AP top 25 poll: Texas, Penn State lead college football rankings for 2025 preseason

The most important date on the preseason schedule has arrived as the AP top 25 preseason college football rankings have been voted on and revealed just two weeks before the start of what should be another historic 2025 season.

As in the Coaches Poll, the voters selected Texas as the No. 1 team in the country this preseason, but it was by no means a mandate, as five other teams also received first-place votes, with Big Ten power Penn State coming up right behind the Longhorns in that tally.

AP top 25 preseason college football rankings

First-place votes in parentheses

Texas (25)
Penn State (23)
Ohio State (11)
Clemson (4)
Georgia (1)
Notre Dame
Oregon (1)
Alabama
LSU
Miami
Arizona State
Illinois
South Carolina
Michigan
Florida
SMU
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Texas A&M
Indiana
Ole Miss
Iowa State
Texas Tech
Tennessee
Boise State

How did we do? Our AP top 25 rankings prediction

Other teams receiving votes

BYU 156, Utah 144, Baylor 132, Louisville 90, Southern Cal 64, Georgia Tech 63, Missouri 33, Tulane 23, Nebraska 23, UNLV 21, Toledo 13, Auburn 10, James Madison 9, Memphis 9, Florida St. 8, Duke 6, Liberty 5, Navy 5, Iowa 5, TCU 4, Pittsburgh 3, Army 2, Colorado 1, Louisiana-Lafayette 1.

Rankings: Coaches Poll | ESPN top 25 teams

AP top 25 rankings need to know

Horns History. For the first time ever, Texas has debuted at No. 1 in both preseason rankings, or any of them, something the school has never done in its illustrious football history. Its previous best in a preseason AP poll was No. 2.

Hook ‘em, but don’t book ‘em. Texas may be the No. 1 team in the preseason poll, but top-ranked teams this early don’t tend to win the national title. Just two in this century, USC in 2004 and Alabama in 2017, opened at No. 1 and lifted the trophy at year’s end.

S-E-C. As expected, the SEC leads the way in the AP top 25 rankings, with 10 teams included in the preseason poll, while the Big Ten placed five teams, and the ACC had three schools listed.

No. 1 teams. During the College Football Playoff era, only three top-ranked AP preseason teams have missed the CFP: Ohio State in 2015, Alabama in 2022, and Georgia in 2023. But only one team, Alabama in 2017, began the season at No. 1 in the AP rankings and won the national championship.

Unranked teams’ success: Four teams that didn’t appear in the AP top 25 preseason rankings went on to make the College Football Playoff last year: Arizona State, Boise State, SMU, and Indiana.

B1G rivals: Ohio State has dropped four straight games against Michigan, but is favored to win back the rivalry this year, although we also said that last year, when the Buckeyes lost as 21-point underdogs.

AP history: Ohio State remains the most successful college football team in preseason history, ranking No. 1 all-time with 72 appearances in the preseason rankings, appearing in more than 95 percent of early polls since 1950. It’s also the most successful all-time with 999 appearances in the regular season polls, nearly 80 percent of them since 1936.

More: How the AP top 25 football rankings are created

Where champions tend to be ranked in the preseason

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 rankings.

LSU’s historic 2019 team was the outlier, but even then, it wasn’t by much, coming in at No. 6 in the initial poll before going on to run the table as only the third 15-0 team in college football history and the second since the 1890s.

Georgia took the No. 1 spot in last preseason’s official AP football rankings, and while the Bulldogs didn’t lift the trophy, their season wasn’t a waste, either.

Georgia won the SEC Championship and, despite losing two regular season games, earned an automatic place in the first 12-team College Football Playoff, falling to eventual runner-up Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinal round game.

So where else is a good place to be ranked? Let's take a look at where the College Football Playoff champions placed in their respective preseason polls.

Eventual CFP champions' preseason AP rankings

2014: Ohio State (preseason No. 5)

2015: Alabama (preseason No. 3)

2016: Clemson (preseason No. 2)

2017: Alabama (preseason No. 1)

2018: Clemson (preseason No. 2)

2019: LSU (preseason No. 6)

2020: Alabama (preseason No. 3)

2021: Georgia (preseason No. 5)

2022: Georgia (preseason No. 3)

2023: Michigan (preseason No. 2)

2024: Ohio State (preseason No. 2)

If history is any guide, future national champions need to be ranked in the top five in the preseason poll.

Or if you want to get really specific, taking all the preseason polls into consideration and averaging out the eventual national champions, the best place to debut in the preseason rankings in the playoff era is exactly 3.09 in the top 25.

The last two national champion teams — Michigan in 2023 and Ohio State in 2024 — both placed No. 2 in the preseason polls in the years they won college football’s ultimate prize.

How AP preseason No. 1 teams fare

While it's common for preseason No. 1 teams to make the College Football Playoff, those schools don't often go on to win the national championship.

How have preseason AP No. 1 ranked teams finished during the College Football Playoff era?

2014: Florida State (finished No. 5)

2015: Ohio State (finished No. 4)

2016: Alabama (finished No. 2)

2017: Alabama (finished No. 1, national champion)

2018: Alabama (finished No. 2)

2019: Clemson (finished No. 2)

2020: Clemson (finished No. 3)

2021: Alabama (finished No. 2)

2022: Alabama (finished No. 5)

2023: Georgia (finished No. 4)

2024: Georgia (finished No. 6)

So if your team opens the preseason as the No. 1 team in college football, your exact landing spot at season’s end would be 3.27 in the AP rankings, taking an average of every No. 1 team’s last poll position in the playoff era.