The Alabama Crimson Tide, looking for back-to-back national championships, are starting the football season as the top-ranked squad in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. It is the fourth time in the past six seasons for the preseason top-dog status for coach Nick Saban’s dynastic program.
Alabama received 47 of 63 first-place votes from the panel of sports writers and broadcasters in the poll presented by Regions Bank. Oklahoma is No. 2, just ahead of No. 3 Clemson (each received six first-place votes). Ohio State, which lost to the Tide in last season’s championship game, is No. 4 after receiving a first-place vote. Georgia received three first-place votes and rounds out the top five.
In historical terms, the top-ranking in the preseason poll is the 8th time for the Crimson Tide, tying Ohio State for the second most in the AP poll, trailing only the 10 of the University of Oklahoma.
Other highlights of the poll include No. 8 Cincinnati, the first team from outside of the Power Five conference ranked in the top 10 since Louisville in 2012. From the Sun Belt Conference, #22 Coastal Carolina and #23 Louisiana-Lafayette open the season ranked for the first time in the history of their programs, while in the Big 12, #7 Iowa State, ranked in the preseason poll for the third straight year, had never been ranked higher than #20 to start a season until this season.
