The Associated Press preseason poll came out, and the finish for the top two teams was the closest in nearly 30 years.
Preseason AP Poll Features Tightest Top Two Finish Since 1998 originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
On Monday, the first Associated Press Top 25 poll came out just weeks before the new college football season.
Here is how the AP Top 25 poll looked after the reveal, and Texas took the top spot for now:
- Texas
- Penn State
- Ohio State
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Notre Dame
- Oregon
- Alabama
- LSU
- Miami (FL)
- Arizona State
- Illinois
- South Carolina
- Michigan
- Florida
- SMU
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- Indiana
- Ole Miss
- Iowa State
- Texas Tech
- Tennessee
- Boise State
Others Receiving Votes: BYU, Utah, Baylor, Louisville, USC, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Tulane, Nebraska, UNLV, Toledo, Auburn, James Madison, Memphis, Florida State, Duke, Liberty, Navy, Iowa, TCU, Pittsburgh, Army, Colorado, Louisiana-Lafayette.
The preseason Coaches Poll had previously been released, and it had a top three of Texas, Ohio State and Penn State, in that order.
This time, the AP poll has the Texas Longhorns and Penn State Nittany Lions at No. 1 and No. 2, and it was very, very close.
Texas and Penn State Close as Can Be in AP Poll
In fact, the margin between the top two teams was the closest it had been since 1998, according to the ESPN college football account.
Texas received 1,552 points while Penn State received 1,547 points, a difference of just five points between the teams.
Here are the points for the rest of the top 10 teams:
- Ohio State: 1,472
- Clemson: 1,398
- Georgia: 1,331
- Notre Dame: 1,325
- Oregon: 1,236
- Alabama: 1,179
- LSU: 1,174
- Miami (FL): 889
As far as first-place votes, Texas had 25 and Penn State had 23, so even that was a very close margin.
In 1998, the preseason AP poll had Ohio State at No. 1 and Florida State at No. 2, with those teams decided by just five points.
Texas and Penn State made the College Football Playoff semifinals a year ago before losing to Ohio State and Notre Dame, respectively.
This time, Arch Manning is set to be Texas's new QB1, and Penn State saw Drew Allar return with plenty of hopes and aspirations for both teams.
Related: Unexpected Colorado News Surfaced After AP Top 25 Poll Released
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports
