AP Top 25: Alabama on top in final poll, undefeated UCF gets first-place votes

The Knights were the only team to finish the 2017 college football season unbeaten

By Ben Kercheval

Jan 9, 2018 at 10:17 am ET • 1 min read

The confetti is still being cleaned up in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium after Alabama's memorable 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia to win the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship, but the final Associated Press Top 25 has been released.

And of course, why would college football rankings put a bow on anything without a little drama?

As you'd expect, Alabama, the No. 4 team entering the playoff, ended the season as the No. 1 team and gathered 57 first-place votes. In fact, the Crimson Tide became the first team to start and finish the season ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 since USC in 2004. And with Georgia finishing No. 2, this marks the fourth time in AP Top 25 history that a conference finished the season with the top two teams.

However, the Crimson Tide did not land all of the first-place votes. No. 6 UCF, at 13-0, has four such votes. The Knights were the only FBS team to finish undefeated this season and the first bowl-eligible team to do so and not finish No. 1 since 2010 (TCU). UCF has made a big deal out of declaring itself national champions since winning the Peach Bowl over Auburn, going so far as to throw a parade and pay its now-former coaches championship incentives. Florida Governor Rick Scott even declared UCF national champs in an official government document.

However, UCF never had a shot at a playoff spot. Coach Scott Frost, now at Nebraska, lamented about the job of the CFP Selection Committee, telling CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd that "it appeared like it was a concerted effort to keep us a reasonable distance away from the top four to avoid controversy."

In any case, UCF is the national champion in the state of Florida; Alabama is the national champion in the format agreed upon by college football. This is merely a reminder that this sport is silly sometimes.

As for the rest of the top 25, here's how it looks ...