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Seven teams received at least one first-place vote in a polling of 57 FWAA writers and members of the College Football Hall of Fame who were selected to create a geographically balanced perspective
CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove has been on the Super 16 voting panel since the September 24, 2017 poll. He is one of the 57 voters who put Texas at the top of this year's preseason poll
SEC member Texas was placed at the top on 27 ballots, followed by defending national champion Ohio State and Penn State who each picked up 11 first-place votes. Additionally, Clemson was the top team on 3 ballots, while Georgia and Alabama had 2 entries at No. 1 and LSU picked up a single first-place vote.
Four different SEC schools - Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Texas - combined to collect 32 first-place votes, compared to 22 for B!G members Ohio State and Penn State, and 3 for ACC member Clemson.
Among those seven teams, only Penn State has yet to win a title during either the Bowl Championship Series era (1998-2013) or the College Football Playoff era (2014-present).
Ohio State downed Notre Dame, 34-23, to win this past season's national title game in Atlanta. The Championship returns to Miami this year.
Texas will be led by quarterback Arch Manning. Arch is the son of Cooper Manning and the nephew of Coop's brothers, Peyton and Eli - all of whom fall under the Archie Manning family tree.
Julian Sayin, a former Alabama recruit who transferred in December of 2023 after Nick Saban retired, is the anticipated starting QB for the Buckeyes. Ryan Day is waiting to see how August practice progresses before committing.
As of Monday, August 11, Ohio State is a 2.5-point favorite over Texas at home in the season opener on Saturday, August 30 at Noon eastern time. It will be the second straight game for the Longhorns against the Buckeyes, who were eliminated by Ohio State, 28-14, in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs this past January 10 in the Cotton Bowl. Prior to that game and the upcoming contest, these schools had not met since January 5, 2009 when Texas prevailed 24-21 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Ohio State and Texas had never met before a home-and-home agreement paired them for regular season games in 2005 and 2006. The visitor won both games with Ohio State securing a 24-7 win in Austin, and Texas avenging that defeat with a 25-22 win in Columbus 366 days later.
That's a 2-2 split, thus far.
It's rather remarkable that these teams had never met - not even in a bowl game - until 20025. Especially, when you take into account that Texas has played 1,389 games in its history and Ohio State has taken the field 1,378 times. Given today's environment of trying to schedule games to avoid losses, it's even more remarkable that the two schools agreed to play this game, and another next year on September 12 in Austin.
But it's not the only marquee game upon highly-ranked teams on the Labor Day weekend.
Returning quarterback Cade Klubnik and No. 5 Clemson will host No. 9 LSU and returning QB Garrett Nussmeier later that day at 7:30. Each school is nicknamed the Tigers and each calls its' stadium Death Valley. These teams have also only met four times with the last occurring on January 13, 2020 for the 2019 season College Football Playoff Championship game in New Orleans. LSU prevailed, 42-25, with Ed Orgeron as the head coach of the Bayou Bengals.
The schools also met twice in Atlanta in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl (Clemson 25-24), and the 196 Peach Bowl (LSU, 10-7). They first faced-off in the 1959 Sugar Bowl that concluded the 1958 season (LSU 7-0). That's a 3-1 advantage for LSU, though Clemson is a 3.5-point home favorite this time around.
Dabo Swinney has two Nattys in his pocket for Clemson (2016, 2018) which will head to Baton Rouge's version of Death Valley on September 5th next year.
No. 10 Miami will host No. 6 Notre Dame as a 2.5-point underdog on Sunday, August 31 at 7:30. This game will see Georgia transfer Carson Beck replacing No. 1 NFL Draft Pick Cam Ward at quarterback for the Hurricanes while CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey are the frontrunners to start for Notre Dame.
The 'Canes and Irish have clashed 27 times with Notre Dame holding a distinct 18-8-1 lead in the series. They last met in 2017 when the 'Canes ended a 4-game losing skid in the rivalry with a 41-8 thumping at home. They will meet again next year in South Band.
