AP Poll Top 25 All-Time Preseason College Football Rankings: 1950-1959
AP Poll Top 25 All-Time Preseason College Football Rankings: 1950-1959
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
What did the AP writers and college football voters think about the teams before each season?
CFN devised a scoring system giving every AP-ranked preseason No. 1 team from 1950 to 2022 25 points, the No. 2 team 24, No. 3 23, and so on down to the bottom of the top 20 in the early years, and then it became the top 25 later on. Previous ranking in parentheses. Scroll down for the preseason AP top 25 rankings by year.
AP Preseason Polls
All-Time Top 25 | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s
1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
1 Oklahoma 230
2 Notre Dame 187
3 Michigan State 176
4 Ohio State 165
5 Maryland 126
6 Georgia Tech 118
7 Texas 112
8 Tennessee 111
9 Army 109
10 Michigan 93
11 Wisconsin 91
T12 Illinois 82
T12 UCLA 82
T12 USC 82
T15 Duke 78
T15 Ole Miss 78
17 Cal 77
18 Iowa 76
19 TCU 67
20 Texas A&M 66
T21 Auburn 64
T21 Navy 64
23 SMU 57
T24 Alabama 50
T24 Pitt 50
Also Receiving Votes or Points: Miami 47, Stanford 44, Kentucky 39, Rice 39, Baylor 38, North Carolina 36, Minnesota 30, Oregon State 27, Princeton 27, LSU 25, Cornell 23, Penn 21, Purdue 21, Washington 18, West Virginia 17, Clemson 16, Northwestern 16, Nebraska 14, South Carolina 12, Air Force 11, Florida 11, Mississippi State 11, Washington State 11, Penn State 10, Kansas 9, Missouri 9, Oregon 8, Texas Tech 7, Yale 7, Syracuse 6
Scroll down for the preseason AP top 25 rankings by year.
1959 AP Preseason Top 25
1 LSU
2 Oklahoma
3 Auburn
4 SMU
5 Army
6 Wisconsin
7 Ohio State
8 Ole Miss
9 Iowa
10 Northwestern
11 Purdue
12 North Carolina
13 TCU
14 South Carolina
15 Air Force
16 Notre Dame
17 Texas
18 Clemson
19 Michigan State
20 Syracuse
1958 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Ohio State
2 Oklahoma
3 Notre Dame
4 Michigan State
5 Auburn
6 Ole Miss
7 Navy
8 TCU
9 Army
10 North Carolina
11 Texas
12 Oregon State
13 Iowa
14 Wisconsin
15 Mississippi State
16 Miami
17 SMU
18 Clemson
19 Pitt
20 Texas A&M
1957 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Oklahoma
2 Texas A&M
3 Michigan State
4 Minnesota
5 Tennessee
6 Michigan
7 Baylor
8 Pitt
9 Iowa
10 Duke
11 Georgia Tech
12 Navy
13 Oregon State
14 Miami
15 Auburn
16 Penn State
17 Ohio State
18 Notre Dame
19 USC
20 Kentucky
1956 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Oklahoma
2 Michigan State
3 Notre Dame
4 Georgia Tech
5 Ohio State
6 Maryland
7 TCU
8 Michigan
9 Texas A&M
10 Pitt
11 Army
12 Tennessee
13 Ole Miss
14 Stanford
15 USC
16 Duke
17 UCLA
18 Miami
19 Yale
20 Illinois
1955 AP Preseason Top 25
1 UCLA
2 Oklahoma
3 Michigan
4 Ohio State
5 Maryland
6 Notre Dame
7 Army
8 Navy
9 Miami
10 Georgia Tech
11 Rice
12 Iowa
13 USC
14 Wisconsin
15 Ole Miss
16 SMU
17 Auburn
18 Duke
19 West Virginia
20 Purdue
1954 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Notre Dame
2 Oklahoma
3 Maryland
4 Texas
5 Illinois
6 Michigan State
7 Georgia Tech
8 UCLA
9 Wisconsin
10 Ole Miss
11 Iowa
12 Cal
13 Army
14 Alabama
15 Duke
16 Rice
17 USC
18 Oregon
19 Texas Tech
20 Ohio State
1953 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Notre Dame
2 Michigan State
3 Georgia Tech
4 UCLA
5 Alabama
6 Oklahoma
7 Ohio State
8 USC
9 Maryland
10 Duke
11 Texas
12 Rice
13 Navy
14 Cal
15 Florida
16 West Virginia
17 Pitt
17 Tennessee
19 Princeton
20 Baylor
1952 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Michigan State
2 Maryland
3 Georgia Tech
4 Oklahoma
5 Illinois
6 Tennessee
7 Wisconsin
8 Cal
9 TCU
10 Notre Dame
11 Texas
12 Penn
13 Stanford
14 Princeton
15 Washington State
16 USC
17 Kansas
18 UCLA
19 Duke
20 Ohio State
1951 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Tennessee
2 Michigan State
3 Ohio State
4 Oklahoma
5 Cal
6 Kentucky
7 Texas A&M
8 Washington
9 Alabama
10 Illinois
11 Texas
12 Nebraska
13 Baylor
14 Notre Dame
15 Wisconsin
16 Maryland
17 Michigan
18 Princeton
19 Penn
20 Cornell
1950 AP Preseason Top 25
1 Notre Dame
2 Army
3 Michigan
4 Tennessee
5 Texas
6 Oklahoma
7 Stanford
8 Illinois
9 Cornell
10 SMU
11 Ohio State
12 USC
13 Kentucky
14 Cal
15 Maryland
16 Duke
17 Missouri
18 Minnesota
19 Michigan State
20 North Carolina
AP Preseason Polls
All-Time Top 25 | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s
1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s
