Preseason college football rankings are already out in full force as fans wait until the season kicks off in September.
Who is the preseason No. 1? Well, that depends on who you ask. Sporting News put its post-spring Top 25 up against five other publications — ESPN, Bleacher Report, CBSSports.com, Fox Sports and Athlon — to see what everybody else’s preseason rankings looked like. Four publications put Alabama at No. 1, while ESPN picked Ohio State and CBS Sports took Florida State.
Six schools received top-five votes across the six sites, including Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State, USC, Penn State and defending national champion Clemson. Expect that to see that group make up most projected College Football Playoff fields.
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So, I've mashed together all six of those college football rankings to get a feel for how the first official preseason Top 25 polls might look in August.
Here’s how that shook out (25 points given for a No. 1 ranking, down to one point for a No. 25 ranking).
Composite Top 25 college football rankings
| TEAM | POINTS |
| 1. Alabama | 147 |
| 2. Ohio State | 142 |
| 3. Florida State | 137 |
| 4. USC | 134 |
| 5. Penn State | 120 |
| 6. Clemson | 119 |
| 7. Washington | 111 |
| 8. Oklahoma | 110 |
| 9. Oklahoma State | 95 |
| 10. Auburn | 92 |
| 11. Michigan | 88 |
| 12. Wisconsin | 80 |
| 13. LSU | 76 |
| 14. Georgia | 76 |
| 15. Stanford | 67 |
| 16. Louisville | 65 |
| 17. Kansas State | 47 |
| 18. Florida | 44 |
| 19. South Florida | 43 |
| 20. Miami, Fla. | 36 |
| 21. West Virginia | 34 |
| 22. Texas | 21 |
| 23. Tennessee | 16 |
| 24. Oregon | 14 |
| 25. Boise State | 11 |
(as of May 4)
Comparing the Top 25 rankings
| TEAM | SN | CBS | BR | ATH | FOX | ESPN |
| Alabama | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| USC | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Ohio State | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Florida State | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Clemson | 5 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| Penn State | 6 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| Washington | 8 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| Michigan | 9 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 14 |
| Georgia | 10 | 18 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 13 |
| Auburn | 11 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 10 |
| Louisville | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 19 | 17 |
| Wisconsin | 13 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 11 |
| LSU | 14 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 12 |
| Florida | 15 | 21 | 22 | 16 | 17 | 21 |
| Oklahoma State | 16 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 6 |
| Kansas State | 17 | 17 | 25 | 18 | 14 | 18 |
| Stanford | 18 | 8 | 17 | 19 | 11 | 16 |
| Miami, Fla. | 19 | 25 | 18 | 25 | 18 | 15 |
| West Virginia | 20 | 24 | 19 | 24 | 15 | 20 |
| Texas | 21 | 22 | 23 | 20 | NR | 23 |
| South Florida | 22 | 12 | 16 | 22 | 22 | 19 |
| Washington State | 23 | NR | NR | NR | 21 | 25 |
| Pittsburgh | 24 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
| Tennessee | 25 | 20 | NR | 17 | NR | NR |
| Boise State | NR | 19 | 24 | NR | NR | 24 |
| Oregon | NR | 23 | 20 | 21 | NR | NR |
| Virginia Tech | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | 22 |
| Notre Dame | NR | NR | NR | 23 | NR | NR |
| TCU | NR | NR | 21 | NR | NR | NR |
| Nebraska | NR | NR | NR | NR | 23 | NR |
| N.C. State | NR | NR | NR | NR | 24 | NR |
| Mississippi State | NR | NR | NR | NR | 25 | NR |
(as of May 4)
