Clemson No. 1 In Final CCR Top 130 By a Mile

January 8, 2019 by CFP Staff

Clemson was No. 1 in the Congrove Computer Rankings heading into the game, and easily finished the season on top after routing Alabama 44-16 in the College Football National Championship final. The computer rankings had the Tigers favored by 4.83 to win the game, opposite of the consensus 6-point spread favoring Alabama.

Clemson was given the No. 2 seed by the playoff committee and crushed No. 3 seed Notre Dame 30-3 in the semifinal. Alabama was given the No. 1 seed and eliminated No. 4 Oklahoma 45-34 in the other semifinal.

The Tigers become the first team in the AP Poll era (1936-present) to complete a 15-0 season.

The computer rankings have the Tide finishing 2nd, nearly 8 power points behind Clemson. Ohio State, Notre Dame and Oklahoma complete the top 5.

Some other highlights of the final rankings:

- Syracuse, at No. 17, is the only ACC team besides Clemson to finish in the top 31.

- Texas, at No. 21, is the only other Big 12 team besides Oklahoma to finish in the top 27.

- UCF, despite a 40-32 loss to LSU in the Fiesta Bowl, only dropped one spot from 8th to 9th.

- A pair of Mountain West teams, Fresno State and Utah State, finished 10th and 11th. And a third Mountain West team, Boise State, finished 23rd.

- Appalachian State, a Sun Belt team, finished 11-2 and earned a No. 20 ranking.

- Army's 70-14 win over Houston bumped the Black Knights to a No. 24 finish.

The SEC placed 6 teams in the final top 25, followed by the Big Ten with 4. The PAC-12 and Mountain West each have 3 representatives, while the ACC, Big 12, American and Independents have 2 apiece. The Sun Belt has 1. The highest-ranked team from Conference USA is UAB at No. 35, and the highest-ranked MAC member is Ohio at No. 36.

View the full Top 130.