Alabama No. 9 in final AP Top 25 College Football Poll of the season

Alabama has finished the 2025 college football season ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25 College Football Poll, with three other SEC teams ahead of the Crimson Tide.

Alabama finished the season at 11-4, with two of those losses coming in the SEC Championship Game to Georgia and the College Football Playoff game against Indiana, which won the National Championship last night.

This season, Alabama had been ranked as low as No. 21 following its season-opening loss to Florida State. It was the Crimson Tide’s lowest ranking in 17 seasons.

Alabama was as high as fourth after beating Tennessee in October and held that spot until losing to Oklahoma.

Auburn was briefly ranked in September, entering the poll at No. 24 after beating Ball State to go to 2-0. The Tigers rose to No. 22 after its homecoming victory over South Alabama, but then fell out of the poll after losing at Oklahoma, never to return. Auburn finished the season at 5-7.

Alabama’s final No. 9 ranking puts it fourth among SEC teams, behind Ole Miss at No. 3, Georgia at No. 6 and Texas A&M at No. 8.

Alabama was No. 17 following last year’s season.

The new national champion Indiana Hoosiers remain ranked No. 1 in the final poll. After beating Miami in the College Football Playoff title game to cap a 16-0 season that was unprecedented in the modern era, the Hoosiers  become the third straight Big Ten team to finish on top of the rankings.

Indiana’s championship and No. 1 final ranking followed those of fellow Big Ten teams Ohio State in 2024 and Michigan in 2023.

No. 2 Miami (13-3) moved up eight spots and ended with its highest ranking since the 2002 season, when it was second behind Ohio State. The 2003 Miami team had been the most recent to finish in the top 10.

The Hoosiers were No. 20 in the preseason poll after going 11-2 in Curt Cignetti’s first season. They earned their then-highest ranking ever at No. 3 after they won at Oregon to go 6-0. They moved up to No. 2 the following week and stayed there for seven straight polls. Their 13-10 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game pushed them to No. 1 heading into the playoff.

AP Top 25 College Football Poll (SEC Teams in bold):

1. Indiana (66)
2. Miami
3. Ole Miss
4. Oregon
5. Ohio State
6. Georgia
7. Texas Tech
8. Texas A&M
9. Alabama
10. Notre Dame
11. BYU
12. Texas
13. Oklahoma
14. Utah
15. Vanderbilt
16. Virginia
17. Iowa
18. Tulane
19. James Madison
20. USC
21. Michigan
22. Houston
23. Navy
24. North Texas
25. TCU

Others receiving votes: Illinois 123, Washington 76, SMU 69, Duke 58, Arizona 54, Georgia Tech 44, Tennessee 10, Missouri 8, Louisville 7, Old Dominion 3, Western Michigan 2, Wake Forest 2, Hawaii 1, Boise State 1.

(Copyright 2026 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)