MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – The 25 Preseason 2016 College Football Rankings released by the Associated Press (AP) this past weekend.
As expected, defending College Football Playoffs crown carriers Alabama heads into the new season as the No. 1 team in the country, after collecting the most votes.
The Crimson Tide, who also started the 1966, 1978, 2010 and 2013 seasons as the writers’ top-ranked college football team in the country, received 33 of 61 total first-place votes from the media panel for 1469 points.
Alabama, which finished last season with a 14-1 record, is expected to be very tough this term as well, having returned 14 starters from last campaign’s squad that won the school’s 16th national championship.
Head coach Nick Saban, along with several pundits are very optimistic about the defending champions’ chances repeating in the college football playoffs.
Meanwhile, Clemson, which collected 16 first-place votes for 1443 points, claimed the No. 2 spot in the 2016 preseason college football poll, the highest preseason ranking in program history.
Oklahoma had four first-place votes and starts the 2016 season at No. 3, while Florida State collected five first-place votes and LSU (1) to round out the top five teams in the rankings.
Ohio State (1) at No. 6 and Michigan (1) at No. 7, were the other teams to receive No. 1 votes, while Stanford, Tennessee and Notre Dame completed the top 10 teams in the rankings.
The SEC Conference placed four teams in the top-15, while the BIG Ten had three in the same listings.
Meanwhile, Florida Gators the Miami Hurricanes and the South Florida Bulls were among the teams receiving votes in the preseason rankings.
NCAA College Football
2016 Preseason AP Poll
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida State
5. LSU
6. Ohio State
7. Michigan
8. Stanford
9. Tennessee
10. Notre Dame
11. Mississippi
12. Michigan State
13. TCU
14. Washington
15. Houston
16. UCLA
17. Iowa
18. Georgia
19. Louisville
20. Southern California
21. Oklahoma State
22. North Carolina
23. Baylor
24. Oregon
25. Florida
Dropped from rankings: Utah 17, Navy 18, Wisconsin 21, Northwestern 23, Western Kentucky 24
Others receiving votes: Miami 159, Texas A&M 81, Utah 74, Washington State 68, Boise State 49, San Diego State 46, Wisconsin 42, Auburn 22, Pittsburgh 15, Arkansas 14, Texas 12, Nebraska 11, Navy 8, Northwestern 5, Western Kentucky 4, South Florida 2, Toledo 2
