The Associated Press preseason poll was released Monday, less than two weeks before the start of the 2025 season. Texas was No. 1 for the first time in school history, followed closely by Penn State, Ohio State, Clemson and, of course, Bellyaching U.

Only this year, the complaints aren’t limited to the placement of teams. There is more griping about the preseason poll’s existence than ever before, in part because of recent developments at the conference level.

The Big 12 dispensed with its preseason media poll last month, wary of the adverse effects preseason expectations can have on a team’s trajectory throughout the fall and the preference given to blue blood programs from the most powerful conference.

That concern was seemingly justified Monday morning.

The Big Ten placed six teams in the AP preseason poll, while the SEC had 10 — the first time in history that a single conference has hit double-digit representation.

The SEC placed three more teams in the poll than the Big 12 (four) and ACC (three) combined.

The top-ranked Big 12 representative, Arizona State, didn’t crack the top 10 despite returning its best players, quarterback Sam Leavitt and receiver Jordyn Tyson, from a run to the CFP quarterfinals and narrow loss to the preseason No. 1 (Texas).

Also under-represented in the first AP poll: an entire swath of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Only three teams from the western third of the country cracked the rankings. Oregon, the defending Big Ten champions, was seventh. The Sun Devils were No. 11, their highest preseason ranking since 1998. And Boise State, which reached the CFP last season, was No. 25.

And that was it, folks.

Brigham Young, Utah, USC, Washington — none of them made the cut, a potentially ominous sign for the region’s relevance this season. (The Cougars, Utes and Trojans were in the “others receiving votes” category, along with UNLV and Colorado.)

But the AP isn’t in the business of promoting individual teams, conferences or regions. The poll, which was first published in 1936, is intended to reflect the sentiment of 65 media members from across the country who follow the sport closely.

Much like the role played by the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine each winter, the AP preseason poll offers an historic benchmark for judging teams and conferences against each other and across the decades.

It sets expectations which are then used to determine whether coaches should get hired, fired or extended.

It creates stars and scapegoats out of players who now receive compensation for their performance.

And it offers another valuable component to the college football media machinery.

The preseason poll and subsequent in-season versions — many critics of the process believe the AP should wait until October before publishing its initial rankings — contribute to the programming decisions made by TV networks.

Yes, win-loss records matter when ESPN and Fox executives gather each Monday to determine which games are worthy of primetime windows and over-the-air broadcast exposure. But the rankings matter, as well.

Matchups of top-10 teams are coveted because casual viewers are more likely to tune in for No. 3 vs. No. 8 than they are for No. 17 vs. an unranked opponent.

The TV windows impact eyeballs, the eyeballs impact narratives, and the narratives impact downstream decisions made by the CFP selection committee (or so it seems).

That said, the AP poll isn’t tasked with ensuring the selection committee makes reasonable decisions with bids and seeds come the first Sunday in December.

The poll is intended to provide fans with an objective assessment of the sport’s hierarchy based on informed opinion from across the country.

That has been the case for 89 years and probably will be for 89 more.

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Other reactions to the preseason poll:

— Is the SEC hype justified? Absolutely not. The conference doesn’t have enough proven quarterbacks to warrant 10 ranked teams. That’s particularly true of No. 21 Mississippi and No. 24 Tennessee, which are starting over at the position.

— The most overrated team? Michigan, which was No. 14 despite having a freshman quarterback (Bryce Underwood), a defense gutted by attrition to the NFL and a head coach (Sherrone Moore) whose only season in charge was a massive disappointment.

— For the second consecutive year Oregon received one first-place vote. CollegePollTracker.com identified the voter as Jamal St. Cyr, who works for WJXT-TV in Jacksonville.

— No. 6 Notre Dame (Independent) and No. 25 Boise State (Mountain West) are the only teams outside the Power Four conferences to crack the poll. With the Broncos claiming the final spot, all 12 participants from the 2024 playoff were included in the poll.

— According to the AP, the share of the first-place votes (38.5 percent) awarded to Texas was the smallest for the preseason No. 1 team since Georgia in 2008.

The Longhorns and No. 3 Ohio State are set to collide Aug. 30 in Columbus in the most anticipated matchup of the early season.

*** Editor’s note: Jon Wilner is an AP voter. His preseason ballot can be found here.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to [email protected] or call 408-920-5716

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