College football rankings: Georgia finishes unanimous No. 1, Ohio State at No. 2 in postseason CBS Sports 131

The high end of the season college football rankings are often the easiest to decide, and that rings true again this season. Coming off a historic 58-point victory in the College Football Playoff National Championship, the Georgia Bulldogs are an easy, unanimous No. 1 pick in the final CBS Sports 131, our comprehensive ranking of every FBS team.

In a season where the Bulldogs had the largest margin of victory in the nation while finishing 15-0, there is an argument that Georgia could take the top two spots, or even the top three spots. But the narrow margin between Georgia and the team it defeated 42-41 in the Peach Bowl semifinals, Ohio State, has contributed to why our voters are ending the year with the Buckeyes at No. 2.

TCU, which received several second-place votes, is ranked No. 3. The lopsided loss in the title game certainly hurt their final ranking, though the Horned Frogs entered the postseason in the same spot.

In terms of movement at the top of the standings, the final post-bowl update offers some of the biggest upsets we’ve seen since the early weeks of the season. These non-conference matchups between bowl-eligible teams can, at times, be important data points to confirm or challenge late-season opinion about a program’s standing in the sport.

Tulane, for example, saw a seven-spot jump from No. 16 to No. 9 after winning its 12th game of the year against USC. Washington and Florida State also saw clashes in the top 10 after impressive wins against Power Five conference opponents with the Huskies jumping four spots to No. 8 and the Seminoles moving up three spots to No. 10. Teams like Utah (No. 11), Kansas State (No. 13) and Clemson (No. 14) each took a bump in the rankings after not only losing six games on the New Year’s Day, but doing so by double digits. Meanwhile, LSU moved back into the top 15 thanks to a 56-point win against Purdue, which was its biggest upset of the season … until Monday’s national title game.

But those aren’t the only ranking changes from our voters in the wake of bowl season results. For more on the biggest shakeups since the regular season rankings ended, check out the Mover’s Report below the top 25 chart.

College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and 26-131 on our rankings page.

1Georgia15-012 Ohio State11-243TCU13-234Michigan
13-125alabama11-266Tennessee11-257penn State11-288Washington11-2129TULANE12-21610Florida State10-31311UTAH10-4712USC11-31013KANSAS State10-4914Clemson11-31115LSU10-41816OREGON STATE10-315151717171717171717171717171717151E.
9-4
2019Troy12-22320UCLA9-41721Mississippi State9-42422Texas8-51923South Carolina
8-52124UTSA11-32225Pittsburgh9-432Biggest movers no. 37 Air Force (+12): The Falcons have won 10 games for the second straight season and the third time in the last three years that the Mountain West has played a full schedule. But Troy Calhoun’s consistency didn’t contribute to that surge as much as the wire-to-wire double-digit victory against Baylor in the Armed Forces Bowl. 29 Fresno State (+11): Jeff Tedford’s return to Fresno State has been an undeniable success, and the finish has led to a big jump in our rankings. First, the Bulldogs went to Boise and knocked off the Broncos for the Mountain West title. Then, in the bowl season, absolutely dominated Washington State in a 23-point victory in the Los Angeles Bowl. No. 9 Tulane (+7): A transformative season for Tulane football results in a top-10 finish in our rankings as the Green Wave is rewarded not only for its epic comeback against USC in the Cotton Bowl, but a 12-win campaign and established Tulane as the team to beat in the American Athletic Conference moving forward. No. 25 Pittsburgh (+7): Turning over multiple key players on both sides of the ball, Pitt’s resiliency was on display until the end as the Panthers came out on top in a shooting battle against UCLA. That team was 4-4 in early November, but finished the season on a five-game winning streak, giving Pat Narduzzi a total of 20 wins over the past two seasons. No. 26 Duke (+7): ACC Coach of the Year Mike Elko showed the award went to the right man as Duke showed better preparation and better execution in a Military Bowl victory to finish with nine wins in Elko’s first year. No. 35 Cincinnati (-8): A disappointing end to the year for Cincinnati ends with a rainy and cold Fenway Bowl loss to a team led by its next coach. After finishing 9-4 in their final year of American Athletic Conference play, the Bearcats are now in the Big 12 for 2023. No. 40 Purdue (-9): The availability of several key players plus the absence of Jeff Brohm contributed to the blowout loss to LSU, but this adjustment may also be the water finding its level as our voters pushed the Boilermakers to win Big Ten West. No. 59 Baylor (-11): The other side of our voters making Air Force one of the biggest movers in the final standings is a vindictive adjustment for the Bears, who finish the season with a losing record at 6-7 on the year. after winning the Big 12.

Check out the rest of CBS Sports 131: Teams ranked 26-131