Preseason AP Top 25 poll: Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma top first 2016 rankings

With the release of the AP Top 25 poll, all the preseason college football rankings are out

By Chip Patterson

Aug 21, 2016 at 10:04 am ET • 1 min read

What better way to react to the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2016 college football season than compare it to the many forms of rankings already made available?

Alabama is No. 1, Clemson is No. 2 and Oklahoma is No. 3; it's the same order at the top that we've seen in the Coaches Poll and the Preseason CBS 128. It's an impressive consensus No. 1 honor for the Tide, but historically it's not a great spot for national title chances.

Ohio State made history last year as the first-ever unanimous preseason AP No. 1, but the Buckeyes still caught the same luck of many other top preseason picks. Since 1999, only two teams (Florida State, 1999; USC, 2004) have started the season No. 1 in the polls and gone on to win the national championship.

During the season, the Associated Press asks its voters to choose teams based "on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation." But since this is the preseason, it's important to note that this first poll is all speculation.

The release of the preseason AP Top 25 ends speculation season. We now move on to projection, predictions, and finally, performance. Cal and Hawaii will play at the end of this week. In 11 days, we'll have a full slate of Thursday night football. Can't wait.

Here's the full preseason AP Top 25 (first-place votes in parenthesis):