Josh Furlong's AP Top 25: It's Georgia's to lose ... again

SALT LAKE CITY — As the college football season draws near, there's one thing that remains certain: Georgia is the top dog ... until someone dethrones the reigning two-time champs.

And there's no reason to believe the Bulldogs will give up their throne anytime soon. But there are several teams that could challenge for a national title this year — the easy answer being Michigan.

As with any preseason rankings, it's all a guess based on last season's success and a projection of what talent returns or has been added to a team for the upcoming season. So for that reason, take these rankings (mostly) with a grain of salt until the games are actually played.

I submitted the follow ballot to the Associated Press earlier this month (before fall camps began) as one of 63 writers around the country tasked with ranking college football teams. As I have done the last four seasons, I will submit a weekly ballot that is counted toward the consensus poll that is released by the AP each Sunday.

I don't get paid extra by the AP to vote in this poll, but I do my best to watch as many games as possible each week. While I often try not to judge one game too harshly, it may happen from time to time. I like to look at the week-to-week results and various statistical measures to compile my ballot.

As you can see from my ballot track record, I have tried to judge teams fairly over the years.

A reminder: Votes are tallied such that the No. 1 team on a ballot receives 25 points, the No. 2 team receives 24 points, and it continues down until the No. 25 team receives 1 point. The points are then totaled from all the AP voters, and a consensus poll is created based on those results.

So while my ballot matters in the collective sense, it doesn't have far-reaching influence to impact a team in a significant way. Yes, if the consensus poll has your favorite team at No. 10 and I had them at No. 11, there's little that could be done on my part to move them up one more spot — even if I ranked them No. 1.

The consensus preseason AP Top 25 ballot will be released Monday at 10 a.m. MDT.

Once the season kicks off, I'll publicly release my ballot each week and explain my rationale behind it.

If you can't see my ballot below, click here.

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