Johnny McGonigal’s Week 14 poll

Week 14 of the college football season is finished, and the updated Associated Press top 25 poll is out. ( See poll, Page D-11). As an AP voter this season, I’ll be sharing my Top 25 week by week and giving you a peek behind the curtain as to my thought process.

(My rankings from last week are in parentheses.)

1. Cincinnati (2) 2. Alabama (5) 3. Michigan (3) 4. Georgia (1) 5. Notre Dame (6)

A Group of Five team is going to the playoff. Hats off to the Bearcats for successfully navigating their path to 13-0. Alabama, an underdog against Georgia’s vaunted defense, did what Nick Saban teams do: win. The Crimson Tide looked shaky in previous weeks, but Bryce Young was spectacular. Michigan is the class of the Big Ten, and it showed in a 42-3 drubbing of Iowa. Georgia still made the playoff, though its resume wasn’t as impressive as one would assume. And Notre Dame, which actually had people rooting for it after Brian Kelly bolted, gets left out. 6. Baylor (8)

7. Ohio State (7)

8. Ole Miss (9)

9. Oklahoma State (4)

10. Pitt (13) Pitt should be a top 10 team. For me, losses to Western Michigan and Miami prevent it from being above idle Ohio State or Ole Miss. And I don’t like to punish teams too harshly if they lose a conference championship, so Oklahoma State stays above Pitt after losing by five to Baylor in the Big 12 title game. But Pitt is a better team than Michigan State, has better wins than Oklahoma and won its conference. Pretty cut and dried.

11. Michigan State (11) 12. BYU (12) 13. Utah (16) 14. Oklahoma (14) 15. Louisiana (22)

Utah is a team on fire after battering the Ducks. But the Utes remain behind BYU, which won a head-to-head matchup back in September. Michigan State, BYU and Oklahoma were all idle. And the Ragin’ Cajuns topped Appalachian State in the Sun Belt championship, sending Billy Napier out a winner before he heads to Florida. Louisiana is one of six teams in the country with 12 wins.

16. Oregon (10) 17. Houston (15) 18. Wake Forest (17) 19. N.C. State (18) 20. Clemson (19)

Oregon falls after being ripped apart for the second time in three weeks. Houston shouldn’t drop that far after making Cincinnati sweat a bit in the fourth quarter. And there’s not much room for Wake Forest to plummet after beating out N.C. State and Clemson for the ACC Atlantic Division title. The Demon Deacons had Pitt’s number in the first quarter, but went ice cold after that with 13 consecutive scoreless drives.

21. UTSA (NR) 22. Kentucky (23) 23. Arkansas (24) 24. Iowa (20) 25. Utah State (NR)

Meep, meep. The Roadrunners are back after winning a shootout against Western Kentucky and finishing 12-1 with a Conference USA title. I couldn’t drop Iowa completely. But I’ve been lower on the Hawkeyes this year than most, and that 39-point embarrassment showed why. Utah State, meanwhile, is a 10-win team after blasting San Diego State’s defense to win the Mountain West.

Dropped: San Diego State (21), Army (25)

Local perspective

Regardless of what happens in the bowl game, this has been a special season for Pitt. Many, including myself, predicted a fun, but less glamorous campaign. But the Panthers are 11-2 and have their first conference championship.

And who knows? Maybe this can springboard the program into 2022 and beyond.

Pitt is a top 10 team in the country right now. At least it should be.