College football has to be getting close, because the AP poll top 25 has been announced. With the coaches’ poll also being recently unveiled, the full preseason report on the top teams is in, more or less. Here’s an early rundown on a few of the surprising developments in the initial AP top 25.
5 Takeaways from AP Top 25
1. The SEC reign continues
After the coaches’ poll placed nine SEC teams within the top 25, the AP voters proved that the SEC love isn’t exclusive to the coaches. No less than 10 SEC teams (of the league’s 16) earned spots within the top 25. Unsurprisingly, preseason No. 1 Texas leads the list, with Georgia close behind. The additional team here is Oklahoma, which was just left out of the coaches poll, but starts at a surprising No. 18 in the AP poll.
That said, the SEC love doesn’t go on forever. While 14 SEC teams got votes in the coaches’ poll, only 12 made the list in the AP poll, with Vanderbilt and Arkansas not getting any love from the AP voters.
2. Six picks for No. 1
Yes, Texas is the No.1 overall team and the Longhorns drew 25 of the 65 first-place votes. But Texas barely held off Penn State. The Nittany Lions ended up with 23 first-place votes. No. 3 Ohio State got 11 votes, as the top two Big Ten teams flip-flopped their positions from the coaches poll. No. 4 Clemson got four votes for first place, while No. 5 Georgia got one vote.
The only team included in the No. 1 picks from the AP but not from the coaches poll is No. 7 Oregon, which drew a single first-place vote. Media member Jamal St. Cyr rendered the pick for the Ducks, which is worth noting for further evaluation as the season plays out.
3. As with the Coaches’ Poll, the teens will be controversial
The top 10 picks in the poll are a fairly standard and obvious group– picks 2-6 in the two polls are the same teams but in a slightly different order, while picks 1 and 7-10 are the same. But the picks in the teens are where things start to get interesting.
Arizona State at No. 11 seems a bit high and Michigan and Florida at No. 14 and No. 15 respectively are optimistic rankings for teams that had some serious troubles a season ago. The pick of Oklahoma at No. 18 is another that will end up as being audacious but wise or just a little bit of wishful thinking. There’s plenty to chew on in the mid-rungs of the voting.
4. Alabama Leaves Voters Confused
Of the poll’s top teams, the one with the widest variance of expected outcomes has to be No. 8 Alabama. The Tide are ranked as high as No. 2 by one voter (Javon Edmonds) and as low as No. 23 by another (Kevin Carter). There were actually nine voters who placed the Tide in the top five overall, while only Carter picked Alabama below No. 13.
But heading into the second year of the Kalen DeBoer era, it’s clear that some are bullish on Alabama and some are not encouraged at all. However the season goes for Alabama, it’s one that will upend some preseason expectations.
5. Who Should Be Here, But Isn’t?
The biggest question with the preseason polls is often now who is ranked too high, but who isn’t ranked but ought to be? BYU is one team with a legitimate beef. The Cougars start the season at No. 23 in the coaches poll, but were on the outside of the AP’s top 25. Yes, there’s been a QB turnover there, but BYU figures to be one of the top programs in the Big 12 next year.
USC might be the other big surprise here. Yes, Lincoln Riley’s Trojans have struggled, but the back-to-the-wall coach has assembled an impressive class of talent, but not one that has impressed the AP voters, who leave USC out of the top 25 altogether.
Read more:
Preseason Coaches’ Poll Takeaways
Top 5 Oregon Roadblocks to CFP Path
