College football rankings: Week 12, 2019

By Kevin Kelley -

College football rankings for week 12 of the 2019 season have been released. LSU moved into first-place in both polls, while Minnesota made the biggest jump.

The LSU Tigers, who defeated the No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide 46-41 on Saturday, moved into the top spot in the Coaches Poll and retained first-place in the AP Poll. The Tigers could move up to first in the next College Football Playoff Rankings set for release on Tuesday evening.

Alabama, which hadn’t lost previously this season, only dropped two spots to No. 4 in the AP Poll and three spots to No. 4 in the Coaches Poll.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers, ranked 17th by the CFP last week, upset the No. 4 Penn State Nittany Lions 31-26 on Saturday. The stunning win vaulted the Golden Gophers up six spots to No. 7 in the both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions fell four spots to No. 9 in the AP Poll and six spots to No. 11 in the Coaches Poll.

The top seven in both the AP and Coaches polls are the same for Week 12: (1) LSU, (2) Ohio State, (3) Clemson, (4) Alabama, (5) Georgia, (6) Oregon, and (7) Minnesota.

Three teams received first-place votes in the AP and Coaches polls this week. LSU leads the way with 54 in the AP and 55 in the Coaches, followed by Ohio State (5 AP, 5 Coaches) and Clemson (3 AP, 4 Coaches).

Below are the full AP Poll and FBS Coaches polls for Week 12 of the 2019 season (first-place votes in parentheses):

AP POLL – WEEK 12

1. LSU (54)
2. Ohio State (5)
3. Clemson (3)
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Minnesota
8. Utah
9. Penn State
10. Oklahoma
11. Florida
12. Baylor
13. Auburn
14. Michigan
15. Wisconsin
16. Notre Dame
17. Cincinnati
18. Memphis
19. Boise State
20. SMU
21. Navy
22. Texas
23. Iowa
24. Indiana
25. Oklahoma State

Others receiving votes: Appalachian State 73, Kansas State 67, Texas A&M 42, Wake Forest 38, Louisiana Tech 25, Virginia 12, San Diego State 7, Virginia Tech 4, Iowa State 4, Washington 3, Pittsburgh 2, Air Force 2, UCF 2, North Dakota State 1, USC 1, Illinois 1

Dropped from rankings: Kansas State 20, Wake Forest 22, San Diego State 24

FBS COACHES POLL – WEEK 12

1. LSU (55)
2. Ohio State (5)
3. Clemson (4)
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Minnesota
8. Oklahoma
9. Utah
10. Baylor
11. Penn State
12. Florida
13. Auburn
14. Michigan
15. Wisconsin
16. Notre Dame
17. Cincinnati
18. Memphis
19. Boise State
20. SMU
21. Navy
22. Iowa
23. Texas
24. Appalachian State
25. Indiana

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 49, Wake Forest 45, Louisiana Tech 43, Kansas State 38, San Diego State 32, Texas A&M 31, Air Force 25, Virginia Tech 17, Virginia 12, Louisiana 1, UCF 1, Wyoming 1

Dropped from rankings: Wake Forest 20, Kansas State 22, San Diego State 24

Comments (2)

App State should be ahead of Boise State when it comes to G5 teams.

App State Beats UNC and South Carolina. Loss to rival Georgia Southern in the elements.

Boise State has beaten…FSU? Loss to BYU isn’t a better loss than Georgia Southern.