Charboneau’s AP vote: Only Alabama can’t be questioned

There’s been one clear-cut conclusion that almost everyone has agreed upon for weeks in college football – Alabama is the best team.

After that, good luck.

The regular season is over – for the most part, we still have Army-Navy next week – and now it’s up to the College Football Playoff committee to determine the four best teams. For what it’s worth, here’s my Associated Press top 25 ballot for the week.

It’s what I believe should be the four playoff teams, but like most things in college football, it’s all up for healthy debate.

There’s a case to be made for Michigan, Penn State and Oklahoma to be included, just as much as there is for them not. I believe Penn State has the strongest case with its Big Ten championship and a win over No. 2 Ohio State, though it’s hard to get past that pesky blowout at the hands of the Wolverines. Both teams had close losses to decent teams – Penn State to Pittsburgh and Michigan to Iowa.

Michigan sixth, WMU 12th in AP poll

So it’s the debate over head-to-head as opposed to championships and the fact Penn State beat Ohio State and Michigan didn’t. It’s close, so I go head-to-head.

After that, it’s pretty status quo considering a lot of teams did not play. Colorado dropped a bit after its loss to Washington but Virginia Tech actually moved up a couple of spots as it hung tough with Clemson.

Western Michigan finishes at No. 11 for me, and Temple made its debut at No. 25 with a win over Navy.

MATT CHARBONEAU'S AP BALLOT

1. Alabama (last week: 1)

2. Ohio State (2)

3. Clemson (3)

4. Washington (4)

5. Michigan (7)

6. Penn State (10)

7. Oklahoma (6)

8. Wisconsin (4)

9. Oklahoma State (8)

10. Florida State (9)

11. Western Michigan (12)

12. Colorado (11)

13. Southern Cal (13)

14. West Virginia (14)

15. Stanford (16)

16. Virginia Tech (18)

17. Florida (15)

18. LSU (17)

19. Air Force (19)

20. Iowa (20)

21. Houston (21)

22. Louisville (22)

23. South Florida (23)

24. Nebraska (24)

25. Temple (NR)