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The 2024 AP Top 25 poll was the most predictable one in college football history

By Sam Fariss

Capital One Orange Bowl - Georgia v Florida State
Capital One Orange Bowl - Georgia v Florida State / Brandon Sloter/GettyImages
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The AP Top 25 preseason ranking is finally here and it has exactly zero surprises.

The Georgia Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 followed by Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, and Alabama, in that order.

Rounding out the top 10 are the Ole Miss Rebels, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Penn State Nittany Lions, Michigan Wolverines, and Florida State Seminoles.

Toward the back of the pack, Texas A&M (20) and NC State (24) earned their first preseason top-25 bids in quite a while but both fans and analysts could have seen those rankings coming for months.

The Arizona Wildcats dropped 10 spots from the end of last season after losing their head coach Jedd Fisch to the Washington Huskies, along with quite a few recruits.

The biggest surprise, if you can call it a surprise, is that Clemson climbed six spots in the ranking from the end of the 2023 season, despite Dabo Swinney not utilizing the transfer portal, to earn a No. 14 ranking.

The SEC and the Big Ten are dominant, taking up 15 of the 25 spots on the poll. The SEC has four teams in the top six while the Big Ten has four programs in the top 10.

Despite Utah and Oklahoma State projected to be dominant forces in the Big 12 this season, neither the Utes nor the Cowboys earned top 10 spots. Utah landed at No. 12 and Oklahoma State was dropped all the way to No. 17.

The 2024 AP Top 25 preseason poll

  1. Georgia Bulldogs
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes
  3. Oregon Ducks
  4. Texas Longhorns
  5. Alabama Crimson Tide
  6. Ole Miss Rebels
  7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  8. Penn State Nittany Lions
  9. Michigan Wolverines
  10. Florida State Seminoles
  11. Missouri Tigers
  12. Utah Utes
  13. LSU Tigers
  14. Clemson Tigers
  15. Tennessee Volunteers
  16. Oklahoma Sooners
  17. Oklahoma State Cowboys
  18. Kansas State Wildcats
  19. Miami Hurricanes
  20. Texas A&M Aggies
  21. Arizona Wildcats
  22. Kansas Jayhawks
  23. USC Trojans
  24. NC State Wolfpack
  25. Iowa Hawkeyes

Louisville, Virginia Tech, Boise State, SMU, and Iowa State round out the top 30 but all failed to earn a spot in the AP Top 25 preseason poll.

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