AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1980 to 1989 Final Top 25
Where did all the top teams rank in the final 1980 to 1989 top 25 AP college football poll? Which programs made the cut and which ones just missed out, but received votes?
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According to the final AP rankings, how do the programs rank all-time, by decade, and by era? Which ones were the best over the 1980s?
Take all the AP final rankings and use our CFN scoring system – the AP national champion gets 25 points, the No. 2 team 24, No. 3 23, and so on down to the bottom.
Miami turned into the team of the 1980s with its three national championships and the swagger and style to go with them, but Nebraska had the most overall success in the AP poll. There wasn’t a national title, but the program was in the fight year after year.
1980s AP National Champions
1980 Georgia, 1981 Clemson, 1982 Penn State, 1983 Miami, 1984 BYU, 1985 Oklahoma, 1986 Penn State, 1987 Miami, 1988 Notre Dame, 1989 Miami
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
Greatest Programs of All-Time | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s
1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
AP College Football Poll: 1980 to 1989 Final All-Time Rankings
1 Nebraska 190
2 Miami 174
3 Michigan 144
4 Oklahoma 142
5 UCLA 128
6 Penn State 125
T7 Auburn 124
T7 Florida State 124
9 Georgia 113
10 Clemson 112
11 Alabama 106
T12 Ohio State 99
T12 USC 99
14 BYU 85
15 SMU 83
16 Washington 80
17 Pitt 79
18 LSU 76
19 Notre Dame 75
20 Arkansas 69
21 Iowa 66
22 Florida 64
23 Arizona State 58
T24 Tennessee 55
T24 Texas A&M 55
Others Receiving Votes: 26 Texas 54, 27 West Virginia 52, 28 Oklahoma State 49, 29 North Carolina 41, T30 Baylor 35, T30 Boston College 35, T30 Syracuse 35, 33 Illinois 32, 34 Air Force 31, T35 Maryland 28, T35 Michigan State 28, 37 South Carolina 26, 38 Colorado 22, 39 Houston 20, 40 Arizona 16, 41 Virginia 14, 42 Washington State 10, 43 Purdue 9, T44 Kentucky 7, T44 Georgia Tech 7, T44 Mississippi State 7, T44 Missouri 7, T44 Texas Tech 7, T49 East Carolina 6, T49 Indiana 6, T49 Virginia Tech 6
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1989 Final Top 25
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1989 Final Top 25
1 Miami
2 Notre Dame
3 Florida State
4 Colorado
5 Tennessee
6 Auburn
7 Michigan
8 USC
9 Alabama
10 Illinois
11 Nebraska
12 Clemson
13 Arkansas
14 Houston
15 Penn State
16 Michigan State
17 Pitt
18 Virginia
19 Texas Tech
20 Texas A&M
21 West Virginia
22 BYU
23 Washington
24 Ohio State
25 Arizona
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1988 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1988 Final Top 20
1 Notre Dame
2 Miami
3 Florida State
4 Michigan
5 West Virginia
6 UCLA
7 USC
8 Auburn
9 Clemson
10 Nebraska
11 Oklahoma State
12 Arkansas
13 Syracuse
14 Oklahoma
15 Georgia
16 Washington State
17 Alabama
18 Houston
19 LSU
20 Indiana
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1987 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1987 Final Top 20
1 Miami
2 Florida State
3 Oklahoma
4 Syracuse
5 LSU
6 Nebraska
7 Auburn
8 Michigan State
9 UCLA
10 Texas A&M
11 Oklahoma State
12 Clemson
13 Georgia
14 Tennessee
15 South Carolina
16 Iowa
17 Notre Dame
18 USC
19 Michigan
20 Arizona State
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1986 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1986 Final Top 20
1 Penn State
2 Miami
3 Oklahoma
4 Arizona State
5 Nebraska
6 Auburn
7 Ohio State
8 Michigan
9 Alabama
10 LSU
11 Arizona
12 Baylor
13 Texas A&M
14 UCLA
15 Arkansas
16 Iowa
17 Clemson
18 Washington
19 Boston College
20 Virginia Tech
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1985 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1985 Final Top 20
1 Oklahoma
2 Michigan
3 Penn State
4 Tennessee
5 Florida
6 Texas A&M
7 UCLA
8 Air Force
9 Miami
10 Iowa
11 Nebraska
12 Arkansas
13 Alabama
14 Ohio State
15 Florida State
16 BYU
17 Baylor
18 Maryland
19 Georgia Tech
20 LSU
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1984 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1984 Final Top 20
1 BYU
2 Washington
3 Florida
4 Nebraska
5 Boston College
6 Oklahoma
7 Oklahoma State
8 SMU
9 UCLA
10 USC
11 South Carolina
12 Maryland
13 Ohio State
14 Auburn
15 LSU
16 Iowa
17 Florida State
18 Miami
19 Kentucky
20 Virginia
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1983 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1983 Final Top 20
1 Miami
2 Nebraska
3 Auburn
4 Georgia
5 Texas
6 Florida
7 BYU
8 Michigan
9 Ohio State
10 Illinois
11 Clemson
12 SMU
13 Air Force
14 Iowa
15 Alabama
16 West Virginia
17 UCLA
18 Pitt
19 Boston College
20 East Carolina
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1982 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1982 Final Top 20
1 Penn State
2 SMU
3 Nebraska
4 Georgia
5 UCLA
6 Arizona State
7 Washington
8 Clemson
9 Arkansas
10 Pitt
11 LSU
12 Ohio State
13 Florida State
14 Auburn
15 USC
16 Oklahoma
17 Texas
18 North Carolina
19 West Virginia
20 Maryland
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1981 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1981 Final Top 20
1 Clemson
2 Texas
3 Penn State
4 Pitt
5 SMU
6 Georgia
7 Alabama
8 Miami
9 North Carolina
10 Washington
11 Nebraska
12 Michigan
13 BYU
14 USC
15 Ohio State
16 Arizona State
17 West Virginia
18 Iowa
19 Missouri
20 Oklahoma
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
NEXT: AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1980 Final Top 20
AP College Football Poll, Rankings: 1980 Final Top 20
1 Georgia
2 Pitt
3 Oklahoma
4 Michigan
5 Florida State
6 Alabama
7 Nebraska
8 Penn State
9 Notre Dame
10 North Carolina
11 USC
12 BYU
13 UCLA
14 Baylor
15 Ohio State
16 Washington
17 Purdue
18 Miami
19 Mississippi State
20 SMU
AP Poll, All-Time Rankings
Greatest Programs of All-Time | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s
1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
AP Top 20 & 25 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985
1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989
