Way-too-early top 25 lists are the only way to start the upcoming college football season.
Sporting News has already released its top 25 for 2020, but we weren’t the only one. Athlon, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Stadium and USA Today have submitted way-too-early entries as well.
Those lists revealed that the only team everyone could agree on for 2020 is Clemson, a unanimous No. 1 selection across all eight sets of rankings. The Tigers return junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence and should be in the mix for another Playoff berth next season. Ohio State, which lost to the Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal, is the consensus No. 2, garnering six second-place votes.
MORE: SN top 25 for 2020 college football season
The rest of the rankings reflect a few surprises. So SN wanted to determine a consensus top 25, using all eight publications' rankings in that endeavor. We used an inverse scoring method (awarding 25 points to a No. 1 selection, 24 for a No. 2 selection, all the way down to one point for a No. 25 selection) to determine the highest possible score for each school. Clemson garnered the maximum 200 points.
With that in mind, here's a look at the composite way-too-early top 25 for 2020:
Composite top 25 preseason college football rankings
| Rank | Team | Total | High | Low |
| 1 | Clemson | 200 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 190 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Alabama | 183 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | LSU | 171 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 159 | 5 | 8 |
| 6 | Florida | 148 | 6 | 10 |
| 7 | Oregon | 148 | 5 | 11 |
| 8 | Georgia | 145 | 2 | 13 |
| 9 | Penn State | 142 | 5 | 12 |
| 10 | Notre Dame | 130 | 8 | 15 |
| 11 | Auburn | 107 | 5 | 16 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | 101 | 10 | 18 |
| 13 | Texas A&M | 90 | 6 | N/R |
| 14 | Michigan | 88 | 12 | 20 |
| 15 | Minnesota | 75 | 11 | N/R |
| 16 | Texas | 69 | 13 | 24 |
| 17 | Cincinnati | 56 | 12 | N/R |
| 18 | Oklahoma State | 50 | 13 | N/R |
| 19 | Boise State | 42 | 17 | N/R |
| 20 | USC | 41 | 14 | N/R |
| 21 | Iowa State | 34 | 10 | N/R |
| 22 | Memphis | 34 | 15 | N/R |
| 23 | North Carolina | 30 | 19 | N/R |
| 24 | Iowa | 29 | 10 | N/R |
| 25 | Arizona State | 21 | 18 | N/R |
Others receiving votes: Baylor 19; Louisville 17; UCF 16; Utah 14.5; Virginia Tech 10.5; TCU 9; Washington 8; Virginia 3; Florida State 3; Cal 3; Purdue 2; Tennessee 1; Ole Miss 1
Composite top 25 rankings by site
| Rank | SN | B/R | SI | CBS | ATHLON | ESPN | STADIUM | USA |
| Clemson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Alabama | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| LSU | 4 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Georgia | 5 | 9 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 11 |
| Oregon | 6 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 9 | 6 |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| Notre Dame | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 9 |
| Penn State | 9 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 7 |
| Florida | 10 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Auburn | 11 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 5 | 13 |
| Minnesota | 12 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 19 | — | — |
| Texas | 13 | 20 | 21 | 17 | 14 | 24 | 16 | 14 |
| Wisconsin | 14 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 18 |
| Michigan | 15 | 14 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 12 |
| Texas A&M | 16 | 13 | 25 | 13 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 19 |
| Oklahoma State | 17 | 18 | 15 | — | 19 | 13 | 24 | — |
| Utah | 18 | T-24 | — | — | — | — | 21 | — |
| Louisville | 19 | — | — | 16 | — | — | —— | |
| Cincinnati | 20 | — | 12 | 18 | 17 | 17 | — | 16 |
| North Carolina | 21 | 22 | 19 | 25 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 25 |
| Arizona State | 22 | 19 | 18 | 24 | — | — | — | — |
| Virginia | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| UCF | 24 | 23 | — | 22 | — | — | 19 | — |
| Boise State | 25 | 17 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 18 | — | 20 |
| USC | — | 16 | 16 | — | — | — | 14 | 17 |
| Baylor | — | 21 | — | 23 | 25 | 20 | — | 22 |
| Virginia Tech | — | T-24 | — | — | 20 | — | 23 | — |
| Memphis | — | — | 17 | 19 | 24 | 21 | — | 15 |
| Florida State | — | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Purdue | — | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Iowa | — | — | — | 21 | 21 | 23 | — | 10 |
| Iowa State | — | T-24 | — | — | 23 | 16 | 10 | 21 |
| Tennessee | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | — |
| TCU | — | — | — | — | — | — | 17 | — |
| Washington | — | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | 24 |
| Ole Miss | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — |
| Cal | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 |
