AP Poll trivia and minutae, what is up for grabs this season?

[medinabuckeye1]

The Preseason AP Poll will be released on Monday, August 11, 2025.  2025 is the 90th year of the AP Poll and the 2025 preseason AP Poll will be the 1,251st AP Poll.  I am confident that when it is released Ohio State will become the first school to be ranked in one thousand AP Polls.  As of the 2024 Final Poll Ohio State had been ranked in 999 out of 1,250 (79.9%).  Assuming that Ohio State remains ranked, they will hit 80% in the fifth poll of 2025 when they will have appeared in 1,004 out of 1,255 AP Polls.  

Appearances:

• 999 Ohio State 79.9% - Lead is safe for at least four years.  
• 927 Michigan 74.2% - They will remain in second place as they can neither catch tOSU nor be caught by OU.  They also can't make it up to 75% this year as they need 42 consecutive appearances to get to 75% at 969 out of 1,292.  
• 905 Oklahoma 72.4% - The Sooners are potentially in jeopardy of losing the #3 spot to:
• 890 Alabama 71.2% - The Tide could catch the Sooners but it would require them being ranked and OU being unranked for almost the entire year.  
• (tie) 890 Notre Dame 71.2% - Third through fifth place are up for grabs and given OU's brutal schedule it is not all that unlikely that the Sooners could drop to 5th behind the Tide and Irish.  
• 819 Southern California 65.5% - The Trojans will remain in sixth place as they can neither catch the Tide/Irish nor be caught by the Longhorns.  
• 790 Texas 63.2% - The Longhorns will remain in seventh place as they can neither catch the Trojans nor be caught by the Cornhuskers.  
• 732 Nebraska 58.6% - Will stay 8th.  
• 711 Penn State 56.9% - Will stay 9th.  
• 678 Georgia 54.2% - The Dawgs passed the Tigers last year and will not pass anyone for at least the next two years.  They could be passed as LSU is right on their heels.  
• 677 Louisiana State 54.2% - They can't be caught but they could catch Georgia.  
• 646 Florida 51.7% - The Gators can't catch LSU for at least a few years but they are in range of:
• 635 Tennessee 50.8% - The Vols could catch UF but only if the Gators are unranked a lot this year.  

No other teams have been ranked in more than half of the polls and that will not change this year.  


Those in bold are the spots that could potentially change hands this season.  

Top-10 appearances:

• 718 Ohio State 57.4% - Lead is safe for many years.  
• 637 Alabama 51.0% - The Tide can't catch the Buckeyes this year but they could be caught by:
• 630 Oklahoma 50.4% - The Sooners could catch the Tide, could not be caught by the Irish.  
• 600 Notre Dame 48.0% - will remain 4th.  
• 568 Michigan 45.4% - will remain 5th.  
• 518 Nebraska 41.4% - will remain 6th.  
• 493 Southern California 39.4% - The Trojans can't catch the Cornhuskers but they could be caught by:
• 484 Texas 38.7% - The Longhorns can't be caught but they could catch the Trojans.  
• 429 Penn State 34.3% - will remain 9th.  
• 385 Florida State 30.8% - The Seminoles can't catch the Nittany Lions but they will likely be caught by Georgia when the preseason poll comes out.  
• 384 Georgia 30.7% - The Dawgs can't be caught and are likely to catch the Seminoles.  
• 357 Florida 28.6% - The Gators can't catch the dawgs but they could be caught by:
• 348 Tennessee 27.8% - The Vols can't be caught but they could catch the Gators.  
• 329 Louisiana State 26.3% - The Tigers can't catch the Vols but they could be caught by:
• 319 Miami 25.5% - The Hurricanes could catch the Tigers.  

No other team has been ranked top-10 in more than one-fourth of the polls and that will not change this year.  


