How should the final AP poll handle the 12-team playoffs? College football history depends on it

ATLANTA — Even with a 12-team College Football Playoff, it still matters who the No. 3 at the end of the season.

The same does no. 13. And no. 18. And certain no. 25.

Ohio State and Notre Dame meet Monday night to decide the national champion in the latest iteration of college football’s postseason, but the new format and its trickle-down effect to more than three dozen bowl games outside the playoff has made it more difficult than ever for Associated Press poll voters to compile a final vote for a top 25 postseason that has nearly a century of significance in college football.

Should Big Ten champion Oregon (13-1) be ahead of second-place Penn State (13-2) even though the Nittany Lions advanced one round further in the playoffs? Georgia (11-3) beat Texas (12-3) twice but lost in the CFP quarterfinals. The Longhorns reached the semifinals and played Ohio State close deep into the fourth quarter. Should the Bulldogs or Longhorns be ranked higher?

The only games Indiana (11-2) lost were to teams playing for the national title. For all the hand-wringing about the Hoosiers’ schedule, that’s a pretty nice resume line.

And what about the other bowl games? Should Alabama (9-4) be penalized extra for losing the ReliaQuest Bowl with a full complement of players against a depleted Michigan team?

How far will Miami fall after playing the second half of its Pop-Tarts Bowl loss to Iowa State without quarterback Cam Ward? But is it fair not to give the Cyclones full credit for their comeback win? And how seriously are we expected to take a bowl game whose biggest star is a costumed toaster who gets eaten by the winning team?

“This is probably the hardest final poll I’ve ever had to do,” said the Houston Chronicle’s Kirk Bohls, who is in his 36th straight season (he believes) as a selector. “So much harder now.”

The sport has come a long way from the days when the votes of sportswriters and coaches – often unsatisfying – would decide debates about who is the No. 1. The Bowl Championship Series helped, but not always. Remember when LSU (the BCS champion) and USC (the last AP poll’s No. 1 team) shared the championship in 2003?

The Fireteam Playoff was another improvement. Ohio State won the first of those to end the 2014 season and leaned into it by renaming the intersection of Lane and High Streets that approach Ohio Stadium “Undisputed Way.”

Normally, the teams that reached the four-team Playoff would fill the top four spots in the final AP rankings in some order. Pretty easy.

Now, however, it is a mystery.

“With the exception of no. 1 and 2 I don’t rank based on end game. For example, I have Oregon no. 3 on my last poll,” said Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

“There’s no question who’s going to be No. 1. The results of the games will speak for themselves there,” said Amie Just of the Lincoln Star Journal in Nebraska. “And I typically don’t change much in the bottom half of my ballot because of the waiting list. But figuring out where to put Georgia and Oregon and some of the other teams is going to be a philosophy exercise and not everyone is going to agree.”

What is the proper balance between regular season success and playoff results?

“I’m a firm believer that the entire season should be considered and we shouldn’t minimize what happened in September, but the playoffs are the playoffs: big games against quality opponents,” said Matt Brown, college sports editor for Athletics and an AP ballot voter for seven years. “If the playoffs are to be factored into the rankings, then it should hold a bit more weight – especially for the teams still alive in the semis/finals.”

Before you say no one cares about the AP poll – too late? — let me stop you right there and tell you that you’re wrong, while explaining that yes, I may be biased.

I worked for the AP for nearly 30 years, the last 20 of which were overseeing the Top 25 as a national college football writer. The voting is no longer my job, but being a part of it for so long taught me its importance in college football.

The AP poll, which began in 1936, is the only consistent one in college football history. That’s the record document of the season, even now that the CFP committee decides who plays for the national title.

And fans and programs care about where their teams finish.

The last time Alabama finished outside the top 10 was 2007, Nick Saban’s first season. The final ranking will be another mark on Kalen DeBoer’s first year as Saban’s successor.

More generally, sports fans like rankings. Anything that allows a fan to say my team is better than yours is important.

I’m excited to see how the voters handle this. I think how I would do it here.

I’d be open to having Oregon as high as No. 2 if Ohio State wins a lopsided championship game against Notre Dame. The ducks should be no worse than no. 3.

Georgia ahead of Texas feels right, which probably also keeps the Bulldogs ahead of Penn State, which doesn’t feel quite as right.

Arizona State (11-3) entered the playoffs ranked 10th in the AP poll, lost an overtime quarterfinal game to Texas and likely deserves to move up because most of the teams including and behind current No. 9 Indiana washed out in the postseason (SMU, Clemson, Alabama, Miami and South Carolina). And current no. 21 Illinois should be ahead of South Carolina.

Miami (10-3) should probably fall just a bit from No. 15, perhaps just far enough that Iowa State (11-3) and BYU (11-2) are ahead of the Hurricanes.

On Tuesday morning, the AP will once again have the last word on the college football season. Some people will be mad at the rankings. It’s the oldest tradition in sports, and no playoff will change that.

(Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)