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AP Top 25 college football poll coming Monday; how does it work?

AP photo by Jacob Kupferman / Ohio State coach Ryan Day celebrates after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. The reigning champs are among the contenders to be No. 1 when the AP Top 25 preseason poll is released Monday.
AP photo by Jacob Kupferman / Ohio State coach Ryan Day celebrates after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. The reigning champs are among the contenders to be No. 1 when the AP Top 25 preseason poll is released Monday. AP photo by Jacob Kupferman / Ohio State coach Ryan Day celebrates after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta. The reigning champs are among the contenders to be No. 1 when the AP Top 25 preseason poll is released Monday.

By The Associated Press 4 min read

The Associated Press college football poll started in 1936, the brainchild of former sports editor Alan J. Gould.

The number of teams ranked, the number of voters on the panel and how the ballots are tabulated has fluctuated over the years, but no news organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than the AP. It has featured the top 10, top 20 and, since 1989, the top 25 teams.

With the preseason AP Top 25 set to be released on Monday, here’s a look at how the poll works.


Who are the voters?