My AP top 25 ballot: Clemson, Miami crash top four as Georgia, Notre Dame fall

See you later Georgia. Goodbye Notre Dame.

Welcome back Clemson. Nice to meet you Miami.

That’s my way of letting you know which teams are on the way out, and in, of my personal playoff four. The actual playoff selection committee would be wise to copy my rankings.

Here is my new top four: Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson, Miami.

My next four: Wisconsin, Auburn, Georgia, Notre Dame.

Those are some big changes from last week. But big changes were warranted after Miami smoked Notre Dame and Auburn waxed Georgia. Wisconsin also made a statement with its lopsided victory over Iowa.

There will be some debate about who belongs at No. 2 behind Alabama. You could argue Miami and Wisconsin belong there, because of their undefeated records. But their schedules remain on the soft side, even after big wins. I prefer Oklahoma (the Sooners have beaten Ohio State, Oklahoma State and TCU) and Clemson (the Tigers have beaten Auburn, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State), and rank them accordingly.

But Miami and Wisconsin are closing the gap. The good news for them is, they both now have obvious paths to a playoff berth.

It seems like seven different teams are in control of their playoff destines. If Alabama, Oklahoma, Clemson, Miami, Wisconsin, Auburn or Georgia win their remaining games they will almost certainly make the playoff.

Elsewhere on my ballot, we have some big movers. West Virginia jumps up to No. 16, Stanford is up to No. 17 and LSU/Michigan both re-join my list of ranked teams.

Sadly, Iowa and Iowa State both dropped out. It was a good run for the Cyclones, and there is no shame in losing to West Virginia and Oklahoma State. But at 6-4 it is hard to justify ranking the Cyclones today.

You can check out my entire top 25 ballot below:

1. Alabama.

2. Oklahoma.

3. Clemson.

4. Miami.

5. Wisconsin.

6. Auburn.

7. Georgia.

8. Notre Dame.

9. TCU.

10. Ohio State.

11. USC.

12. UCF.

13. Oklahoma State.

14. Mississippi State.

15. Washington State.

16. West Virginia.

17. Stanford.

18. Memphis.

19. Washington.

20. Michigan State.

21. Penn State.

22. LSU.

23. Michigan.

24. North Carolina State.

25. Virginia Tech.

This story was originally published November 12, 2017 at 8:08 AM with the headline "My AP top 25 ballot: Clemson, Miami crash top four as Georgia, Notre Dame fall."