Missouri cracks top five in final football rankings

Missouri moved up four spots and finished fifth in both the Associated Press and USA Today coaches’ polls, which were released early Tuesday morning.

It is the program’s highest final ranking since 2007 when the Tigers finished fourth in the AP and fifth in the coaches’ poll.

It is also the third season Missouri has finished in the top five in its history. The Tigers now have finished in the top 10 eight times.

Missouri, 12-2, matched a program record for victories by knocking off Oklahoma State 41-31 last Friday in the Cotton Bowl at AT Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Cowboys, 10-3, dropped to 17th in the final AP ranking.

Florida State, 14-0, topped both polls after outlasting Auburn, 12-2, on Monday in the final BCS championship.

Big Ten and Rose Bowl champion Michigan State, 13-1, moved up one spot to third followed by South Carolina, 11-2, which finished its season with a win against Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl.

Auburn and South Carolina were the only teams to beat Missouri during the 2013 season.

Missouri and the Gamecocks were among seven SEC teams — along with Auburn (second), Alabama (seventh), LSU (14th), Texas A (18th) and Vanderbilt (24th) — ranked in the final AP poll.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma jumped to sixth in both polls, while Big 12 champion Baylor dropped to 13th after losing the Fiesta Bowl against Central Florida, who finished 10th in the AP poll and 12th in the coaches’ poll.

The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press final college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:

Nebraska 107, Fresno St. 57, Northern Illinois 22, North Dakota St. 17, Texas Tech 14, Georgia 13, Iowa 13, Mississippi 10, Kansas State 8, Arizona 5, Navy 3, East Carolina 2, Utah State 2, Mississippi State 1.

The USA Today Top 25 football coaches final poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final records, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, and previous ranking:

This story was originally published January 7, 2014 at 3:25 AM with the headline "Missouri cracks top five in final football rankings."