College football rankings 2018: Alabama, Clemson top composite preseason Top 25 polls

Bill Bender

College football rankings 2018: Alabama, Clemson top composite preseason Top 25 polls image

Preseason college football rankings for the 2018 season are out with the season just days away. 

MORE: 18 predictions for 2018

So who's the preseason No. 1? Sporting News released its preseason top 25, but we wanted to get a sense of what other publications are thinking. We checked out CBS Sports, the USA Today Amway Coaches PollESPN and Sports Illustrated. The AP preseason poll, released on Monday, tops our list. 

Those five polls to get a feel for what a true Top 25 might look like. Here’s how that shook out (25 points given for a No. 1 ranking, down to one point for a No. 25 ranking). Ties are broken by the team ranked highest in the SN Preseason Top 25. 

Composite top 25 college football rankings

RANKTEAMTOTAL
1Alabama149
2Clemson145
3Georgia134
4Ohio State127
5Wisconsin125
6Washington122
7Oklahoma120
8Penn State104
9Auburn102
10Miami96
11Michigan State86
12Notre Dame85
13Michigan76
14Stanford76
15TCU55
16West Virginia53
17USC52
18Florida State43
19Mississippi State43
20UCF31
21Texas28
22Virginia Tech28
23Boise State22
24LSU13
25South Carolina9

Others receiving votes: Arizona 7, Oregon 7, Houston 6, N.C. State 2, Florida 1, Oklahoma State 1, FAU 1 

Comparing Top 25 rankings 

TEAMSNCBSCOACHESESPNSIAP
Alabama111121
Clemson222212
Georgia333463
Ohio State444395
Oklahoma575757
Wisconsin657634
Washington766546
Auburn89101089
Notre Dame91211111612
Penn State10898710
Miami111189138
Michigan121314121514
Michigan State131012131111
Stanford141413141213
USC15171516NR15
West Virginia162020201017
UCF172323241721
LSU18NR24NR2325
TCU191516211416
Florida State201819181819
Texas211921222223
South Carolina2222NR25NRNR
Mississippi State231618172118
Virginia Tech24NR1715NR20
Boise State25212219NR22
OregonNR24NR23NR24
FloridaNR25NRNRNRNR
Oklahoma StateNRNR25NRNRNR
ArizonaNRNRNRNR19NR
HoustonNRNRNRNR20NR
N.C. StateNRNRNRNR24NR
FAUNRNRNRNR25NR

Bill Bender

Bill Bender graduated from Ohio University in 2002 and started at The Sporting News as a fantasy football writer in 2007. He has covered the College Football Playoff, NBA Finals and World Series for SN. Bender enjoys story-telling, awesomely-bad 80s movies and coaching youth sports.