Killer Frogs

ICYMI: AP Releases College Football Preseason Top 25

Love or hate them, the first set of AP rankings are out for the 2022 college football season.

Brett Gibbons

© Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK
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There's been a lot of public pushback on preseason polls, most recently from Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Love or hate them, the 2022 preseason AP Top 25 dropped Monday afternoon and kickstarted another discussion on who is ranked too highly and too low.

I come from the camp of "Who Cares, This Is Solely To Generate More Excitement For Early Season Matchups." #11 Oregon vs. #3 Georgia just feels more exciting with the rankings.

But, I digress. Who cracked the AP Top 25 preseason poll?

2022 AP Top 25 Preseason Rankings

Numbers in parentheses mark first-place votes.

  1. Alabama Crimson Tide (54)
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes (6)
  3. Georgia Bulldogs (3)
  4. Clemson Tigers
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  6. Texas A&M Aggies
  7. Utah Utes
  8. Michigan Wolverines
  9. Oklahoma Sooners
  10. Baylor Bears
  11. Oregon Ducks
  12. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  13. NC State Wolfpack
  14. USC Trojans
  15. Michigan State Spartans
  16. Miami FL Hurricanes
  17. Pittsburgh Panthers
  18. Wisconsin Badgers
  19. Arkansas Razorbacks
  20. Kentucky Wildcats
  21. Ole Miss Rebels
  22. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
  23. Cincinnati Bearcats
  24. Houston Cougars
  25. BYU Cougars

Next five out: Tennessee, Texas, Iowa, Penn State, LSU

AP Poll Trends

The college football season is wildly unpredictable, which is what makes it so engaging to fans. In each of the last 20 seasons (except 2019), at least one team ranked inside the preseason top 10 finished the year unranked. Conversely, in 27 of the last 29 seasons (2011, 2020), an unranked team finished the season ranked inside the top 10.

In 16 of the last 18 seasons (since 2004), the National Champion was ranked inside the initial top seven. Auburn in 2010 (#22) and Florida State in 2013 (#11) were the lone exceptions.

(Trend notes courtesy of Brett McMurphy on Twitter.)

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Brett Gibbons
BRETT GIBBONS

Brett is an avid sports traveler and former Division-I football recruiter for Bowling Green and Texas State. He’s covered college sports for Fansided, Stadium Journey, and several independent outlets over the past five years. A graduate of BGSU, Brett currently works on-site at Google as a project lead for content curation products.

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