College Football Top-25 Poll: AP Poll Has Alabama in Familiar No. 1 Spot
On Monday, the AP released its preseason college football top-25 poll. At the top was none other than last year's runners-up, Alabama. Where do the other schools rank in this year's preseason top 25? Find out here
Brian Good - August 15, 2022, 5:18 PM EDT
5 minutesCollege Football Top-25 Poll: AP Poll Has Alabama in Familiar No. 1 Spot
We're getting dangerously close to college football season and today marked another milestone in that journey as the Associated Press released their Top-25 poll heading into the year.
To no one's surprise, the top spot on the AP top 25 is occupied by Alabama as we get ready for Week 1, or Week 0 depending on who you ask. However, there are some surprises throughout the list.
For starters, both Texas and Penn State find themselves on the outside looking in, which is a bit of a shock considering the talent those rosters return. Texas and QB Quinn Ewers will have to convince voters they are truly back this season.
It's also a little shocking to see a team like Cincinnati on the list seeing as the Bearcats lost so much production from last year's team that made the College Football Playoff.
So, let's take a look at the College Football AP top-25 poll and which teams made it this time around.
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College Football AP Top 25 - Preseason Poll
Rank | Team |
|---|---|
1 | Alabama |
2 | Ohio State |
3 | Georgia |
4 | Clemson |
5 | Notre Dame |
6 | Texas A&M |
7 | Utah |
8 | Michigan |
9 | Oklahoma |
10 | Baylor |
11 | Oregon |
12 | Oklahoma State |
13 | NC State |
14 | USC |
15 | Michigan State |
16 | Miami (FL) |
17 | Pittsburgh |
18 | Wisconsin |
19 | Arkansas |
20 | Kentucky |
21 | Ole Miss |
22 | Wake Forest |
23 | Cincinnati |
24 | Houston |
25 | BYU |
Others receiving votes: Tennessee (180), Texas (164), Iowa (163), Penn State (160), LSU (55), Fresno State (32), Minnesota (31), UCF (27), Purdue (17), Mississippi State (15), Auburn (15), Florida (14), Kansas State (14), North Carolina (9), Boise State (5), Air Force (4), Appalachian State (4), South Carolina (2), UCLA (2), San Diego State (2), Utah State (2), Nebraska (1)
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As I eluded to before, the big shockers for me are Texas and Penn State missing out on the top 25.
The Nittany Lions return Sean Clifford at QB, who brings veteran leadership to the team, and they can also pivot to 5-star recruit Drew Allar if Clifford doesn't live up to the hype. Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith are both excellent and should give them enough talent on the outside. Plus, they have one of the best secondaries in the nation.
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It takes a bit of projecting to have the Longhorns in your top 25 as we don't know exactly what to expect from them. However, if Quinn Ewers is half the player he's hyped up to be, they should walk into being a top-25 team.
Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson make sense as the top four, although it remains to be seen what Dabo Swinney and the Tigers will get from DJ Uiagalelei this season.
Overall, I'm just happy we have a top-25 poll to argue about. That means college football is just around the corner.
