No. 2 Clemson received 18 first-place votes. Georgia is No. 3 and Wisconsin is fourth. The Badgers received one first-place vote. Ohio State was ranked No. 5.

The Crimson Tide are just the second team to be ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll for three straight seasons. Alabama received 42 out of 61 first-place votes in balloting released Monday.

Alabama will begin its quest for a second consecutive national championship with a rare three-peat.

The preseason AP poll started in 1950, and since then, only Oklahoma from 1985-87 had started No. 1 in three straight years.


Ring up another milestone for coach Nick Saban’s Tide dynasty. Alabama has won five national championships since 2009 and now has been No. 1 to start the season five times under Saban. Last season was the first time Saban’s team started and finished the season No. 1.

The Tide enter this season with a question at quarterback, but there appear to be two good answers from which Saban has to choose: Tua Tagovailoa won the College Football Playoff championship game for Alabama with a second-half comeback and overtime touchdown pass. Jalen Hurts has led the Tide to the national title game in each of his two seasons as a starter.

Whoever is quarterback, Alabama’s offense should be potent with running back Damien Harris working behind a powerful line anchored by tackle Jonah Williams.

The Tide’s always-tough defense will have all new starters in the secondary, but defensive end Raekwon Davis and linebackers Mack Wilson and Dylan Moses are primed to be Alabama’s next All-Americans.

The machine never stops in Tuscaloosa. Once again, everybody is chasing Alabama.

The AP top 25

The top 25 teams in the Associated Press preseason college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, last year’s record, total points (based on 25 for a first-place vote through 1 for a 25th-place vote), and 2017 final ranking:


2017

record points 2017 final

ranking 1. Alabama (42) 13-1 1,505 1 2. Clemson (18) 12-2 1,476 4 3. Georgia 13-2 1,350 2 4. Wisconsin (1) 13-1 1,271 7 5. Ohio State 12-2 1,256 5 6. Washington 10-3 1,215 16 7. Oklahoma 12-2 1,173 3 8. Miami 10-3 1,027 13 9. Auburn 10-4 1,013 10 10. Penn State 11-2 1,012 8 11. Michigan State 10-3 877 15 12. Notre Dame 10-3 804 11 13. Stanford 9-5 778 20 14. Michigan 8-5 773 — 15. Southern Cal 11-3 543 12 16. TCU 11-3 533 9 17. West Virginia 7-6 511 — 18. Mississippi State 9-4 450 19 19. Florida State 7-6 384 — 20. Virginia Tech 9-4 351 24 21. UCF 13-0 312 6 22. Boise State 11-3 292 22 23. Texas 7-6 216 — 24. Oregon 7-6 148 — 25. LSU 9-4 106 18

Others receiving votes: South Carolina 96, Florida 68, Utah 60, Oklahoma St. 51, FAU 38, Arizona 28, North Carolina State 22, Texas A&M 21, Boston College 18, Northwestern 13, Kansas State 10, Iowa State 8, Houston 6, Memphis 3, Troy 2, Iowa 2, Kentucky 1, Arkansas St. 1, Fresno State 1.