It’s finally here: The 2022 AP college football preseason poll is out. Though as you would expect, the usual suspects all made the top of the list.
Taking the top spot at No. 1 in the preseason poll is Alabama. The reigning SEC champion and last year’s national championship runner-up received 54 out of 63 first-place votes.
With 1,566 points, Alabama is 60 points ahead of No. 2 Ohio State. The Buckeyes had 1,506 points and six first-place votes.
Coming in third are the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs with 1,455 points and three first-place votes. Rounding out the top four is Clemson, who saw their six-year run as ACC champions snapped in 2021.
Rounding out the top 10 are (5-10) Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Utah, Michigan, Oklahoma and Baylor.
Naturally, college football fans had strong opinions on how the Associated Press voters allocated their votes. But the reaction has mostly been fans celebrating seeing their school get ranked or even votes:
Given some of the massive matchups early in the season, that ranking is going to change almost immediately.
No. 2 Ohio State takes on No. 5 Notre Dame in Week 1 in a game that will probably see an instant shakeup in the top five depending on the outcome.
But as we’ve seen in the past, early season losses have far less impact than late-season losses. If you can correct course after a loss in September, you’ll be good by the time the College Football Playoff comes around.
Who’s ranking did you agree with or disagree with?