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Defending national champion Alabama dominated the Super 16 preseason poll with 35 of 52 first-place votes from a panel of FWAA writers and College Football Hall of Famers. Voters were selected to create a balanced-geographical perspective and include CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove.
The poll returns in 2021 after a one-year hiatus in 2020, due to Covid.
Voters rank the top 16 teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, and the results will be released every Sunday of the 2021 season.
Clemson was second in the poll voting, 66 points behind Alabama, with other perennial powerhouses Oklahoma and Ohio State following in that order.
Georgia, the only team to receive first-place votes other than the top four, was No. 5, followed by Texas A&M, Iowa State, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Cincinnati as the top 10 vote-getters. The Bearcats were the only non-Power Five team in the poll.
If the opening poll is reflective of what will happen at the conclusion of the 2021 season, then college football will see more of the same from recent seasons. Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State have accounted for 11 of the 14 spots in the seven CFP National Championships. Oklahoma has made three semifinal game appearances during that stretch.
In the 2021 preseason poll, the SEC led all conferences with five teams and was followed by the ACC with three. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 had two teams each, the American one and Independents one.
| Team | Points | 1st | LW | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Alabama (0-0) | 805 | 35 | -- |
| 2. | Clemson (0-0) | 739 | 3 | -- |
| 3. | Oklahoma (0-0) | 661 | 9 | -- |
| 4. | Ohio State (0-0) | 673 | 1 | -- |
| 5. | Georgia (0-0) | 661 | 4 | -- |
| 6. | Texas A&M (0-0) | 627 | -- | -- |
| 7. | Iowa State (0-0) | 469 | -- | -- |
| 8. | Notre Dame (0-0) | 401 | -- | -- |
| 9. | North Carolina (0-0) | 361 | -- | -- |
| 10. | Cincinnati (0-0) | 333 | -- | -- |
| 11. | Oregon (0-0) | 276 | -- | -- |
| 12. | Florida (0-0) | 255 | -- | -- |
| 13. | Wisconsin (0-0) | 186 | -- | -- |
| 14. | LSU (0-0) | 182 | -- | -- |
| 15. | USC (0-0) | 148 | -- | -- |
| 16. | Miami, FL (0-0) | 96 | -- | -- |
Washington (45), Indiana (43), Penn State (30), Iowa (20), Utah (17), Texas (16), Georgia State (12), Ole Miss (8), TCU (8), Northwestern (7), Liberty (7), Arizona State (7), Florida State (5), BYU (5), Coastal Carolina (4), Oklahoma State (3), Louisiana (3), Auburn (2), Boston College (1).
ABOUT THE FWAA: The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,300 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information visit www.footballwriters.com.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME: Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.