Champs! LSU finishes No. 1 in AP Top 25 for third time

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — LSU finished No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the third time in school history, with Clemson No. 2 and Ohio State No. 3.

The Tigers (15-0) beat Clemson 42-25 in the national championship game Monday night and then received all 62 first-place votes from the media panel in the season’s final Top 25 presented by Regions Bank.

LSU was No. 1 for the final eight weeks of the season and set a record by beating seven teams ranked in the top-10 at the time of the game. The Tigers also won AP titles in 2007 and 1958.

Georgia, LSU’s Southeastern Conference rival, was fourth and Pac-12 champion Oregon was fifth. Florida was sixth and Oklahoma, which made the playoff, was seventh.

Alabama finished eighth, giving the SEC four of the top 10. No. 9 Penn State and No. 10 Minnesota gave the Big Ten three teams in the top 10.