Alabama is the Top Team in the Associated Press Preseason Poll

The University of Alabama made it a perfect sweep, taking the top spot of the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll. The Crimson Tide already had the No. 1 spot in the Amway Coaches Preseason Poll earlier this month.

Alabama earned 52 out of a possible 61 first-place votes for 1,513 points, giving the team a 99-point advantage over second-place Ohio State University, which earned only three first-place votes and 1,414 points.

Florida State University received four first-place votes but sits just 18 points behind the Buckeyes with 1,396 points. The University of Southern California got four first-place votes, as well, but fell behind OSU by 71 points.

Defending national champion Clemson University landed at the No. 5 spot with 1,201 points and the final two first-place votes, coming in 124 points behind the Trojans. Pennsylvania State University is No. 6, the University of Oklahoma is No. 7, the University of Washington is No. 8, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is No. 9, and Oklahoma State University rounds out the top 10.

The major difference in the top 10 of coaches poll and AP poll is that the University of Michigan is tenth place in the coaches poll, rather than Oklahoma State. The Associated Press has Michigan at No. 11, whereas the Cowboys fell in that spot for the coaches poll.

Washington State University made the top 25 in the AP poll but isn’t even ranked on the coaches’ list. Meanwhile, the University of Utah, also a Pac-12 Conference team, is ranked in the coaches poll but not the AP.

Alabama is the only team from the Southeastern Conference to be in the AP’s top 10, but the conference does have the most schools in the poll with six. Auburn University is ranked No. 11, Louisiana State University is ranked No. 12, the University of Georgia is ranked No. 15, the University of Florida is ranked No. 17, and the University of Tennessee is ranked No. 25.

The Atlantic Coast Conference tied for the second most contenders in the poll with five teams. Florida State and Clemson lead the way, with No. 16 University of Louisville, No. 18 University of Miami-Florida, and No. 21 Virginia Polytechnic and State University rounding out the ACC teams.

The Big 12 also ended up with five teams in the AP poll. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are top-10 teams, with No. 20 Kansas State University, No. 22 University of West Virginia and No. 24 University of Texas also in the poll.

Both the Big Ten and Pac-12 have four teams in the poll. Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan represent the Big Ten, and USC, Washington, Stanford University and Washington State are on the list for the Pac-12.

American Athletic Conference is the only Group of Five conference to get a team into both the AP and coaches poll. The University of South Florida is No. 19 in the AP poll and No. 21 in the coaches poll.