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Associated Press Releases Pre-Season Top 25 College Football Rankings

Published: 18th Aug 12 11:17 am
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Associated Press Releases Pre-Season Top 25 College Football Rankings
Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE

As we are now less than two weeks away from the start of college football season, pre-season rankings will start to filter out from all the major sources.

The most anticipated– and arguably that given the most clout– annually is the Associated Press Top 25 college football rankings.

Here are the rankings which were released today:

AP Top 25
RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 USC (25) 0-0 1445
2 Alabama (17) 0-0 1411
3 LSU (16) 0-0 1402
4 Oklahoma (1) 0-0 1286
5 Oregon 0-0 1274
6 Georgia 0-0 1107
7 Florida State 0-0 1093
8 Michigan (1) 0-0 1000
9 South Carolina 0-0 994
10 Arkansas 0-0 963
11 West Virginia 0-0 856
12 Wisconsin 0-0 838
13 Michigan State 0-0 742
14 Clemson 0-0 615
15 Texas 0-0 569
16 Virginia Tech 0-0 548
17 Nebraska 0-0 485
19 Oklahoma State 0-0 430
20 TCU 0-0 397
21 Stanford 0-0 383
22 Kansas State 0-0 300
23 Florida 0-0 214
24 Boise State 0-0 212
25 Louisville 0-0 105
  • Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 83, Washington 55, Auburn 53, UNC 32, Utah 30, Georgia Tech 25, Brigham Young 22, Tennessee 15, SOUFLA 11, Baylor 9, Texas A&M 5, UCF 4, Missouri 3, NCSTATE 3, Cincinnati 3, Houston 1, Louisiana Tech 1, Mississippi State 1, Northern Illinois 1
A few snap observations from what we see with the poll:


* The top five are hardly a surprise. Every pre-season poll that you’ll see in coming weeks will be a combination of these same five teams. I agree with the USC Trojans being the prohibitive early season favorite. Coming off of probation, Lane Kiffin‘s squad is loaded throughout the roster and will be the team to beat not only in the PAC 12, but nationally.

* The Georgia Bulldogs and Arkansas Razorbacks are two teams that could make some noise and work their way into the top tier quickly. As loaded as the SEC West is, with four of the country’s top teams going to battle every Saturday, there is bound to be a few unexpected results. It’s very possible these results could work in the favor of these two teams.


* The Clemson Tigers– yet again– are ranked among the top 15 teams in the country in spite of their 70-33 Sugar Bowl thrashing at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers to wrap-up the 2011 season. If Clemson can ever live up to the talent level of the players that walks their sideline, they could be one of the most surprising teams in college football. As we all know, however, this is a yearly quandry.



* The remainder of the poll wasn’t really too much of a surprise– the teams from 17-25 are basically interchangeable and will look vastly different a few weeks in.

So, do you agree with the AP?

Are the USC Trojans the best team in college football? Or, is LSU? Or is it the Crimson Tide?

Let us know your thoughts in the Facebook comments below!!

—

Kris Hughes is the College Football Network Manager for Rant Sports and a member of the Football Writers Association of America.

You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.

Kris is also the host of Rant Sports Radio on the Blog Talk Radio Network Wednesday evenings at 8 Central Time.

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