Michigan football finishes with highest AP Top 25 ranking since 1997

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It may not have gone as planned in the College Football Playoff semifinal against Georgia, but there’s no shame in losing to the eventual national champion.

The Georgia Bulldogs upended Alabama on Monday night to win their first national title since 1980, but the Wolverines had a spectacular season in their own right, going 12-2, winning the Big Ten title and having taken down rival Ohio State for the first time in a decade.

Despite the New Year’s Eve 34-11 loss to UGA, the maize and blue still finished not only in the top five, but No. 3 overall, the best AP Top 25 ranking since the 1997 national championship, when the Wolverines were No. 1 overall. Michigan has now finished third or better eight times in the history of the poll.

Michigan also finished having beaten No. 6 Ohio State and No. 23 Iowa.

Full rankings