Meanwhile, Penn State opens in Happy Valley as a hefty 43.5-point play of Nevada in the first-ever meeting with the Wolf Pack. The Nittany Lions will be home for the entire month of September with their first big contest scheduled for September 27 when they host Oregon.
Miami also doesn't hit the road until October.
No. 7 Oregon has an interesting opener at 4 p.m. on August 30 when the Ducks host a dangerous FCS team in Montana State, a school that won 15 games a year ago before losing to North Dakota State in the FCS Championship game.
No. 8 Alabama goes to wounded dog Florida State where the 'Noles could be lying in wait to stun the Tide. FSU is coming off a disastrous 2-10 campaign after being tabbed as the preseason frontrunner to win the 2024 ACC title. 'Bama is also licking its chops after finish 9-4 a year ago to end a 16-season streak of 10 wins or more in Kalen DeBoer's first season as head coach after moving over from Washington. To 'Bama fans, a 9-4 record is like 4-9 anywhere else.
The No. 1 preseason ranking for Texas marks the fifth all-time appearance at the top of this particular poll, and the fifth straight year that an SEC team has opened at No. 1.
Ohio State has made 149 appearances in this poll since its inception in 2014. That's the second-most to Alabama's 151.
The No. 3 ranking is the highest-ever preseason mark for Penn State, while Georgia's No. 4 ranking is its lowest preseason start since 2021 and Alabama's No. 8 preseason ranking is the lowest ever for the Crimson Tide..
The SEC leads all conferences with 7 teams, followed by the Big Ten with 5, the ACC with 2, and the Big 12 with one.
The eventual national champion has been ranked in the top six of the preseason poll nine times since 2015. Alabama in 2017 is the only national champion to start the season ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll.
(1) Texas, (2) Ohio State, (3) Penn State, (4) Georgia, (5) Notre Dame, (6) Oregon, (7) LSU, (8) Clemson, (9) Alabama, (10) Miami, (11) Kansas State, (12) Arizona State, (13) South Carolina, (14) Boise State, (15) Ole Miss, (16) Florida State.
By order of conference, he has 6 schools from the SEC, 3 from the ACC, 3 from the B1G, 2 from the Big 12, 1 independent, and 1 from the Mountain West.
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| Rank | Team | Pts. | 1st | LW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Texas | 861 | 27 | N/A |
| 2. | Ohio State | 808 | 11 | N/A |
| 3. | Penn State | 774 | 11 | N/A |
| 4. | Georgia | 716 | 2 | N/A |
| 5. | Clemson | 667 | 3 | N/A |
| 6. | Notre Dame | 631 | N/A | |
| 7. | Oregon | 568 | N/A | |
| 8. | Alabama | 534 | 2 | N/A |
| 9. | LSU | 455 | 1 | N/A |
| 10. | Miami (FL) | 282 | N/A | |
| 11. | Arizona State | 240 | N/A | |
| 12. | Illinois | 193 | N/A | |
| 13. | South Carolina | 178 | N/A | |
| 14. | Michigan | 159 | N/A | |
| 15. | Ole Miss | 126 | N/A | |
| 16. | Tennessee | 88 | N/A |
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:
SMU (84), Florida (62), Oklahoma (59), Indiana (52), Texas A&M (41), Kansas State (38), Iowa State (25), Texas Tech (21), Boise State (15), BYU (10), Pittsburgh (9), USC (6), Missouri (5), Iowa (5), Auburn (5), Louisville (4), Rutgers (4), Washington (4), North Carolina (4), Baylor (4), TCU (4), Wisconsin (4), Utah (3), Syracuse (2), Florida State (1), Georgia Tech (1).
ABOUT THE FWAA-NFF SUPER 16 POLL: The poll was established at the conclusion of the 2013 season by two 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 Sunday of the 2025 season. The individual votes of all members will also be made public. The first regular season poll will be released on Tuesday, September 2 (to account for Labor Day games), and the final poll will be released Sunday, December 7. The poll utilizes a computer program designed by Sports Systems to compile the rankings and the Cody Kellner Points Index to publish the individual votes.
ABOUT THE FWAA: Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME: Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).