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SALT LAKE CITY — In just over a week, college football is set to begin — at least that’s the plan for a subset of programs that haven’t delayed the start to its season. And as long as college football is being played in some capacity, and for however long it might remain, the Associated Press will continue its Top 25 poll.
The coronavirus pandemic may further alter the look of college football — already the Big Ten and Pac-12 have postponed their respective seasons, as well as several other programs across the country — as students return to campuses across the country. The ACC, Big 12 and SEC, as well as a handful of Group of Five conferences, are expected to start later in September.
As one of 60+ voters in the AP poll, the limited number of teams playing football this fall with both complicate and make my job easier with a smaller pool of teams; however, the preseason ballot below will look completely different to that of the subsequent ballots I will submit this season, as well as that of my voting colleagues.
The consensus preseason AP ballot, which is set to be released at 10 a.m. MT Monday, may contain any Division I team — even programs that have postponed or canceled play for the 2020 season. The AP will maintain at least one poll that is similar to its traditional preseason polls. Subsequent rankings will only include teams that are actively playing fall football — so goodbye Big Ten and Pac-12 teams, among many others.
"The preseason poll has always been a speculative ranking of teams based on last year’s results and knowledge about the new makeup of teams," said Michael Giarrusso, AP’s global sports editor. "This year, we think it is crucial to give all the teams and all their fans a snapshot look at what the Top 25 would have been to open the season."
If a winter/spring season is played, the AP plans to rank those teams as well.
Once the fall football season starts in earnest, I will release my weekly Top 25 ballot approximately two hours before the consensus poll is released each Sunday at 12 p.m. MT. For further dialogue, message me on Twitter (@JFurKSL).
And without further ado, my top five teams coming into the season are: Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia. The Buckeyes will soon be dropped from the rankings, but they'd still be a favorite to claim at least one College Football Playoff spot coming into this season. Locally, Utah reclaims a spot in the Top 25 at No. 21. The Utes lost a lot of key defensive players but continue to recruit at a high level and have consistency in its coaching staff.
