The Big Ten and SEC accounted for over half of the top 25 in the Preseason AP Poll. But how many did each conference in college football have?
With the college football season just under two weeks away, the preseason AP Poll was released Monday afternoon. The top two conferences, the Big Ten and SEC, dominated the rankings, accounting for 16 of the 25 spots in the rankings. But the other power conferences have multiple representatives, as well, filling in seven of the last nine spots, with the Mountain West and No. 6 Notre Dame filling in the final two spots.
Here is a look at how each conference is represented in preseason AP Poll.
Mountain West Conference: 1 team
No. 25 Boise State
Boise State represented the Mountain West in the first 12-team College Football Playoff, but the Broncos are looking to be a mainstay in the playoffs. However, they will have to do it without superstar running back Ashton Jeanty, who's off to the Las Vegas Raiders. With the current rankings, they would be the fifth conference champion and the No. 12 seed in the College Football Playoff.
ACC: 3 teams
No. 4 Clemson, No. 10 Miami, No. 16 SMU
The ACC has three teams within the top 25 of the AP Poll. Both College Football Playoff representatives and Miami are ranked highly. With the ACC, it's quality over quantity as the reigning ACC Champions, Clemson, continue to gain hype, receiving the No. 4 ranking.
Big 12: 4 teams
No. 11 Arizona State, No. 17 Kansas State, No. 22 Iowa State, No. 23 Texas Tech
The Big 12 had just one team make the College Football Playoff. A conference clearly in a rebuild phase has the third most representatives in the rankings, with a team just on the outside. BYU is the unofficial No. 26 team in the country, receiving the most votes among unranked teams. Texas Tech, a team on the rise, received recognition for what it's done in recruiting, but it's Arizona State that remains the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 11.
Big Ten: 6 teams
No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 7 Oregon, No. 12 Illinois, No. 14 Michigan, No. 20 Indiana
The Big Ten, as expected, has the second-most teams in the AP Top 25. However, where the six teams rank is unexpected. Indiana is the lowest ranked of the six, despite a strong transfer portal. Illinois and Michigan are just outside the top 10. The Fighting Illini are gaining more respect from the voters after a strong 2024 season, coming in at No. 12. The Wolverines will look to a new quarterback to guide the team to a College Football Playoff berth after just missing the expanded playoffs last season. The top three teams sit inside the top 10, with Oregon dropping from last season's consistent top 5 ranking after losing a number of players to the NFL. The defending national champions, Ohio State come in at No. 3 while Penn State's hype continues to rise, ranking No. 2, just missing out on the No. 1 spot.
SEC: 10 teams
No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 Alabama, No. 9 LSU, No. 13 South Carolina, No. 15 Florida, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 19 Texas A&M, No. 21 Ole Miss, No. 24 Tennessee
The AP Poll clearly believes the SEC is the deepest conference with a staggering 10 teams in the top 25. In addition to the most teams, the conference also has the preseason top team in No. 1 Texas, who just barely edged out No. 2 Penn State for the top spot. The conference adds four more top 10 teams to the rankings starting with No. 5 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama who are mainstays in the top 10. LSU comes in at No. 9 with the most excitement within the program since the Tigers took home the national championship in 2021. South Carolina and Florida continue to rise as they come in at No. 13 and No. 15, respectively. Oklahoma and Texas A&M are just inside the top 20 at No. 18 and No. 19 as both teams look to bounce back from underwhelming 2024 seasons. Ole Miss and Tennessee will begin the 2025 season with new quarterbacks but still earn top 25 spots at No. 21 and No. 24.
Overall, the preseason rankings don't necessarily mean anything. Last season, just eight of the 12 playoff teams started the season ranked inside the top 25 of the AP Poll. However, the top four teams in the 2024 preseason poll all made the expanded playoff.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Breaking down the the preseason AP Poll by conference
Category: General Sports
