When do the AP top 25 college football rankings come out?

Your guide for when the top 25 college football rankings come out this and every week during the season.

When the AP top 25 college football rankings come out / USA Today Sports | IMAGN

Coming out of a hugely consequential Rivalry Week with some notable upsets and ranked teams moving up and down the polls, it's time to get another update to the latest Top 25 college football rankings as we move into Championship Weekend.

Up until recently, there were two official rankings that came out every week, the AP top 25 and the Coaches Poll

But now those two esteemed polls are joined by the College Football Playoff rankings released by the Selection Committee that will directly slot the 12 playoff teams and other bowl games.

Looking for the official Playoff Rankings? Here's your schedule for when the College Football Playoff committee releases its top 25 poll.

Here's what you need to know about the rankings schedule this week.

College football rankings: When the Top 25 polls are released

First up, the Coaches Poll will be announced at or around 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday after the eligible coaches cast their ballots for the top 25 teams.

From there, the Associated Press will announce its official top 25 rankings at or around 2 p.m. Eastern on Sunday afternoon after official voters submit their ballots to the AP to be counted.

Keep in mind, however: much like the football rankings themselves, their scheduled release time isn't an exact science.

These are estimated times and occasionally the ranking services can be early or late, by as much as 15 to 30 minutes every week.

Sometimes, ballots arrive late or there are technical issues in calculating them, but both polls are usually released around the times listed.

Whenever they do come out, you can find the AP top 25, the Coaches Poll, and the official College Football Playoff rankings here on CFBHQ.

How the AP top 25 rankings are created

Voters designated by the Associated Press who take part in the poll first create a list of what they consider the 25 best teams in the country. 

From there, they assign each team a number of points, awarding the best team the most number of points, which is 25. 

They give the second-lowest number to the second-best team, the third-lowest to the third-best team, etc.

• No. 1 team: 25 points
• No. 2 team: 24
• No. 3 team: 23
• No. 4 team: 22
• No. 5 team: 21
• No. 6 team: 20
• No. 7 team: 19
• No. 8 team: 18
• No. 9 team: 17
• No. 10 team: 16
• No. 11 team: 15
• No. 12 team: 14
• No. 13 team: 13
• No. 14 team: 12
• No. 15 team: 11
• No. 16 team: 10
• No. 17 team: 9
• No. 18 team: 8
• No. 19 team: 7
• No. 20 team: 6
• No. 21 team: 5
• No. 22 team: 4
• No. 23 team: 3
• No. 24 team: 2
• No. 25 team: 1

The AP then combines the numerical value of each voter's poll and ranks the teams by number of points in descending order to create the final rankings.

College Football Playoff Rankings Schedule

When does it all become officially official? Let's take a look at when the selection committee will announce their top 25 rankings.

All times Eastern, all on ESPN network

CFP rankings release No. 1
Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 2
Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 3
Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 4
Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 8 p.m.

CFP rankings release No. 5
Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

Selection Day
Sunday, Dec. 8 at 12 p.m.

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