AP poll

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The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadcasters from across the nation. Each voter provides their own ranking of the top 25 teams, and the individual rankings are then combined to produce the national ranking by giving a team 25 points for a first place vote, 24 for a second place vote, and so on down to 1 point for a twenty fifth place vote. Ballots of the voting members in the AP poll are publicized.

The football poll is released Sundays at 2 pm Eastern time during the season, unless ranked teams have not finished their games.

The AP college football poll's origins go back to the 1930s. The news media began running their own polls of sports writers to determine, by popular opinion, the best college football teams in the country. One of the earliest such polls was conducted by the AP in November 1934. In 1935, AP sports editor Alan J. Gould declared a three way tie for national champion in football between Minnesota, Princeton, and Southern Methodist. Minnesota fans protested and a number of Gould's colleagues led by Charles "Cy" Sherman suggested he create a poll of sports editors instead of only using his own list. The next year the weekly AP college football poll was born, and has run continuously from 1936. Due to the long standing historical ties between individual college football conferences and high paying bowl games like the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl, the NCAA had not held a tournament or championship game to determine the national champion of what is now the highest division, NCAA Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision (the Division I, Football Championship Subdivision and lower divisions do hold championship tournaments). As a result, the public and the media began to acknowledge the leading vote getter in the final AP poll as the national champion for that season. While the AP poll currently lists the Top 25 teams in the nation, from 1936 to 1988, the wire service only ranked twenty teams, except from 1961 to 1967, when only ten teams were recognized. The AP expanded to the current 25 teams in 1989. The AP began conducting a preseason poll in 1950. At the end of the 1947 season, the AP released an unofficial post bowl poll which differed from the regular season final poll. Until the 1968 college football season, the final AP poll of the season was released following the end of the regular season, with the lone exception of the 1965 season. In 1964, Alabama was named the national champion in the final AP Poll following the completion of the regular season, but lost in the Orange Bowl to Texas, leaving Arkansas as the only undefeated, untied team after the Razorbacks defeated Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl. In 1965, the AP's decision to wait to crown its champion paid handsomely, as top ranked Michigan State lost to UCLA in the Rose Bowl, number two Arkansas lost to LSU in the Cotton Bowl, and fourth ranked Alabama defeated third ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, vaulting the Crimson Tide to the top of the AP's final poll (Michigan State was named national champion in the final UPI Coaches Poll, which did not conduct a post bowl poll). Beginning in 1968, the post bowl game poll became permanent and the AP championship reflected the bowl game results. The UPI did not follow suit with the coaches' poll until the 1974 season.

Through the 2023 season, the number one ranked team has faced the number two ranked team 54 times since the inception of the AP poll in 1936. The number one team has a record of 55.8 against the number two team. +No. 1 vs. No. 2 games Light blue indicates bowl game Season No. 1 Result No. 2 Site Event Ref. 1943 Notre Dame 35–12 Michigan Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI 1943 Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry game 1943 Notre Dame 14–13 Iowa Pre Flight Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN 1944 Army 23–7 NavyMunicipal Stadium • Baltimore 1944 Army–Navy Game 1945 Army 48–0 Notre Dame Yankee Stadium • The Bronx 1945 Army–Notre Dame football rivalry game 1945 Army 32–13 Navy Philadelphia Municipal Stadium • Philadelphia 1945 Army–Navy Game 1946 Army 0–0 Notre Dame Yankee Stadium • Bronx, NY 1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game 1962 USC 42–37 Wisconsin Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA 1963 Rose Bowl 1963 Oklahoma 7–28 Texas Cotton Bowl • Dallas 1963 Red River Shootout game 1963 Texas 28–6 Navy Cotton Bowl • Dallas, TX 1964 Cotton Bowl Classic 1966 Notre Dame 10–10 Michigan State Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI 1966 Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game 1968 Purdue 37–22 Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN 1968 Notre Dame–Purdue football rivalry game 1968 Ohio State 27–16 USC Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA 1969 Rose Bowl 1969 Texas 15–14 Arkansas Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, AR 1969 Texas vs. Arkansas football game 1971 Nebraska 35–31 Oklahoma Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK 1971 Nebraska vs. Oklahoma football game 1971 Nebraska 38–6 Alabama Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL 1972 Orange Bowl 1978 Penn State 7–14 Alabama Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA 1979 Sugar Bowl 1981 USC 28–24 Oklahoma Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles 1982 Georgia 23–27 Penn State Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA 1983 Sugar Bowl 1985 Iowa 12–10 Michigan Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA 1986 Oklahoma 16–28 Miami (FL) Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL 1986 Miami (FL) 10–14 Penn State Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ 1987 Fiesta Bowl 1987 Nebraska 7–17 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE 1987 Nebraska–Oklahoma football rivalry game 1987 Oklahoma 14–20 Miami (FL) Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL 1988 Orange Bowl 1988 Notre Dame 27–10 USC Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles 1988 Notre Dame–USC football rivalry game 1989 Notre Dame 24–19 Michigan Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI 1989 Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry game 1991 Florida State 16–17 Miami (FL) Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL Wide Right I 1992 Miami (FL) 13–34 Alabama Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA 1993 Sugar Bowl (Bowl Coalition National Championship Game) 1993 Florida State 24–31 Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN 1993 Florida State vs. Notre Dame football game 1993 Florida State 18–16 Nebraska Miami Orange Bowl • Miami, FL 1994 Orange Bowl (Bowl Coalition National Championship Game) 1995 Nebraska 62–24 Florida Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ 1996 Fiesta Bowl (Bowl Alliance National Championship Game) 1996 Florida 21–24 Florida State Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL 1996 Florida–Florida State football rivalry game 1998 Tennessee 23–16 Florida State Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ 1999 Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) 1999 Florida State 46–29 Virginia Tech Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA 2000 Sugar Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) 2002 Miami (FL) 24–31 2OT Ohio State Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ 2003 Fiesta Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) 2004 USC 55–19 Oklahoma Pro Player Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL 2005 Orange Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) 2005 USC 38–41 Texas Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA 2006 Rose Bowl (BCS National Championship Game) 2006 Ohio State 24–7 Texas Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium • Austin, TX 2006 Ohio State 42–39 Michigan Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH 2006 Michigan vs. Ohio State football game 2006 Ohio State 14–41 Florida University of Phoenix Stadium • Glendale, AZ 2007 BCS National Championship Game 2007 Ohio State 24–38 LSU Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA 2008 BCS National Championship Game 2008 Alabama 20–31 Florida Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA 2008 SEC Championship Game 2008 Florida 24–14 Oklahoma Dolphin Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL 2009 BCS National Championship Game 2009 Florida 13–32 Alabama Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA 2009 SEC Championship Game 2009 Alabama 37–21 Texas Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA 2010 BCS National Championship Game 2010 Auburn 22–19 Oregon University of Phoenix Stadium • Glendale, AZ 2011 BCS National Championship Game 2011 LSU 9–6 OT Alabama Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL 2011 LSU vs. Alabama football game 2011 LSU 0–21 Alabama Mercedes–Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA 2012 BCS National Championship Game 2012 Notre Dame 14–42 Alabama Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL 2013 BCS National Championship Game 2013 Florida State 34–31 Auburn Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA 2014 BCS National Championship Game 2015 Clemson 40–45 Alabama University of Phoenix Stadium • Glendale, AZ 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship 2018 Alabama 16–44 Clemson Levi's Stadium • Santa Clara, CA 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship 2019 LSU 46–41 Alabama Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL 2019 LSU vs. Alabama football game 2022 Georgia 27–13 Tennessee Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA 2022 Tennessee vs. Georgia football game 2023 Michigan 34–13 Washington NRG Stadium • Houston, Texas 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship

