCU, which was left out of the playoff but beat Ole Miss 42-3 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, was third, ahead of Alabama and Florida State — the two teams that lost in the semifinals.
The Crimson Tide finished seventh last year after losing to Auburn and Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, and was No. 2 in the preseason poll behind the reigning champion Seminoles.
Alabama was ranked fourth in the final coaches poll later Tuesday.
After a poor showing by the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division in the bowls the league finished with just six ranked teams, but still tied the Pac-12 for the most of any conference.
It’s the fifth time Ohio State has finished atop the AP Top 25, tying Miami and Southern California for fourth-most behind Alabama (nine), Notre Dame (eight) and Oklahoma (seven).
Final Associated Press poll
Team (First-place votes), Record, Points, Previous
1. Ohio St. (59) 14-1 1,475 5
2. Oregon 13-2 1,402 3
3. TCU 12-1 1,349 6
4. Alabama 12-2 1,297 1
5. Florida St. 13-1 1,212 2
5. Michigan St. 11-2 1,212 7
7. Baylor 11-2 1,098 4
8. Georgia Tech 11-3 1,071 10
9. Georgia 10-3 925 13
10. UCLA 10-3 908 14
11. Mississippi St. 10-3 767 8
12. Arizona St. 10-3 756 15
13. Wisconsin 11-3 724 17
14. Missouri 11-3 710 16
15. Clemson 10-3 683 18
16. Boise St. 12-2 653 21
17. Mississippi 9-4 543 9
18. Kansas St. 9-4 509 11
19. Arizona 10-4 499 12
20. Southern Cal 9-4 315 24
21. Utah 9-4 302 23
22. Auburn 8-5 216 19
23. Marshall 13-1 161 NR
24. Louisville 9-4 116 20
25. Memphis 10-3 94 NR
Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 28, Stanford 27, Nebraska 22, Air Force 21, Duke 18, LSU 12, Utah St. 11, Arkansas 10, Minnesota 9, Oklahoma 7, Texas A&M 7, N. Illinois 4, Colorado St. 2.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
