Utes finish season ranked No. 23 in final AP Poll


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — In its third consecutive year, the University of Utah football program finished the season ranked nationally in the Top 25.

Utah was ranked No. 23 in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll that was released following the conclusion of the national championship game between Alabama and Clemson Monday.

Utah spent much of the season in the AP rankings but dropped out of the Top 25 after losing to Oregon in the penultimate game of the regular season. However, Utah remained in the College Football Playoff rankings throughout the season as one of only five teams ranked every week of the playoff era.

The latest ranking is only the eighth time in school history that the program has been included in the final rankings from the AP. Of those eight times, six have come with Kyle Whittingham as the head coach. Whittingham remains atop all coaches in the postseason with a record of 10-1 in bowl games following Utah’s 26-24 win over Indiana in the Foster Farms Bowl.

Joining the Utes in the rankings is No. 3 USC, who overcame a late deficit to beat Penn State in a thrilling Rose Bowl game; No. 4 Washington, who fell to Alabama in the semifinal round of the playoff; No. 12 Stanford, who narrowly beat North Carolina in the Sun Bowl; and No. 17 Colorado, who fell to Oklahoma State in a blowout loss in the Alamo Bowl.

Clemson claimed the No. 1 spot after a come-from-behind 35-31 win over Alabama in the national championship game Monday, dethroning the Crimson Tide, who were ranked No. 1 the entire season. Following Clemson in the rankings was Alabama, USC, Washington and Oklahoma.

The ACC, Pac-12 and SEC finished the season with the most teams ranked in the final AP poll at five, followed by the Big Ten at four, the Big 12 at three and the American, Mid-American and Mountain West Conference each finishing with one.

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

SportsUtah Utes
Josh Furlong

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast