The Clemson Tigers are once again No. 1 in yet another preseason college football poll. Hours after being awarded the top spot in the preseason AP poll, the defending national champions were cemented as the top team in the Super 16 Poll from the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundation.
Clemson received 33 first-place votes (out of 46 possible first-place votes) to create some separation from the No. 2 team in the poll, the Alabama Crimson Tide. Nick Saban and the Tide picked up 10 first-place votes in the preseason voting from the panel of college football writers and College Football Hall of Fame members. Two other teams picked up first-place recognition; No. 6 LSU received two first-place votes and No. 3 Georgia received one.
Here’s how the preseason Super 16 poll looks;
- Clemson (33 first-place votes)
- Alabama (10)
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Ohio State
- LSU (2)
- Michigan
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Florida
- Oregon
- Texas A&M
- Washington
- Utah
- Penn State
- Auburn
The SEC leads the poll with six schools appearing in the poll, and three others (Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi State) received points to appear in the “Others Receiving Votes” category. Clemson is the only ACC team to crack the poll. The only other ACC teams receiving any points in the voting were Syracuse, Miami, and Virginia Tech. The Big Ten landed three in the poll and has some of the top schools receiving votes outside of the top 16 (Michigan State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, plus Iowa and Northwestern). The Pac-12 edged out the Big 12 3-2 for total schools appearing in the Super 16.
No Group of 5 school managed to get into the Super 16, although UCF is the first team out in the Others Receiving Votes. The Knights trailed Auburn by 57 total points though, so there is a decent buffer at the start of the season. The only other Group of Five schools to receive any points in the poll were Cincinnati, Boise State, and Memphis. Army also received some consideration, although they are not a part of the Group of 5.
The Super 16 Poll was created at the conclusion of the 2013 season by the FWAA and the National Football Foundation. Voters in the poll rank their top 16 teams in the FBS. The poll is updated every Sunday during the 2019 season, although the first poll of the regular season will be release don Tuesday, Sept. 3 to include all games played over Labor Day weekend. The final poll will be released on Sunday, Dec. 8.