When the AP top 25 preseason college football rankings come out

We're one major step closer to the 2024 season as we now know when the AP top 25 preseason college football rankings will be released.

It's official: One of the biggest dates on the calendar is approaching as the AP is set to announce the 2024 preseason top 25 college football rankings. / USA Today Sports | IMAGN

We're just days away from the start of a historic 2024 college football season, and as the preseason marches on, one of the most important dates on the schedule is fast approaching, as the AP is set to announce its top 25 preseason college football rankings.

AP top 25 voters will reveal their preseason rankings at around 12 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, August 12. But, much like the rankings themselves, the release time isn't always an exact science, as it's common the poll may come out a little before or a little after the set time.

Related: ESPN's 2024 preseason college football rankings

And... Phil Steele predicts the AP top 25 rankings

More... Strength of schedule rankings for 2024 season

How important are the rankings, really? It depends.

When it comes to going all the way, being the No. 1 team in the preseason poll 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, but not by much — the Tigers came in at No. 6 in the initial rankings before going on to run the table as the third 15-0 team in college football history and the second since the 1890s.

Georgia took the No. 1 spot in last preseason's AP football rankings, but the Bulldogs' undefeated regular season came to an end in a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.

Preseason No. 1 Georgia went on to defeat Florida State in the Orange Bowl and finished No. 4 in the final rankings, ahead of the Crimson Tide it lost to weeks before.

Michigan, last season's national champion, opened as the No. 2 team in the AP preseason rankings.

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