When the AP preseason top 25 college football rankings will be released
We're officially inside of one month until the 2023 college football season finally kicks off and fall camp opens and as the preseason marches on, one of the most important dates on the schedule is fast approaching, as the AP is set to announce the preseason top 25 college football rankings. Now, we have a date as to when the poll will come out.
AP top 25 voters will reveal their first official preseason rankings at around 12 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, August 14. But, much like the rankings themselves, the release time isn't an exact science, as it's common the poll may come out a little before or a little after the set time.
Related: ESPN reveals 2023 preseason college football rankings
How important are these preseason rankings, really? It depends.
When it comes to going all the way, being the No. 1 team in the preseason poll isn't the most important thing in the world.
In the 21st century, only two teams that debuted at No. 1 finished as national champions — USC in 2004 under the old BCS system, and Alabama in 2017, the only team in the College Football Playoff era to do it.
So where is a good place to be ranked if you want to win the national championship?
History suggests anywhere in the top five is in your best interest. All but one team in the CFP era that won the national title started No. 5 or better in the preseason poll.
LSU's historic 2019 team was the outlier — coming in at No. 6 in the initial rankings before going on to run the table as only the third 15-0 team in college football history and the second since the 1890s.
Alabama took the No. 1 spot in last preseason's official AP football rankings, but the Crimson Tide went on to lose two games and miss out on the College Football Playoff entirely. Eventual national champion Georgia was No. 3 in last summer's first poll.
Georgia is the overwhelming favorite to open the preseason as the No. 1 team in college football once again. We'll see if the Bulldogs are able to pull off something we haven't seen since the 1930s: the elusive three-peat.
More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | All Teams