College football top 25 rankings: Clemson tops Alabama, Georgia in AP Poll

Author Photo
Etienne-Lawrence-081818-GETTY-FTR.jpg

Clemson won two national championships the last three seasons, and the school hit another milestone on Monday. The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll for the first time in school history. 

Clemson returns SN Preseason All-Americans Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne from last year's 15-0 team, and the Tigers open their season on the ACC Network Aug. 29 against Georgia Tech. 

Alabama, which lost 44-16 to Clemson in last year's College Football Playoff championship game, is No. 2. The Crimson Tide have been the Preseason No. 1 five times this dedade, and they are the last team to start and finish at No. 1

Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State rounded out the top five. The Big Ten had seven ranked teams, followed by the SEC at six. 

College football rankings: AP Preseason Top 25 for 2019

RANK SCHOOL VOTES
1 Clemson (15-0) 1,540
2 Alabama (14-1) 1,496
3 Georgia (11-3) 1,403
4 Oklahoma (12-2) 1,331
5 Ohio State (12-2) 1,261
6 LSU (10-3) 1,199
7 Michigan (10-3) 1,164
8 Florida (10-3) 1,054
9 Notre Dame (12-1) 1,044
10 Texas (10-4) 1,005
11 Oregon (9-4) 860
12 Texas A&M (7-6) 852
13 Washington (10-4) 786
14 Utah (9-5) 772
15 Penn State (9-4) 651
16 Auburn (8-5) 578
17 UCF (13-1) 410
18 Michigan State (10-3) 377
19 Wisconsin (8-5) 370
20 Iowa (8-5) 330
21 Iowa State (8-5) 302
22 Syracuse (10-3) 302
23 Washington State (11-2) 200
24 Nebraska (4-8) 154
25 Stanford (9-4) 141

Others receiving votes: Missouri 117, Army 94, Mississippi State 87, Miami (FL) 70, Northwestern 63, TCU 57, Virginia 44, Boise State 38, Cincinnati 16, South Carolina 15, Virginia Tech 12, Fresno State 8, Utah State 8, Minnesota 7, Memphis 6, Appalachian State 5, West Virginia 3, Oklahoma State 3, Arizona State 3, Arizona 1, USC 1

Author(s)
Bill Bender Photo

Bill Bender is a national college football writer for The Sporting News.