College football rankings: What AP top 25 teams got 1st-place votes

With the release of the AP top 25 preseason college football rankings, a closer look at what teams earned first-place votes in the 2024 ballot.

Just three teams earned first-place votes in the AP top 25 preseason college football rankings. / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

A major milestone on the preseason calendar has been reached as AP top 25 voters have revealed their 2024 preseason college football rankings leading into a historic season marked by conference realignment and the expanded, 12-team playoff format.

Thanks to that realignment, it's expected the SEC and Big Ten will dominate in the run up to the national championship, and it was those two conferences that were most represented among the teams listed in the preseason AP top 25 rankings.

Of the three teams that received first-place votes, one was from the SEC and the other two from the Big Ten, and all three should be in the thick of the playoff race later this season.

AP top 25 rankings: Who got first-place votes?

Georgia (46 votes). The near-consensus No. 1 team in the preseason rankings predictably earned most of the first-place votes. But history suggests the Bulldogs may not profit from the lofty ranking. Only one preseason No. 1 team has won the national title in the CFP era: Alabama in 2017. Georgia faces a very hard schedule, too, with games at Alabama, Texas, and Ole Miss.

Ohio State (15 votes). The current favorite in the Big Ten, the Buckeyes boast a roster of returning experience on both sides of the ball, and scored some blue-chip transfers to help boost the rotation, but it's worth noting that Ohio State has never won the national championship as the preseason No. 2 team in the polls.

Oregon (1 vote). Action Network's Brett McMurphy was the sole voter to name the Ducks the No. 1 team in college football. Oregon emerged at No. 3 in the national rankings when counting all the other votes. Entering the Big Ten this year, the Ducks boast arguably college football's best wide receiver corps, and brought in veteran quarterback Dillon Gabriel as a transfer.

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