Clemson tops Alabama in first AP Top 25 of 2019 college football season
For the first time since 2015, Alabama will not enter the college football season as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25.
Clemson, after topping the Crimson Tide in last year’s College Football Playoff title game, opens the season atop the rankings for the first time in program history. Clemson received 52 of the 62 first-place votes while Alabama, ranked No. 2, received the other 10.
Behind Clemson and Alabama is Georgia at No. 3. Oklahoma, coming off its fourth straight Big 12 title, is ranked No. 4.
Ohio State, entering its first season under Ryan Day following Urban Meyer’s retirement, is No. 5 in the rankings. The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by LSU at No. 6, Michigan at No. 7, Florida at No. 8, Notre Dame at No. 9 and Texas at No. 10.
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Also of note is No. 21 Iowa State making just its second ever appearance in the preseason poll. The only other time the Cyclones were ranked was in 1978, when they were No. 20 entering the season. Elsewhere, No. 22 Syracuse is ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1998 and No. 24 Nebraska, after a four-year absence, is back in the preseason rankings for the first time since 2014.
From a conference perspective, the Big Ten leads the way with seven ranked teams, topping the SEC’s six. Next, the Pac-12 has five ranked teams, coming in ahead of the Big 12 (three) and ACC (two). No. 9 Notre Dame is the only independent team ranked and No. 17 UCF, representing the AAC, is the only Group of Five program in the rankings.
Here is the full Top 25:
1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Michigan
8. Florida
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas
11. Oregon
12. Texas A&M
13. Washington
14. Utah
15. Penn State
16. Auburn
17. UCF
18. Michigan State
19. Wisconsin
20. Iowa
21. Iowa State
22. Syracuse
23. Washington State
24. Nebraska
25. Stanford
Others receiving votes:
Missouri 117, Army 94, Mississippi State 87, Miami (FL) 70, Northwestern 63, TCU 57, Virginia 44, Boise State 38, Cincinnati 16, South Carolina 15, Virginia Tech 12, Fresno State 8, Utah State 8, Minnesota 7, Memphis 6, Appalachian State 5, West Virginia 3, Oklahoma State 3, Arizona State 3, Arizona 1, USC 1
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