The Associated Press’ annual preseason college football Top 25 poll has typically been the indicator that the college football season is near. Following the news that the Big Ten and Pac-12 will not be playing football this fall, many have wondered what the first AP Top 25 will look like. The AP addressed these questions on Friday.
The AP preseason poll is scheduled to be released on August 24 and the AP asked its voters to include all teams, including Big Ten and Pac-12. This is a nice gesture to the players who have had their season taken away from them but will only be that way for the preseason.
“The preseason poll has always been a speculative ranking of teams based on last year’s results and knowledge about the new makeup of teams,” Michael Giarrusso, AP global sports editor, told Ralph D. Russo. “This year, we think it is crucial to give all the teams and all their fans a snapshot look at what the Top 25 would have been to open the season.”
The AP preseason and postseason All-American teams will be decided on similarly. The AP will also rank teams in the spring, should the Big Ten and Pac-12 play then.
“The AP and our voters have no idea what a spring football season will look like. But we are open to adapting and finding a way for our Top 25 voters to be involved in ranking teams if real games are played in the spring of 2021,” Giarrusso said.
The AP is keeping the Top 25 and planning on being “nimble and flexible” for the 2020 season.
