The Latest: Top 25 puts Alabama ahead of Buckeyes

 

The Latest on the College Football Playoff and bowl selection Sunday (all times Eastern):
12:15 p.m.
The Associated Press voters prefer Alabama over Ohio State.
In the final Top 25 of the regular season, the Crimson Tide was No. 4 and the Buckeyes were No. 5. The poll was released about an hour before the College Football Playoff pairings were being revealed. Which team gets the final spot in the final four caused a debate between the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes. In the AP media poll, Alabama received 1,307 points to Ohio State’s 1,300.
Clemson finished the regular season No. 1, followed by Oklahoma and Georgia.
Wisconsin was No. 6, followed by Auburn, Southern California, Penn State and UCF. The 10th-ranked Knights are the last unbeaten team in the Football Bowl Subdivision and matched their best ranking ever. UCF finished the 2013 season 10th.
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Noon
College football has a different type of selection Sunday, a smaller bracket, and dozens of other games that make people argue about how much they matter.
The bowl lineup falls into place with the selection of the teams participating in the College Football Playoff. The playoff selection committee unveils its final four and then sets the matchups for the rest of the major New Year’s bowls.
Three of the top four picks are no-brainers: Clemson, Oklahoma and Georgia. The last spot is likely to come down to Alabama or Ohio State.
After all the New Year’s Six bowls are set, including the semifinals, the rest of the bowl lineups come together throughout the day. There are 39 games in all, and 81 teams are eligible this year.
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More AP college football coverage: http://www.collegefootball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25