News/Commentary

FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll: Top Four Unchanged

September 24, 2018 by Courtesy NFF

NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is among the voters.

Alabama remained No. 1 after a decisive victory over Texas A&M, receiving 49 of a possible 51 first-place votes. The first four teams remained in the same order with Georgia, Clemson and Ohio State next. Only minor shuffling occurred with Nos. 5 to 11.

West Virginia moved from No. 14 to No. 12 as four teams dropped out of the poll after losses. Virginia Tech was upset by Old Dominion. Mississippi State fell to Kentucky. Oklahoma State dropped a home game to Texas Tech. And TCU lost at Texas. Those teams were replaced Nos. 13 to 16 by Michigan, UCF, Wisconsin and Kentucky. With a 4-0 start, Kentucky appears for the first time ever in the five-year history of the Super 16 Poll.

The SEC leads all conferences with five teams in the poll, followed by the Big Ten (four), Big 12 (two), Pac-12 (two) and the ACC, the American and Independents one team each.

Games This Week

Louisiana at No. 1 Alabama; Tennessee at No. 2 Georgia; Syracuse at No. 3 Clemson; No. 4 Ohio State at No. 8 Penn State; Mississippi at No. 5 LSU; Baylor at No. 6 Oklahoma; No. 7 Stanford at No. 9 Notre Dame; Southern Mississippi at No. 10 Auburn; BYU at No. 11 Washington; No. 12 West Virginia at Texas Tech; No.13 Michigan at Northwestern; Pitt at No. 14 UCF; and South Carolina at No. 16 Kentucky.

Congrove's Ballot

In order of 1-16, Congrove's ballot was Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, Stanford, Penn State, Notre Dame, LSU, Auburn, Washington, Michigan, Kentucky, Duke, West Virginia and UCF.

Congrove dropped four teams from last week's ballot as replaced Mississippi State with Kentucky (Kentucky beat Mississippi State), Virginia Tech with Duke (Duke hosts Virginia Tech this Saturday), Oklahoma State with West Virginia, and TCU with UCF.

About the Poll

The poll was established at the conclusion of the 2013 season by long-time partners, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and the National Football Foundation (NFF). Voters rank the top 16 teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, and the results will be released every Monday of the 2018 season; the individual votes of all members will also be made public. The pollsters consist of FWAA writers and College Football Hall of Famers who were selected to create a balanced-geographical perspective.

FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll
(For games through September 22, 2018)

  Team Points 1st LW
1. Alabama (4-0) 814 49 1
2. Georgia (4-0) 730 1 2
3. Clemson (4-0) 712 --- 3
4. Ohio State (4-0) 680 --- 4
5. LSU (4-0) 572 --- 6
6. Oklahoma (4-0) 568 --- 5
7. Stanford (4-0) 468 --- 7
8. Penn State (4-0) 423 --- 8
9. Notre Dame (43-0) 422 --- 8
10. Auburn (3-1) 364 --- 10
11. Washington (3-1) 301 --- 11
12. West Virginia (3-0) 279 --- 14
13. Michigan (3-1) 148 --- NR
14. UCF (3-0) 139 --- NR
15. Wisconsin (3-1) 109 --- NR
16. Kentucky (4-0) 76 --- NR

Others receiving votes:

Miami, Fla. (25), Texas (23), Oregon (15), Michigan State (13), Texas A&M (12), BYU (10), Duke (9), Oklahoma State (6), South Carolina (5), Texas Tech (4), Mississippi Stat (4), USF (4) Virginia Tech (1).