Georgia has secured the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason college football poll for the second consecutive year, as the superconference era kicks off with the SEC and Big Ten dominating the top 10 rankings.
The Bulldogs received 46 first-place votes and amassed a total of 1,532 points in the poll released on Monday. They finished ahead of No. 2 Ohio State, which garnered 15 first-place votes and 1,490 points from the voting panel.
New Big Ten member Oregon claimed the No. 3 position, earning one first-place vote from the 62 media members covering college football. Texas, which is joining Georgia in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) this season, comes in at No. 4.
The Big Ten and SEC each feature four teams within the top 10 of the preseason rankings.
| RANK | TEAM |
| 1 | Georgia |
| 2 | Ohio State |
| 3 | Oregon |
| 4 | Texas |
| 5 | Alabama |
| 6 | Ole Miss |
| 7 | Notre Dame |
| 8 | Penn State |
| 9 | Michigan |
| 10 | Florida State |
| 11 | Missouri |
| 12 | Utah |
| 13 | LSU |
| 14 | Clemson |
| 15 | Tennessee |
| 16 | Oklahoma |
| 17 | Oklahoma State |
| 18 | Kansas State |
| 19 | Miami |
| 20 | Texas A&M |
| 21 | Arizona |
| 22 | Kansas |
| 23 | USC |
| 24 | NC State |
| 25 | Iowa |
Conference realignment has shifted the landscape of college football, reducing the Power Five conferences to the Power Four, with the Pac-12 now consisting of only two schools. The Big Ten has expanded to 18 institutions, while the Atlantic Coast Conference has 17 football teams, and both the SEC and Big 12 maintain 16 teams.
This reshuffling has resulted in a unique preseason poll, with representation from only four conferences. The SEC leads the rankings with nine teams, while the Big Ten has six, the Big 12 includes five, and the ACC contributes four.
Alabama starts the season ranked No. 5, marking its first season without coach Nick Saban since 2006. The SEC secures four spots in the top six with Texas at No. 4 and Ole Miss at No. 6.
Independent Notre Dame is the highest-ranked team outside the SEC and Big Ten, landing at No. 7. The Big Ten has four teams in the top 10, including No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Michigan, with Florida State from the ACC rounding out the top 10.
In a surprising turn, defending national champion Michigan begins the season with the lowest preseason ranking for a defending champion since 2011, following significant roster changes, including the departure of coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and 12 other players selected in the NFL draft.
Washington, which faced Michigan in the College Football Playoff championship game, suffered an even more dramatic drop, becoming the first team to reach the CFP and enter the following season unranked after losing its head coach, star quarterback, and several key players.
Georgia, which started last season at No. 1 while aiming for a record third consecutive national championship, maintained that ranking throughout the regular season but missed the four-team playoff after losing the SEC title game to Alabama.
“We’re dealing with new challenges this year,” said coach Kirby Smart at SEC media days. “We don’t have a chip on our shoulder in terms of people trying to use that as motivation. I’ve never used a failure from the previous year as motivation and never used the success of a previous year as motivation; we won’t do that this year. That’s not who we are. We want to recreate ourselves to stay in the best light we can.”
With the playoff format expanding from four to 12 teams this season, there will be more opportunities for teams to secure a spot. Georgia boasts a record of 42-2 over the last three seasons and is once again positioned as a strong contender. Quarterback Carson Beck leads the offense, while edge rusher Mykel Williams is expected to emerge as a key defensive player for the Bulldogs.
Beck is a unique presence in college football as a star quarterback in his fifth season at the same institution, having waited three years to become the starter. Last season, he completed 72% of his passes, throwing for 24 touchdowns and six interceptions.
“He is a great elder for us and a great example of resiliency in college football,” Smart remarked.
The trend of repeating as the preseason No. 1 has been notable in recent years. Alabama experienced separate streaks of three years (2016-18) and two years (2021-22) at the top. Clemson held the top preseason ranking in both 2019 and 2020.
Georgia aims to join the ranks of 11 teams since the AP preseason poll’s inception in 1950 that started the season ranked No. 1 and finished the season in the same position, the most recent being Alabama in 2017.
