The 2024 preseason poll 1,234th AP Poll dating all the way back to October 19, 1936. 170 different teams have appeared in the AP Poll ranging from Ohio State with 983 appearances (79.7%) to the following teams that have appeared only once each:
- Arkansas-Monticello
- Ft. Pierce Naval, FL
- 3rd Air Force
- Leigh, PA
- Muhlenberg, PA
- St. Mary's Pre-Flight, CA
- Bucknell, PA
- Camp Grant, IL
- Catawba, NC
- Loyola Marymount, CA
- Richmond, VA
- Williams, MA
The top seven and 10 of the top 11 teams in appearances are currently ranked so not much is changing on that list:
- 983 Ohio State
- 920 Michigan
- 899 Oklahoma
- 874 Bama
- 874 Notre Dame
- 814 USC
- 774 Texas
- 730 Nebraska
- 695 Penn State
- 666 LSU
- 662 Georgia
- 646 Florida
- 619 Tennessee
- 602 Auburn
- 584 Florida State
- 553 UCLA
- 519 Miami, FL
- 497 Clemson
- 491 aTm
- 481 Washington
- 432 Arkansas
- 419 Michigan State
- 416 Wisconsin
- 367 Oregon
- 366 Iowa
The
eight teams in bold are not currently ranked so they are falling behind those in front of them and being gained on by those behind them but otherwise this list isn't changing. The eight teams not on the above list that are currently ranked are:
- #6 Ole Miss, #26 with 334
- #11 Mizzou, #37 with 266
- #12 Utah, #53 with 175
- #17 OkSU, #34 with 289
- #18 KSU, #39 with 238
- #21 Arizona, #53 with 175
- #22 Kansas, #64 with 117
- #24 NCST, #48 with 190
So the most infrequently ranked team in the current poll is Kansas.
Most of the teams with the most top-10 appearances are in the current top-10 so that list isn't changing much either:
- 702 Ohio State, currently #2
- 630 Oklahoma, currently #16
- 628 Bama, currently #5
- 591 Notre Dame, currently #7
- 566 Michigan, currently #9
- 518 Nebraska, NR
- 493 USC, currently #23
- 468 Texas, currently #4
- 413 Penn State, currently #8
- 385 Florida State, currently #10
There is a bit more relative movement in appearances in the top-5:
- 458 Bama, currently #5
- 433 Ohio State, currently #2
- 431 Oklahoma, currently #16
- 325 Michigan, currently #9
- 318 Notre Dame, currently #7
- 296 Nebraska, NR
- 286 USC, currently #23
- 274 Texas, currently #4
- 257 Florida State, currently #10
- 204 Miami, FL, currently #19
Bama, Ohio State, and Texas are in the current top-5. The other two current top-5 teams are #1 Georgia which is #11 in all-time top-5 appearances with 189 and #3 Oregon which is #22 in all-time top-5 appearances with 77.
Georgia's current appearance at #1 is their 52nd appearance at #1, good for #9 all-time. The 10 most frequent #1's:
- 140 Bama
- 105 Ohio State
- 101 Oklahoma
- 98 Notre Dame
- 91 USC
- 72 Florida State
- 70 Nebraska
- 68 Miami, FL
- 52 Georgia
- 45 Texas
Bama's lead here is staggering. They are as far ahead of #2 Ohio State as #2 Ohio State is ahead of #7 Nebraska. There were 16 polls in 2023. Thus, if Georgia goes wire-to-wire at #1 this year they will catch but not pass Miami. The Buckeyes would have to be #1 for more than two full years to catch #1 Bama.
If you selected an AP Poll at random from among the 1,234 released so far:
- There is a nearly 80% chance that Ohio State would be listed (79.7%, 983/1,234).
- There is a better than 50/50 chance each that tOSU, OU, and Bama would be listed in the top-10: 56.9% for tOSU, 51.1% for OU, 50.9% for Bama.
- There is a better than one-in-three chance each that Bama, tOSU, and OU would be listed in the top-5: 37.1% for Bama, 35.1% for tOSU, 34.9% for OU.
- There is a better than one-in-ten chance that Bama would be #1 (11.3%, 140/1,234).
