The Associated Press released its 75th preseason college football poll on Monday. The SEC has nine teams ranked among the nation’s preseason top 25. The SEC teams in the 2024 preseason poll are Georgia at No. 1, Texas at No. 4, Alabama at No. 5, Ole Miss at No. 6, Missouri at No. 11, LSU at No. 13, Tennessee at No. 15, Oklahoma at No. 16 and Texas A&M at No. 20. SEC Football by the Numbers looks at this year’s preseason poll:
2 Of the 74 previous AP preseason polls have assigned a higher ranking to Missouri than this year’s poll does at No. 11. The Tigers were 10th in 1969 and sixth in 2008. Missouri also was 11th in the 1970 preseason poll. In the final polls, the Tigers were sixth in 1969, unranked in 1970 and 19th in 2008. In making its first preseason appearance since 2015, Missouri received two sixth-place votes, two seventh-place votes, six eighth-place votes, 14 ninth-place votes, sixth 10th-place votes, six 11th-place votes, seven 12th-place votes, six 13th-place votes, six 14th-place votes, four 15th-place votes, one 16th-place vote and one 17th-place vote.
2 SEC teams that did not place in the top 25 of the 2024 AP preseason poll received votes. Kentucky collected three points and placed 40th and Auburn garnered two points and ranked 41st among the 42 teams that appeared on the ballots. Kentucky got its points from a 24th-place vote and a 25th-place vote. Auburn’s points came from a 24th-place vote.
2 Teams appear in the same spot in the AP preseason poll as they did in the AP’s final poll for the 2023 season – Alabama at No. 5 and Kansas State at No. 18. Four teams that were not ranked at the end of the 2023 campaign are ranked in the 2024 preseason poll – Utah at No. 12, Miami (Fla.) at No. 19, Texas A&M at No. 20 and Southern Cal at No. 23. Nine teams are ranked higher in the preseason poll than they were in the final poll, and 10 teams are ranked lower. The teams ranked at the end of 2023 but not ranked to start 2024 are Washington, which was No. 2 in the final 2023 poll; Louisville, No. 19; SMU, No. 22; and Liberty, No. 25.
3 Third-place votes and one 10th-place vote in the AP preseason poll for Alabama, which ranked No. 5. In between, Alabama also had eight fourth-place votes, 21 fifth-place votes, 16 sixth-place votes, 10 seventh-place votes, three eighth-place votes and one ninth-place vote.
3 Appearances at No. 1 in the AP preseason poll for Georgia, with this year’s Bulldogs joining the 2008 and 2023 teams. Georgia finished 13th in the final poll for the 2008 season and No. 4 in the final poll for the 2023 season. Nineteen of the 75 preseason polls have been topped by an SEC member. Three of those teams were No. 1 in the final poll, too – Tennessee in 1951 and Alabama in 1978 and 2017. Alabama also held the top spot in the AP preseason poll in 1966, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2021 and 2022. Florida was No. 1 in the AP preseason poll in 1994, 2001 and 2009. Other SEC teams that have held the No. 1 spot in the AP preseason poll include LSU in 1959, Ole Miss in 1964 and Auburn in 1984. New SEC member Oklahoma has been No. 1 in 10 AP preseason polls, more than any program. The Sooners topped the preseason poll in 1956, 1957, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1985, 1986, 1987, 2003 and 2011. Although new SEC member Texas is ranked in the AP preseason poll for the 57th time this year, the Longhorns have never been No. 1 in the initial rankings.
4 Consecutive AP preseason polls have not included Auburn, the Tigers’ longest streak since they started unranked in 1999 through 2002. Auburn was most recently ranked in any poll on Nov. 7, 2021, when the Tigers were 16th. The 2022 and the 2023 seasons were the first back-to-back years in which Auburn went unranked since 1976 and 1977. During that streak, the Tigers went 45 consecutive polls without an appearance. Auburn’s current streak without being ranked has reached 38 polls with the 2024 AP preseason release.
5 SEC teams did not receive any votes in the balloting for the 2024 AP preseason poll – Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
6 SEC teams appeared on all 62 ballots – No. 1 Georgia, No. 4, Texas, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 11 Missouri and No. 13 LSU. No. 15 Tennessee, which was ranked as high as eighth by one voter, was left out of the top 25 by two voters. No. 16 Oklahoma, which was ranked as high as sixth by one voter, went unranked on four ballots. No. 20 Texas A&M, which was ranked as high as No. 10 by one voter, did not appear on 18 ballots.
9 SEC teams are ranked in the 2024 AP preseason poll, giving the league more ranked teams than any other conference. In this year’s preseason poll, the Big Ten has six teams, the Big 12 has five and the ACC has four. There’s also one independent program ranked – Notre Dame at No. 7.