Top-5 appearances:

• 463 Alabama 37.0% - In theory the Buckeyes could catch them but only if tOSU is in and Bama is out of the top-5 all year.  
• 447 Ohio State 35.8% - The Buckeyes are a longshot to catch the Tide.  In theory Oklahoma could catch them but in reality they can't because Ohio State will be top-5 in the preseason poll and Oklahoma will NOT be top-5 in the preseason poll and that will give tOSU a lead of 17. 
• 431 Oklahoma 34.5% - will remain 3rd.  
• 325 Michigan 26.0% - The Wolverines can't catch the Sooners but they could be caught by:
• 323 Notre Dame 25.8% - The Irish can't be caught but they could catch the Wolverines.  
• 296 Nebraska 23.7% - The Cornhusker can't catch the Irish but they could be caught by:
• 289 Texas 23.1% - The Longhorns could mathematically move either up or down on this list this year.  
• 286 Southern California 22.9% - The Trojans can't be caught but they could catch the Longhorns.  
• 257 Florida State 20.6% - will remain 9th.  
• 206 Miami 16.5% - can't catch FSU but could be caught by:
• 201 Georgia 16.1% - The Dawgs could mathematically move either up or down on this list this year.  
• 188 Florida 15.0% - The Gators could mathematically move either up or down on this list this year.  
• 182 Penn State 14.6% - Can't be caught but could catch the Gators.  
• 136 Louisiana State 10.9% - It would take the Tigers at least 3+ years to catch PSU but they could be caught by Auburn, Tennessee, or Clemson.  
• 130 Auburn 10.4% - Could move either way.  
• 129 Tennessee 10.3% - Could move either way.  
• 127 Clemson 10.2% - Can't be caught but could catch both TN and Auburn.  

No other team has been ranked top-5 in more than one-tenth of the polls and that will not change this year.  


Appearances at #1:

• 141 Alabama 11.3% - Can't be caught anytime soon.  
• 106 Ohio State 8.5% - Mathematically in range of OU, ND, and USC.  
• 101 Oklahoma 8.1% - Mathematically in range of tOSU, ND, and USC.  
• 98 Notre Dame 7.8% - Mathematically in range of tOSU, OU, and USC.  
• 91 Southern California 7.3% - can't be caught, could theoretically catch ND, OU, and tOSU.  
• 72 Florida State 5.8% - can't catch the Trojans but could be caught by UNL, or Miami.  
• 70 Nebraska 5.6% - could move either way.  
• 68 Miami 5.4% - could move either way.  
• 54 Georgia 4.3% - could move either way.  
• 49 Texas 3.9% - could move either way.  
• 41 Florida 3.3% - could move either way.  
• 38 Louisiana State 3.0% - could move either way.  
• 36 Michigan 2.9% - could move either way.  
• 29 Michigan State 2.3% - could move either way.  
• 27 Army 2.2% - could move either way.  
• 25 Clemson 2.0% - could move either way.  
• 21 Penn State 1.7% - could move either way.  
• (tie) 21 Pittsburgh 1.7% - could move either way.  
• 18 Minnesota 1.4% - could move either way.  
• (tie) 18 Tennessee 1.4% - could move either way.  
• 16 Oregon 1.3% - could move either way.  
• 15 Washington 1.2% - could move either way.  

No other school has been #1 in more than 1% of the polls.  

[Cincydawg]

Excellent stuff.  

[FearlessF]

For the Dawgs 

[medinabuckeye1]

As mentioned above, Ohio State will appear in the 2025 preseason poll and that will be their 1,000th AP Poll appearance thus making the Buckeyes the first to achieve 1,000 AP Poll appearances.  Prior milestones:

• Notre Dame was first to appear in 100 AP Polls, they made their 100th appearance in the November 8, 1948 AP Poll they were #2.   
• Notre Dame was first to appear in 200 AP Polls, they made their 200th appearance in the October 23, 1961 AP Poll they were #8.  
• Notre Dame was first to appear in 300 AP Polls, they made their 300th appearance in the November 22, 1971 AP Poll, they were #13.  
• Notre Dame was first to appear in 400 AP Polls, they made their 400th appearance in the September 17, 1979 AP Poll, they were #5.  
• Notre Dame was first to appear in 500 AP Polls, they made their 500th appearance in the November 28, 1989 AP Poll, they were #5.  
• Notre Dame was first to appear in 600 AP Polls, they made their 600th appearance in the September 23, 1996 AP Poll, they were #5.  
• Michigan was first to appear in 700 AP Polls, they made their 700th appearance in the November 23, 2003 AP Poll, they were #4.  
• Ohio State was first to appear in 800 AP Polls, they made their 800th appearance in the November 11, 2012 AP Poll, they were #6.  
• Ohio State was first to appear in 900 AP Polls, they made their 900th appearance in the November 25, 2018 AP Poll, they were #6.  

