For the third consecutive year, Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide sit atop the Associated Press' Top-25 poll heading into the new season. According to ESPN, the preseason AP poll started in 1950 and since then only Oklahoma from 1985-87 had started #1 in three straight years until now.
Alabama, who has won five national titles since 2009, received 42 out of 61 first-place votes and will look to repeat last season's performance where they both started and finished #1 in the rankings.
Saban has a decision to make at the QB position, as the Crimson Tide currently have two studs on the roster; Tua Tagovailoa, who won the College Football Playoff championship game for Bama with a second-half comeback and overtime touchdown pass, and Jalen Hurts, who has led the Tide to the national title game in each of his two seasons as a starter.
As for the rest of the AP Top-25 Poll, the Clemson Tigers check in #2 with 18 first-place votes, followed by the Georgia Bulldogs, who lost to Bama in the 2018 title game. The Big 10's Wisconsin Badgers and Ohio State Buckeyes round out the Top-5. After finishing last season with an unblemished record, the UCF Golden Knights find themselves in the Top-25 poll for the first time to the start the season, listed at #21 overall.
Check out the full preseason Top-25 below.
Rankings
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Georgia
4. Wisconsin
5. Ohio State
6. Washington
7. Oklahoma
8. Miami
9. Auburn
10. Penn State
11. Michigan State
12. Notre Dame
13. Stanford
14. Michigan
15. USC
16. TCU
17. West Virginia
18. Mississippi State
19. Florida State
20. Virginia Tech
21. UCF
22. Boise State
23. Texas
24. Oregon
25. LSU