News/Commentary

FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll: Alabama Adds Another 1st-place Vote

September 10, 2018 by CFP Staff

NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is among the voters.

The top seven teams in the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll, released today, remained the same after the second week of play. Only minor changes occurred elsewhere. Alabama remained the top-ranked team and increased its first-place votes from 45 to 46. Clemson is 2nd has 3 first-place votes, while Georgia stays 3rd and keeps its 1 top-rank vote. Ohio State is 4th, followed by Oklahoma, Auburn (2 first-place votes) and Wisconsin.

Stanford moved up one spot to No. 8, exchanging places with Notre Dame, which moved down one slot.

Michigan State and USC both dropped from the poll. The Spartans lost 16-13 at Arizona State while USC fell 17-3 at Stanford. Those teams were replaced by Mississippi State and TCU. The Bulldogs won 31-10 at Kansas State, and TCU roughed-up rival SMU 42-12.

GAMES THIS WEEK: No. 1 Alabama at Ole Miss; Georgia Southern at No. 2 Clemson; Middle Tennessee at No. 3 Georgia; No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 16 TCU (Arlington, Texas); No.5 Oklahoma at Iowa State; No. 11 LSU at No. 6 Auburn; BYU at No. 7 Wisconsin; UC Davis at No. 8 Stanford; Vanderbilt at No. 9 Notre Dame; No. 10 Washington at Utah; Kent State at No. 12 Penn State; East Carolina at No. 13 Virginia Tech; No. 14 West Virginia at North Carolina State; Louisiana at No. 15 Mississippi State.

The poll was established at the conclusion of the 2013 season by long-time partners, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the National Football Foundation (NFF). Voters rank the top 16 teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, and the results will be released every Monday of the 2018 season; the individual votes of all members will also be made public. The pollsters consist of FWAA writers and College Football Hall of Famers who were selected to create a balanced-geographical perspective.

The Top 3 teams on Congrove's top 16 ballot have been the same since the preseson with Alabama at No.1, followed by Clemson and Oklahoma. This week, his ballot jumps Georgia from 7th to 4th, and Stanford from 14th to 5th. He then has Auburn 6th, followed by Ohio State and Mississippi State. Congrove gives Penn State the No. 9 spot after not ranking the Nittany Lions previously. Notre Dame rounds out his top 10. After that, he has Wisconsin, LSU, Oklahoma Virginia Tech, TCU and Washington.

FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll
(For games through September 8, 2018)

  Team Points 1st LW
1. Alabama (2-0) 824 46 1
2. Clemson (2-0) 743 3 2
3. Georgia (2-0) 735 1 3
4. Ohio State (2-0) 633 --- 4
5. Oklahoma (2-0) 621 --- 5
6. Auburn (2-0) 586 2 6
7. Wisconsin (2-0) 519 --- 7
8. Stanford (2-0) 401 --- 9
9. Notre Dame (2-0) 374 --- 8
10. Washington (1-1) 295 --- 10
11. LSU (2-0) 269 --- 11
12. Penn State (2-0) 266 --- 13
13. Virginia Tech (2-0) 189 --- 15
14. West Virginia (2-0) 188 --- 14
15. Mississippi State (2-0) 150 --- N/A
16. TCU (2-0) 109 --- N/A

Others receiving votes:

Michigan (33), Boise State (32), UCF (29), Texas A&M (22), Michigan State (15), Arizona State (15), Oklahoma State (8), Oregon (6), USC (3), Duke (3), Iowa (2), Colorado (1), Miami, Fla. (1).