11 Teams ranked No. 1 in the AP preseason poll have gone on to be No. 1 in the AP final poll for that season. Alabama in 2017 is the most recent to do so, and the Crimson Tide also accomplished that feat in 1978. Two of the 11 teams held the No. 1 spot for the entire season – Florida State in 1999 and Southern Cal in 2004. The other teams that held the No. 1 spot in the preseason poll and the final poll in the same season have been Tennessee in 1951, Michigan State in 1952, Oklahoma in 1956, 1974, 1975 and 1985 and Florida State in 1993.
15 Years since Texas had a higher ranking in the AP preseason poll than it does in the 2024 edition. The Longhorns’ No. 4 start to the 2024 season is Texas’ best since it was No. 2 in the 2009 AP preseason poll. The 14 straight polls without at least one appearance at No. 4 or better in the AP preseason poll was the second-longest in Texas’ history. The Longhorns did not appear in the top four of an AP preseason poll between a No. 3 ranking in 1983 and a No. 4 ranking in 2002. In this year’s preseason poll, Texas received six No. 2 votes, 18 No. 3 votes, 31 No. 4 votes, six No. 5 votes and one No. 6 vote.
16 Consecutive AP preseason polls have included Alabama in the top five, extending the record for the longest such streak in poll history. Florida State has the second-longest streak of top-five preseason appearances with 11 from 1990 through 2000. The most recent preseason poll that didn’t include Alabama in the top five came in 2008, when the Crimson Tide opened at No. 24 and finished at No. 6. The next season, Alabama started at No. 5, then was no loeer than third for 13 consecutive years before starting at No. 4 in 2023.
23 Consecutive AP preseason polls have included Georgia, the second-longest streak in SEC history. The SEC record for consecutive appearances in the AP preseason poll is 24, set by Alabama from 1961 through 1984. New SEC member Oklahoma has been ranked in 25 consecutive AP preseason polls since the Sooners most recently failed to appear in 1999.
28 Consecutive seasons have included at least one AP poll appearance by Georgia, with the Bulldogs’ No. 1 ranking in this year’s preseason poll extending the third-longest streak in SEC history. The SEC record for consecutive seasons with at least one AP poll appearance is 45 by Alabama, set from 1959 through 2003. That’s second on the all-time national list, behind Ohio State’s current 57 in a row. The SEC’s second-longest streak of seasons with an AP poll appearance is 34 by Florida from 1980 through 2013. Georgia is tied with Wisconsin for the second-longest active streak in the nation.
31 Voters ranked LSU at 12th or better and 21 ranked the Tigers at 14th or worse. LSU ranked 13th in the AP preseason poll, a spot where the Tigers got 10 votes. One voter had LSU ranked as high as eighth, and two had the Tigers ranked as low as 20th.
46 Of the 62 AP voters had Georgia No. 1 on their ballots. Ohio State received 15 first-place votes, and Oregon got the other first-place vote. Georgia was No. 2 on 14 ballots and No. 3 on two.
54 Years since Ole Miss had a higher ranking in the AP preseason poll than it does in the 2024 edition. The Rebels’ No. 6 start to the 2024 season is Ole Miss’ best since it was No. 5 in the 1970 AP preseason poll. In between, the Rebels appeared in the AP preseason poll eight times, with No. 8 in 2009 their only top 10 showing in that span. In 1970, Ole Miss finished 20th in the final rankings of the season.
66 Appearances in the AP preseason poll for new SEC member Oklahoma, which is the second-most behind Ohio State’s 71. Alabama is appearing in the preseason poll for the 58th time this week, which ranks fifth, with Southern Cal’s 63 and Notre Dame’s 61 between the Crimson Tide and Oklahoma. New SEC member Texas is making its 57th appearance in the AP preseason poll. Tennessee’s appearance is its 44th in the AP preseason poll, keeping the Volunteers in 10th place – one ahead of LSU and Georgia. Auburn and Florida have had 40 appearances apiece, Texas A&M 35, Arkansas 27, Ole Miss 21, Missouri 11, South Carolina 10, Mississippi State eight and Kentucky five. Vanderbilt has never been ranked in the AP preseason poll.
262 Consecutive AP polls have included Alabama, the nation’s longest current streak and the second-longest in the poll’s history. The most recent poll that did not include Alabama was the final one of the 2007 season. The only streak of poll appearances longer than Alabama’s belongs to Nebraska at 348. After beating Colorado 59-0 on Oct. 10, 1981, Nebraska was ranked No. 19 two days later, and the Cornhuskers were not unranked again until the Sept. 29, 2002, poll, after back-to-back losses to Penn State and Iowa State dropped them to 3-2.