[Cincydawg]

I'm kinda amazed we have such high quality stuff around here and what I see on ESPN with few exceptions is drivel.

[medinabuckeye1]

Consecutive appearance streaks, all-time:

• 348 Nebraska, 1981-2002
• 278 Alabama, 2008-2024
• 211 Florida State, 1989-2001
• 209 Florida, 1990-2002
• 162 Texas 2000-2010
• 162 Miami, 1985-1995
• 160 Michigan, 1969-1980
• 158 Oklahoma, 1970-1981
• 143 Colorado, 1989-1997
• 132 Ohio State, 2012-2020*
• 131 Georgia, 2017-2024
• 130 Southern California, 2002-2009
• 124 Notre Dame, 1987-1994
• 121 Penn State, 1993-2000
• 114 Michigan, 1998-2005
• 112 Nebraska, 1969-1977
• 108 Kansas State, 1995-2001
• 107 Clemson, 2014-2021
• 107 Miami, 1999-2006
• 105 Alabama, 1991-1997
• 103 Ohio State, 2004-2011
• 98 Oregon, 2009-2015
• 97 Notre Dame, 1969-1975
• 95 Alabama, 1976-1982
• 94 LSU, 2003-2008
• 94 Tennessee, 1994-2000
• 94 Michigan, 1987-1993
• 94 Ohio State, 1972-1978
• 90 Oklahoma, 1951-1959
• 89 Florida State, 2011-2017
• 89 Oklahoma, 1984-1989
• 88 Florida, 2005-2010
• 88 Oklahoma, 2000-2005
• 87 LSU, 2009-2014
• 86 Ohio State, 1994-1999
• 86 Tennessee, 1989-1994
• 85 Georgia, 2001-2006
• 84 VaTech, 1998-2003
• 84 Penn State, 1970-1976
• 83 aTm, 1991-1996
• 83 Southern California, 1977-1983
• 80 Notre Dame, 2017-2022
• 79 Ohio State, 2020-2024*
• 79 Auburn, 1986-1990
• 79 Alabama, 1971-1976

Current streaks in bold.  

*Ohio State's longest streak (10th longest of all time of 132 appearances from 2012-2020) and their current streak (43rd longest of all time of 79 appearances from 2020-2024) were broken ONLY by the two polls during COVID when B1G teams were ineligible due to the COVID pause.  Ohio State was #2 in the 2020 preseason poll and #6 when B1G football resumed and remained ranked all year finishing #2.  Ie, the Buckeyes obviously would have been ranked but for the B1G's COVID pause.  If they had been eligible for those two polls, the Buckeyes' current streak would be 213, the third longest streak of all time behind only Nebraska's 22 year run and Alabama's current streak.  

Alabama is now in striking distance of Nebraska's all-time AP Poll appearance record.  The Tide need 70 more consecutive poll appearances to catch the Cornhuskers.  There are 16 or 17 per year so if Alabama remains ranked they will catch Nebraska's all-time record early in the 2029 season.  

[LittlePig]

Medina,  maybe you could list Ohio St's longest streak with an asterisks.  It might be justified because Ohio St was ranked in every poll where voters could actually vote for them, as you noted

But counting or not counting COVID season data needs be looked at on a case by case basis each time.  For example,  a poster on another board had recently listed teams with consecutive seasons with a winning record,  and had Penn St near the top of the FBS list because he did not count PSU's losing 4-5 record in 2020,  but he did count any team that played 10 or more games in 2020.  I believe in that case PSU's 2020 record should have counted because the 10 game cutoff was arbitrary and even if PSU would have played a 10th game,  they still would not have had a winning record ( .500 records didn't count as a winning season, based on his criteria).

  In the end,  I guess it's not that important,  but it's another example where if you are going to make a list that is excluding data from the COVID season,  maybe listing items with an asterisks attached is the best approach, in my opinion.

[medinabuckeye1]

Medina,  maybe you could list Ohio St's longest streak with an asterisks.  It might be justified because Ohio St was ranked in every poll where voters could actually vote for them, as you noted

But counting or not counting COVID season data needs be looked at on a case by case basis each time.  For example,  a poster on another board had recently listed teams with consecutive seasons with a winning record,  and had Penn St near the top of the FBS list because he did not count PSU's losing 4-5 record in 2020,  but he did count any team that played 10 or more games in 2020.  I believe in that case PSU's 2020 record should have counted because the 10 game cutoff was arbitrary and even if PSU would have played a 10th game,  they still would not have had a winning record ( .500 records didn't count as a winning season, based on his criteria).

