College football rankings: Comparing the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll for 2022 preseason

Your look at how the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll college football rankings look this preseason.

The first major step towards the college football season is officially here as the AP and Coaches have both announced their preseason Top 25 rankings.

Spoiler alert — Alabama is your consensus No. 1 team in the country heading into the fall, but that could actually open the door for another school to win the natty. More on that later...

Next up is the kickoff for the 2022 season. Where do things stand ahead of the football season to come?

Let's compare where AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll voters ranked the best teams in the country heading into the 2022 season.

College football rankings: Comparing the preseason AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll

Top 25 rankings	AP Top 25 Poll	Coaches Poll
1	Alabama	Alabama
2	Ohio State	Ohio State
3	Georgia	Georgia
4	Clemson	Clemson
5	Notre Dame	Notre Dame
6	Texas A&M	Michigan
7	Utah	Texas A&M
8	Michigan	Utah
9	Oklahoma	Oklahoma
10	Baylor	Baylor
11	Oregon	Oklahoma State
12	Oklahoma State	Oregon
13	NC State	NC State
14	USC	Michigan State
15	Michigan State	USC
16	Miami	Pittsburgh
17	Pittsburgh	Miami
18	Wisconsin	Texas
19	Arkansas	Wake Forest
20	Kentucky	Wisconsin
21	Ole Miss	Kentucky
22	Wake Forest	Cincinnati
23	Cincinnati	Arkansas
24	Houston	Ole Miss
25	BYU	Houston

How important are these preseason rankings, really?

Well, when it comes to getting your team in the College Football Playoff, being the No. 1 team in the preseason isn't the most important thing in the world.

In the 21st century, only two teams that debuted at No. 1 finished as national champions — USC in 2004 under the old BCS system, and Alabama in 2017, the only team in the College Football Playoff era to do it.

So where is a good place to be ranked if you want to win the national championship?

History suggests anywhere in the top five is in your best interest. All but one team in the CFP era that won the national title started No. 5 or better in the preseason poll.

LSU's historic 2019 team was the outlier — coming in at No. 6 in the initial rankings before going on to run the table as only the third 15-0 team in college football history and the second since the 1890s.

---

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Facebook