College football updated polls: AP Top 25, Coaches Poll rankings released for 2021 season

Bill Bender

College football updated polls: AP Top 25, Coaches Poll rankings released for 2021 season image

The 2021 college football season is almost here. 

The Coaches Poll was released last week, and the AP Preseason Top 25 was released Monday. Sporting News released its Preseason Top 25 earlier in the spring. All three polls follow a similar pattern. 

The top five is full of the usual suspects. Alabama is ranked No. 1 in all three polls. The defending national champions are looking for a seventh national championship under Nick Saban. 

Clemson is ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll and the SN Preseason Poll. The Tigers are looking for a seventh straight ACC championship under coach Dabo Swinney. Oklahoma is ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll. The Sooners are seeking a seventh straight Big 12 championship under Lincoln Riley. 

Ohio State is ranked No. 3 in the SN Preseason Poll. The Buckeyes are looking for their fifth straight Big Ten championship. Georgia was ranked No. 5 in all three polls. 

Sporting News takes a closer look at the AP Top 25, the Coaches Poll and a composite poll that includes the SN Preseason Top 25: 

AP Preseason Top 25 

Rank Team Points (No. 1 votes)
1 Alabama 1,548 (47)
2 Oklahoma 1,462 (6)
3 Clemson 1,447 (6)
4 Ohio State 1,393 (1)
5 Georgia 1,364 (5)
6 Texas A&M 1,223
7 Iowa State 1,160
8 Cincinnati 1,014
9 Notre Dame 1,009
10 North Carolina 999
11 Oregon 968
12 Wisconsin 743
13 Florida 728
14 Miami 663
15 USC 660
16 LSU 631
17 Indiana 549
18 Iowa 513
19 Penn State 456
20 Washington 449
21 Texas 350
22 Coastal Carolina 232
23 Louisiana 208
24 Utah 176
25 Arizona State 125

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 107, Ole Miss 106, TCU 40, Liberty 36, Auburn 32, North Carolina State 14, Michigan 12, Northwestern 8, Boise State 7, Nevada 7, Brigham Young 6, Ball State 6, Houston 5, Boston College 5, UCF 5, West Virginia 3, UAB 2, Army 2, UCLA 2

USA Today/AMWAY Coaches Preseason Poll 

Rank Team Points (No. 1 votes)
1 Alabama 1,621 (63)
2 Clemson 1,508
3 Oklahoma 1,481 (2)
4 Ohio State 1,435
5 Georgia 1,386
6 Texas A&M 1,286
7 Notre Dame 1,139
8 Iowa State 1,131
9 North Carolina 999
10 Cincinnati 979
11 Florida 870
12 Oregon 842
13 LSU 664
14 USC 655
15 Wisconsin 654
16 Miami 575
17 Indiana 573
18 Iowa 554
19 Texas 427
20 Penn State 422
21 Washington 404
22 Oklahoma State 216
23 Louisiana 153
24 Coastal Carolina 150
25 Ole Miss 149

Receiving votes: Utah 145; Northwestern 120; Arizona State 90; Auburn 84; Liberty 68; BYU 53; TCU 48; Michigan 30; UCF 29; N.C. State 27; Boise State 27; Kentucky 20; San Jose State 18; Army 13; Virginia Tech 9; Missouri 8; UCLA 7; Tulsa 6; Pitt 6; Boston College 6; Houston 5; Ball State 5; West Virginia 4; SMU 4; Appalachian State 4; UAB 3; Arkansas 3; Nevada 2; Mississippi State 2; Air Force 2; Stanford 1; Marshall 1; Florida State 1; Cal 1.

Composite Preseason Top 25 

A look at the AP, Coaches and SN Polls in composite fashion. Schools were given points based on 1-25 ranking (25 points for a first-place vote): 

RANK SCHOOL AP COACHES SN TOTAL
1 Alabama 1 1 1 75
2 Clemson 3 2 2 71
3 Oklahoma 2 3 4 69
4 Ohio State 4 4 3 67
5 Georgia 5 5 5 63
6 Texas A&M 6 6 7 59
7 Notre Dame 9 7 6 56
8 Iowa State 7 8 9 54
9 Cincinnati 8 10 10 50
10 Florida 13 11 8 46
11 North Carolina 10 9 14 45
12 Oregon 11 12 16 39
13 LSU 16 13 11 38
14 USC 15 14 12 37
15 Wisconsin 12 15 20 31
16(t) Miami 14 16 19 29
16(t) Indiana 17 17 15 29
18 Texas 21 19 13 25
19 Iowa 18 18 18 24
20 Penn State 19 20 25 14
21 Washington 20 21 NR 13
22 Oklahoma State NR 22 17 11
23 Coastal Carolina 22 24 23 9
24(t) Louisiana 23 23 NR 6
24(t) Ole Miss NR 25 21 6

Others receiving votes: Auburn 4, Army 2, Utah 2, Arizona State 1

Bill Bender

Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.