  In the end,  I guess it's not that important,  but it's another example where if you are going to make a list that is excluding data from the COVID season,  maybe listing items with an asterisks attached is the best approach, in my opinion.

Ohio State's current streak of AP Poll appearances in polls in which they were eligible is 211 which is tied with FSU's 1989-2011 streak for the third longest of all-time and is the second longest active streak behind only Alabama's current streak of 278 from 2008-2024.  

That COVID season makes things weird.  

FWIW, Ohio State has been on an insane tear since 1993.  From 1936-1992 Ohio State was third in all-time AP Poll appearances with 506.  That was 16 behind #2 Michigan and 46 behind #1 Notre Dame's 552.  Since then (1993-2024):

• 493 Ohio State, 92.8%
• 408 Alabama, 76.8%
• 405 Michigan, 76,3%
• 403 Florida, 75.9%
• 403 Oklahoma, 75.9%
• 393 Georgia, 74.0%
• 377 LSU, 71.0%
• 367 FSU, 69.1%
• 345 Texas, 65.0%
• 343 Oregon, 64.6%
• 338 Notre Dame, 63.7%
• 326 Penn State, 61.4%
• 323 Southern California, 60.8%
• 303 Miami, 57.1%
• 299 Wisconsin, 56.3%
• 298 VaTech, 56.1%
• 293 Auburn, 55.2%
• 289 Tennessee, 54.4%
• 289 Clemson, 54.4%
• 284 Nebraska, 53.5%
• 271 aTm, 51.0%

No other schools have been ranked in more than half of the polls since 1993.  In fact #22 (KSU) has less than half as many appearances as Ohio State.  

From 1993 through 2024 there were 531 AP Polls and Ohio State was listed on all but 38 of them.  

[FearlessF]

Consecutive appearance streaks, all-time:

• 348 Nebraska, 1981-2002
• 278 Alabama, 2008-2024
• 211 Florida State, 1989-2001
• 209 Florida, 1990-2002
• 162 Texas 2000-2010
• 162 Miami, 1985-1995
• 160 Michigan, 1969-1980
• 158 Oklahoma, 1970-1981
• 143 Colorado, 1989-1997
• 132 Ohio State, 2012-2020*
• 131 Georgia, 2017-2024

well, here's to bama and gawgaw stumblin

[medinabuckeye1]

well, here's to bama and gawgaw stumblin

Bama and Georgia both have enough minefields on their schedules that if either one stumbles substantially, they'll fall out.  

[Cincydawg]

UGA potentially could lose at Tenn to go 2-1, they'd still be ranked around 12th I suspect.  Their next game is Alabama, so they could be 2-2 and maybe drop out, then UK at home, then at Auburn which can be weird, so they could be 3-3 and out, then hosting Ole Miss, 3-4 is possible, then Florida, 3-5!, then MSU and Texas, easy wins, back to 5-5, then a pastry and Tech, so they could possibly go 6-6.  

[medinabuckeye1]

As per usual, there isn't much change on appearances:
11 of the 13 most frequently ranked teams are ranked in the 2025 preseason poll so they are all just moving upwards together.  Only #6 USC (819 appearances) and #8 UNL (732 appearances) are losing ground.  

There is a little more movement in top-10 appearances:  #3 OU (630), #5 Michigan (568), #6 UNL (518), #7 USC (493), #10 FSU (385), #12 UF (357), and #13 TN (348) are not in the current top-10 so the others are gaining on them.  

There is a lot of movement in the top-5 appearances, the current top-5 with their all-time rank and # of appearances:

• Texas #7, 290
• Penn State #13, 183
• Ohio State #2, 448
• Clemson #17, 128
• Georgia #11, 202

#1 Bama (463), #3 OU (431), #4 M (325), #5 ND (323), #6 UNL (296), #8 USC (286), #9 FSU (257), #10 Miami (206), #12 UF (188), #14 LSU (136), #15 Auburn (130), and #16 TN (129) are NOT in the current top-5 so the teams that are, are gaining on them.