The AP Poll has been the authoritative omnipotent voice from the heavens tasked to declare the best and most formidable squads across all of college football. It began in the 1930s and has survived all the way to 2025 despite BCS rankings and the College Football Playoff usurping its authority to declare national champions.
A list of 25 teams, ranked best to worst, which was previously utilized to declare champions at the end of the season -- BYU owes its lone national championship to the 1984 final AP Poll -- now has been relegated to a trivial digit on the side of the schedule. Hiding in the score bug. Present, yet largely insignificant. By midseason, it will be irrelevant. In a way, that makes it somewhat irrelevant during its reign of power in the early year as well.
But for such an institutional aspect of college football -- a tradition, a slice of culture -- the standards have been remarkably low as to what is and is not possible for its voters to do week-to-week. Recently, a USC beat writer with an AP vote lifted Florida from 14th to 12th in her poll in the same week the Gators were the recipients of a major upset courtesy of South Florida.
Rightfully so, this has sparked an eruption of outrage from those who care about the remaining integrity of college football as an institution.
Here's why this is a problem: the difference in qualifications between the AP voters and the College Football Playoff Committee is essentially nothing. For the same reasons that a beat writer was raked over the coals for an oversight regarding a team she doesn't have time to watch, most minds in the Committee's chambers belong to overworked athletic directors. The AP voter had a job to do, and it affected her vote. ADs likewise own inherent bias and lack the spare time to watch each and every meaningful college football game on any given weekend. To put it simply, the system is too reliant on individuals who cannot possibly give this responsibility their undivided attention, yet their decision is indesputable.
The AP Poll provides a baseline of knowledge upon which the CFP Committee begins its own ranking process. The AP Poll dictates public opinion on programs around the nation. The AP Poll, like it or not, does matter at the end of the day, and it's a horribly flawed system.
So college football has sprung a leak, and that leak has turned into a whirlpool. Fortunately, there are ways to rectify this foundational issue in the AP Poll, while maintaining the excitement and tradition of the top 25 rankings.
These are three easy steps to mending the broken AP Poll.
Fixing the AP Poll Top 25 rankings in three easy steps
Step 1: Abolish the preseason poll
Preseason rankings are out. No teams play in week one with a number next to their name. Preseason rankings are entirely hypothetical, with virtually zero tangible foundation to back itself upon. Historical success? Teams are different every year, especially with the current transfer portal rules. Recruiting rankings? A slightly better option, but still deeply flawed as not every 5-star super athlete pans out quite as expected (hello, Arch Manning).
No, preseason polls are vapor; the moment you think you can grab them, they're gone. Kansas State opened the season in the top 25 and now sits at 1-3. Florida State was 2-10 last season, but they stomped Alabama in week one and now sit in the top 10. Florida, on the other hand, began the year in the top-15 before two quick losses ejected them from the pile entirely.
What purpose do preseason polls serve other than to skew the baseline for voters' outlooks? Better TV ratings for marquee ranked matchups? It's completely untethered from reality, and every season provides new examples as to why.
After a week of actual competition, go ahead and rank teams based on what is seen, rather than what is expected.
Step 2: Winless teams are out
Sorry, Notre Dame, but this one is going to feel rather targeted.
The Irish are currently 0-2 -- winless. Yet in spite of this, Notre Dame remains a top-25 team thanks to brand weight and quality of losses. Unfortunately, in the modern age of college football, losses against teams deemed to be strong are enough to keep a team in the national discussion, even with nothing but empty space to counteract those results in the "W" column.
Unbeaten teams like BYU, Mississippi State, TCU, and Tulane are being cheated out of national relevance because a winless team plays gatekeeper in the 24th spot.
Here's the rule, and it's universal: if a team has zero wins, they are ineligible to be ranked. If that team is truly deserving of the top 25 designation, they'll climb back in once they've earned it.
Step 3: Increase voter accountability
Too many voices are given power despite lacking the baseline knowledge to make an official statement, and this failure to keep up with nationally relevant results, no matter whose fault, is an indictment on the AP Poll system itself moreso than its voters.
There is no accountability for voters to make reasonable decisions, and there is no firewall to prevent uneducated submissions from tainting the tally.
BYU, despite beginning the year in the 26th slot, remains in the 26th slot because they play football games when East Coast voters are peacefully -- and reasonably -- tucked into bed at 2:00 AM. Somehow, a Utah team with a comparable schedule and similar starting position (27th in the preseason poll) has rocketed to 16th in the nation without a notably more impressive victory than its Big 12 running mate in Provo.
But I'd be shocked to learn that every AP voter is even aware that the Cougars are unbeaten, nor do they understand how poorly Utah's win at UCLA has aged two weeks later. Regardless, the Utes ride a rocket to the top. BYU has a net change of zero in the fourth poll of the season. Utah, an 11-place rise.
So how do voters stay accountable? Simple: a brief survey of notable results must be turned in along with voters' submissions. The final win/loss result for every undefeated team, team previously receiving votes, or otherwise deemed relevant football team must be reported to prove that the voters are up-to-date and aware of the most significant news in the sport. No upset goes forgotten, nor does any blowout win for a juggernaut.
The AP Poll, for better or worse, still matters in the landscape of college football. It's time the poll takes itself as seriously as it would like to be seen in the public eye.