College football latest: AP Top 25 preseason rankings to be released
A tradition since 1936, no organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than the AP — and now you can follow live updates before and after the poll drops.
See where your team ranks and which teams and players to watch ahead of the 2025 season.
Here's what to know:
1. Who decides the rankings? The Top 25 voters are over 60 journalists covering college football at AP-member news organizations. They're urged to base their votes on head-to-head results, not reputation, preseason speculation or regional bias.
2. Which teams finished on top last season? Ohio State (14-2), after beating Notre Dame for its first national championship since 2014, secured the No. 1 spot in last season's final Top 25 poll. The Irish (14-2) finished No. 2 for their highest end-of-season ranking since 1993. Oregon (13-1) lost to Ohio State in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal and finished No. 3.
3. When does the 2025 season start? The wait is almost over — opening weekend begins Saturday, Aug. 23.
Poll sets the stage for Big Ten rivalry vs. SEC
After two consecutive national titles won by Big Ten teams, the SEC is hungry to get back on top.
The Big Ten and SEC rivalry goes beyond the football field. Over the offseason, the two most powerful conferences struggled to nail down a new playoff format. The Big Ten wants a 16-team format, with four guaranteed spots for both the Big Ten and SEC, two each for the Big 12 and ACC and 1 at-large bid. The SEC favors five conference champions and 11 at-large bids, which would presumably favor the top conferences most seasons.
Stay tuned!
Why bother with preseason rankings?
There is a school of thought that preseason rankings for any sport are a waste of time; after all, how do you accurately assess teams with new players from last season that have not played a game yet?
That argument has not and probably never will stop the proliferation of preseason guesswork, including media outlets with full-time journalists who provide analyses of just how good a team might be. After all, the conversation around the season isn't limited to game days. And if a preseason ranking turns out to be wildly inaccurate – as they can often be – that's part of the conversation, too.
What is the AP Top 25?
The AP Top 25 college football poll preseason rankings will be released today at 12 p.m. ET. A tradition since 1936, no organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than the AP — and now you can follow live updates before and after the poll drops. See where your team ranks and which teams and players to watch ahead of the 2025 college football season.
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