In 1997, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was developed to try to unify the poll results by picking two teams for a "real" national championship game. For the first several years the AP Poll factored in the determination of the BCS rankings, along with other factors including the Coaches Poll and computer based polls. Because of a series of controversies surrounding the BCS, the AP demanded in December, 2004, that its poll no longer be used in the BCS rankings, and so the 2004–2005 season was the last season that the AP Poll was used for this purpose. In the 2003 season, the BCS system broke down when the final BCS standings ranked the University of Southern California (USC) at No. 3 while the two human polls in the system had ranked USC at No. 1. As a result, USC did not play in the BCS' designated national championship game. USC (who had earlier in the season lost in triple overtime to an unranked U of California, 31–24) went on to decisively defeat No. 4 ranked Michigan in the Rose Bowl, while No. 2 Louisiana State University (LSU) (who had lost to Florida earlier in the season) defeated the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners (who had lost the Big 12 championship game to Kansas State) in a national title game. As a result, the AP Poll kept USC at No. 1 while the Coaches Poll was contractually obligated to select the winner of the BCS game as the No. 1 team. The resulting split national title was the very problem that the BCS was created to solve, and has been widely considered an embarrassment. In 2004, a new controversy erupted at the end of the season when Auburn and Utah, who both finished the regular season , were left out of the BCS title game in favor of Oklahoma who also was and had won decisively over Colorado in the Big 12 Championship game. USC went on to a win easily over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl while Auburn and Utah both won their bowl games, leaving three undefeated teams at the end of the season. Also, in that same year, Texas made up late ground on California (Cal) in the BCS standings and as a result grabbed a high payout, at large spot in the Rose Bowl. Previous to that poll, Cal had been ranked ahead of Texas in both human polls and the BCS poll. Going into their final game, the Golden Bears were made aware that while margin of victory did not affect computer rankings, it did affect human polls and just eight voters changing their vote could affect the final standings. Both teams won their game that week, but the Texas coach, Mack Brown, had made a public effort to lobby for his team to be moved higher in the ranking. When the human polls were released, Texas remained behind Cal, but it had closed the gap enough so that the BCS poll (which determines placement) placed Texas above Cal, angering both Cal and its conference, the Pac 10. The final poll positions had been unchanged with Cal at No. 4 AP, No. 4 coaches, and No. 6 computers polls and Texas at No. 6 AP, No. 5 coaches, and No. 4 computer polls.

The AP Poll is not the only college football poll. The other major poll is the Coaches Poll, which has been published by several organizations: the United Press (1950–1957), the United Press International (1958–1990), USA Today (1991–present), CNN (1991–1996), and ESPN (1997–2005). Having two major polls has led to numerous "split" national titles, where the two polls disagreed on the No. 1 team. This has occurred on eleven different occasions (1954, 1957, 1965, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1991, 1997, 2003).

In Division I men's and women's college basketball, the AP Poll is largely just a tool to compare schools throughout the season and spark debate, as it has no bearing on postseason play. Generally, all top 25 teams in the poll are invited to the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournament, also known as March Madness. The poll is usually released every Monday and voters' ballots are publicized.