AP Top 25 Poll: NCAA College Football

Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports,Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports,Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports,Leon Halip/-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama leads the AP Top 25 Poll with 10 national titles, followed closely by Notre Dame with 8 and Oklahoma at 7, with Miami and Southern California at 5. For the first time since 1975, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State are ranked in the Top 15 of the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.

The Associated Press began its college football poll on October 19, 1936 and it is now the longest-running survey of those that award national titles at the end of the season.

The preseason weekly poll was started in 1950 and is comprised of a panel of 61 sports writers and broadcasters nationwide. All participants have an extensive background in covering college football.

Check out the AP Table below and, below that, read about the AP Top 25 Poll methodology. See who voted how and when by routinely visiting PPD or the AP Top 25 Poll page.

1		Alabama (33) SEC Record: 14-1	PV Rank 1 Points 1,469
2		Clemson (16) ACC Record: 14-1	2 1,443
3		Oklahoma (4) Big 12 Record: 11-2	5 1,352
4		Florida State (5) ACC Record: 10-3	14 1,325
5		LSU (1) SEC Record: 9-3	16 1,269
6		Ohio State (1) Big Ten Record: 12-1	4 1,224
7		Michigan (1) Big Ten Record: 10-3	12 1,147
8		Stanford Pac-12 Record: 12-2	3 1,029
9		Tennessee SEC Record: 9-4	22 1,021
10		Notre Dame Division I FBS Independents Record: 10-3	11 1,006
11		Mississippi SEC Record: 10-3	10 718
12		Michigan State Big Ten Record: 12-2	6 710
13		TCU Big 12 Record: 11-2	7 707
14		Washington Pac-12 Record: 7-6	– 651
15		Houston The American Record: 13-1	8 644
16		UCLA Pac-12 Record: 8-5	– 496
17		Iowa Big Ten Record: 12-2	9 484
18		Georgia SEC Record: 10-3	– 448
19		Louisville ACC Record: 8-5	– 447
20		USC Pac-12 Record: 8-6	– 344
21		Oklahoma State Big 12 Record: 10-3	20 316
22		North Carolina ACC Record: 11-3	15 283
23		Baylor Big 12 Record: 10-3	13 280
24		Oregon Pac-12 Record: 9-4	19 218
25		Florida SEC Record: 10-4	25 180

POLL METHODOLOGY

The AP Top 25 is determined by a simple points system based on how each voter ranks college football’s best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first place vote, 24 for second place and so on through to the 25th team, which receives one point. The rankings are set by listing the teams’ point totals from highest to lowest. The mathematical formula is the same as the one used for the AP Pro 32 rankings and the AP Top 25 rankings for men’s and women’s basketball.