Alabama Tightens Hold Atop Top 25 Rankings, Closes in on Unanimous No. 1

Crimson Tide received all but one first-place vote in coaches poll, remained No. 1 following season-opening blowout against Miami.

Alabama Athletics

The University of Alabama strengthened its hold atop the weekly rankings with the 44-13 victory over Miami to open the 2021-22 college football season. 

The Crimson Tide received 59 first-place votes in The Associated Press poll, up from 47 in the preseason poll. It received all but four first-place votes.

Alabama also picked up another first-place vote in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA football coaches' poll, which was released Tuesday morning. Georgia's one first-place vote kept Alabama from being a unanimous selection. 

With Texas A&M moving up to No. 5 on both polls, the SEC had three teams in the top five, and four in the top 10 in the coaches' poll. 

The league has six teams ranked by the AP, the most of any conference. 

Also per the AP: One conference has held the top two spots 76 times since the AP poll started in 1936, none more than the SEC. The now-defunct Big Eight is next with 23.

Miami dropped all the way from No. 16 to No. 24 with the loss to the Crimson Tide.

AP Top 25

(Will be updated)

1. Alabama (59) 1-0 1,571 1

2. Georgia (4) 1-0 1,507 5

3. Ohio State 1-0 1,437 4

4. Oklahoma 1-0 1,374 2

5. Texas A&M 1-0 1,288 6

6. Clemson 0-1 1,231 3

7. Cincinnati 1-0 1,136 8

8. Notre Dame 1-0 1,070 9

9. Iowa State 1-0 1,045 7

10. Iowa 1-0 942 18

11. Penn State 1-0 908 19

12. Oregon 1-0 883 11

13. Florida 1-0 842 13

14. Southern California 1-0 789 15

15. Texas 1-0 683 21

16. UCLA 2-0 668 NR

17. Coastal Carolina 1-0 384 22

18. Wisconsin 0-1 376 12

19. Virgina Tech 1-0 359 NR

20. Ole Miss 1-0 335 NR 

21. Utah 1-0 334 24

22. Miami 0-1 229 14

23. Arizona State 1-0 222 25

24. North Carolina 0-1 198 10 

25. Auburn 1-0 83 NR

Others receiving votes: TCU 80, NC State 69, UCF 61, LSU 57, Liberty 57, Michigan 52, Oklahoma State 39, Indiana 37, Michigan State 28, Nevada 23, Kansas State 13, Louisiana-Lafayette 12, BYU 10, Boston College 8, Ball State 7, Maryland 6, UAB 5, Arizona 5, Florida State 4, Kentucky 3, Army 2, Texas Tech 2, Appalachian State 1

USA TODAY/AFCA Coaches

Rank, Team, Record, Points, Previous 

1 Alabama (64) 1-0 1624 1

2 Georgia (1) 1-0 1537 5

3 Ohio State 1-0 1491 4

4 Oklahoma 1-0 1397 3

5 Texas A&M 1-0 1334 6

6 Clemson 0-1 1239 2

7 Notre Dame 1-0 1197 7

8 Cincinnati 1-0 1113 10

9 Florida 1-0 1058 11

10 Iowa State 1-0 1057 8

11 Oregon 1-0 920 12

12 Iowa 1-0 914 18

13 Penn State 1-0 872 20

14 Southern California 1-0 828 14

15 Texas 1-0 653 19

16 UCLA 2-0 538 NR

17 Wisconsin 0-1 359 15

18 Utah 1-0 294 NR

19 Coastal Carolina 1-0 289 24

20 Ole Miss 1-0 285 25

21 Virginia Tech 1-0 274 NR

22 North Carolina 0-1 252 9

23 Oklahoma State 1-0 243  22

24 Miami 0-1 186 16

25 Arizona State 1-0 181  NR

Dropped out of rankings: No. 13 Louisiana State; No. 17 Indiana; No. 21 Washington; No. 23 UL Lafayette.

Also received votes: Auburn 123; Michigan 99; Louisiana State 95; NC State 81; Liberty 78; Brigham Young 65; Indiana 58; Texas Christian 49; Central Florida 48; Florida State 34; Michigan State 33; Kentucky 28; Pittsburgh 20; UL Lafayette 19; Kansas State 19; Boston College 19; Appalachian State 15; Southern Methodist 14; Rutgers 11; Arkansas 11; Maryland 9; Tennessee 7; Nevada 7; Fresno State 7; Army 7; Tulane 6; Virginia 5; San Jose State 5; Missouri 5; Ball State 5; Marshall 3; UAB 2; Air Force 2; Charlotte 1.

FWAA/NFF Super 16 

Rank, Team, Votes, First-place, Last week 

1. Alabama 825 46 1 

2. Georgia 771 6 5 

3. Ohio State 716 4 

4. Oklahoma 640 3 

5. Texas A&M 590 6 

6. Clemson 566 2 

7. Notre Dame 456 8 

8. Cincinnati 412 10 

9. Iowa State 356 7 

10. Penn State 296 N/A 

11. Florida 291 12 

12. Oregon 248 11 

13. Iowa 243 N/A 

14. USC 203 15 

15. UCLA 202 N/A 

16. Texas 89 N/A

Others receiving votes: Virginia Tech (39), Ole Miss (31), Wisconsin (20), Utah (18), North Carolina (18), NC State (9), TCU (8), UCF (4), Miami-FL (3), Coastal Carolina (3), Auburn (3), Oklahoma State (2), Boston College (2), Michigan (2), Arizona State (2), Liberty (1), Florida State (1), Nevada (1), Michigan State (