TYLER, Texas — The Associated Press (AP) released their 2020-21 preseason Top 25 NCAA college football poll on Monday. However, from here on out, it will look a tad bit different due to the impact of COVID-19.
First, let's check out who landed where:
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Penn State
- Florida
- Oregon
- Notre Dame
- Auburn
- Wisconsin
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Oklahoma State
- Michigan
- USC
- North Carolina
- Minnesota
- Cincinnati
- UCF
- Utah
- Iowa State
- Iowa
- Tennessee
However, the poll will get a shakeup moving forward.
Two Power 5 conferences, the Pac-12 and the Big Ten, as well as the MAC and Mountain West conferences, have canceled fall sports. With that being said, 67 of the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams are still planning a fall season.
According to the AP, voters were asked to consider all Division I teams when filling out their preseason ballots. Once play starts, voters will only be allowed to rank teams who are playing in the fall.
That means, the following schools currently ranked in the Top 25 will no longer receive a ranking since they have canceled fall football:
- Ohio State (2)
- Penn State (7)
- Oregon (9)
- Wisconsin (12)
- Michigan (16)
- USC (17)
- Minnesota (19)
- Utah (22)
- Iowa (24)
"The AP All-America team will be conducted in a similar manner," the AP said. "All players, even those who have opted out of the season, are eligible for inclusion in the preseason team. At the end of the fall season, only those who have played will be eligible for postseason honors, including the AP Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards, also presented by Regions Bank."
If a spring season of football is played, the AP says they will release rankings for that as well. They will also consider naming another AP All-America team.
The AP began its college football poll on Oct. 19, 1936, and it is now the longest-running poll of those that award national titles at the end of the season. The preseason poll was started in 1950. A panel of 62 sports writers and broadcasters from around the country votes on the poll weekly.