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12/01 06:10 CST AP Top 25 Extra Points: No. 5 Texas Tech is on the rise and
looking to lock up a top-four CFP seed
AP Top 25 Extra Points: No. 5 Texas Tech is on the rise and looking to lock up
a top-four CFP seed
By ERIC OLSON
AP College Football Writer
Texas Tech was No. 5 in last week's College Football Playoff rankings and on
Sunday jumped two spots to No. 5 in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Red Raiders likely will be No. 4 when the new CFP rankings come out Tuesday
night. That would position them to receive a bye for the first round if they
beat BYU for the second time this season in the Big 12 championship game
Saturday.
Depending on the outcomes of the SEC and Big Ten title games, they could be as
high as No. 2 when the final CFP rankings are released next Sunday.
The opportunity to enhance its seeding was not lost on Texas Tech in its final
regular-season game at West Virginia. The Red Raiders won 49-0, scoring on
their opening three possessions and four of their first five.
"I know we've got to go win the Big 12, and that will help us, but we want to
move up," coach Joey McGuire said. "We're at 5 right now and we want to get as
high as we can get in those rankings. I think it'll make a huge difference for
us."
The Red Raiders have won five straight since their only loss, 26-22 at Arizona
State on Oct. 18. Granted, four of the opponents finished 10th or lower in the
Big 12 but their 211-36 scoring advantage over the last five games is
impressive. They're tied with No. 2 Indiana for widest margin of victory over
that span, at 175 points, and the 36 points they've allowed are fewest by an
FBS team.
Their toughest game in the closing stretch was against then-No. 8 BYU, and they
were in control the whole way while holding the Cougars to 255 yards and
winning 29-7.
At 11-1, the Red Raiders have matched their program record for wins in a
season, and their eight Big 12 wins are their most. They're only the sixth team
in 100 years to win at least 11 regular-season games by 20-plus points.
Now it's on to the Big 12 title game for the first time.
"It's really, really cool," quarterback Behren Morton said. "Kind of emotional,
being a Lubbock kid. You've worked so hard to be in the position you're in now.
It's just really cool to look up and see what we've done this year. But we're
not done yet."
Navy makes season debut It seemed like a long time coming, but Navy finally made the Top 25, checking in at No. 23 on Sunday. The Midshipmen were knocking on the door after a 7-0 start, then lost two straight. They've beaten a then-No. 25 South Florida at home and Memphis on the road in their last two games. Navy, which has the Army game Dec. 13 before going to a bowl, finished in a three-way tie for first in the American Conference. A 31-17 loss at North Texas on Nov. 1 kept the Midshipmen out of the conference championship game. Navy, the No. 1 rushing team in the nation, was held to 200 yards on the ground in its 28-17 win over Memphis. It was the Midshipmen's second-lowest output of the season. The defense rose up to end the Tigers' streak of scoring 20 points at 51 games. Bison get some love North Dakota State was acknowledged for its dominance in the Football Championship Subdivision, ranked No. 23 on the ballot of Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette sports columnist Mike Hlas. That was good for three poll points, more than four FBS teams that also received votes. "It's had a season similar to Indiana's, and it's been as steady a winner over the last 10 years as Alabama," Hlas said in a text. NDSU, which has won 10 of the last 14 FCS championships, is the top seed in the playoffs and will host Illinois State on Saturday. The Bison previously received votes in 28 polls over six seasons between 2011-19. The closest they've come to cracking the Top 25 was in 2016, when they were two spots out following a 23-21 upset of an 11th-ranked Iowa. Nine other FCS teams have received votes since 2007. Extra points Indiana coach Curt Cignetti's 23 victories so far are second most in Big Ten history in the first two seasons at a school. The second-ranked Hoosiers' 56-3 victory over Purdue broke a tie with Fielding Yost, who had 22 wins in 1901-02 at Michigan. Urban Meyer won 24 games in 2012-13 at Ohio State. ... No. 3 Georgia joined Florida (1992-96) as the only programs to make five consecutive Southeastern Conference championship game appearances. The Bulldogs will be playing in the game for a 13th time when they square off against No. 10 Alabama on Saturday. ... No. 14 Texas' 27-17 win over then-No. 3 Texas A&M made the Longhorns the first team since LSU in 2019 to beat three AP top-10 teams in a season. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football |
