News/Commentary

Super 16 Poll - Clemson Still No. 1, LSU Leaps To No. 3

September 8, 2019 by Courtesy FWAA

Clemson once again leads the poll, and the Southeastern Conference now has teams in slots 2-4 after LSU's impressive 45-38 victory over Texas in Austin on Saturday night. The Tigers jumped three spots in the rankings to No. 3 and unseated fellow SEC member Georgia in that spot.

Clemson received 38 first-place votes, followed by No. 2 Alabama (four first-place votes), LSU (three) and No. 4 Georgia (one). After the home loss to LSU, Texas fell four spots to No. 12. Clemson picked up three first-place votes and LSU added one while Alabama lost 3 and Oklahoma went from one-to-none.

Washington dropped out of the poll after being upset by California, and Oregon re-entered the poll after a decisive victory over Nevada. Texas A&M fell four spots to No. 16 after losing at Clemson. Michigan averted a home loss to Army in overtime, but still fell three spots to No. 10.

The SEC now has five teams among the top nine teams in the poll and six total. The Big Ten has four teams in the poll. The Big 12 and Pac-12 have two each, The Atlantic Coast Conference and Independents one each.

Congrove's Ballot

NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is among the voters. His ballot this week was submitted as follows (last week's rank in parenthesis).
1. LSU (1)
2. Clemson (3)
3. Alabama (4)
4. Ohio State (7)
5. Oklahoma (5)
5. Georgia (6)
7. Michigan (2)
8. Washington State (8)
9. Auburn (9)
10. Utah (11)
11. Notre Dame (12)
12. Oregon (13)
13. Wisconsin (16)
14. Florida (NR)
15. Texas (15)
16. Michigan State (NR)
DROPPED OUT: Syracuse (10), Cincinnati (14)

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 Sunday of the 2019 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 7, 2019)

  Team Points 1st LW
1. Clemson (2-0) 726 38 1
2. Alabama (2-0) 679 4 2
3. LSU (2-0) 603 3 6
4. Georgia (2-0) 588 1 3
5. Oklahoma (2-0) 574 --- 4
6. Ohio State (2-0) 540 --- 5
7. Notre Dame (1-0) 361 --- 9
8. Auburn (2-0) 360 --- 10
9. Florida (2-0) 280 --- 11
10. Michigan (2-0) 254 --- 7
11. Utah (2-0) 253 --- 13
12. Texas (1-1) 228 --- 8
13. Wisconsin (2-0) 201 --- 16
14. Penn State (2-0) 184 --- 15
15. Oregon (1-1) 110 --- NR
16. Texas A&M (1-1) 78 --- 12

Others receiving votes:

UCF (64), Michigan State (62), Washington (34), Washington State (30), USC (14), Iowa (14), Maryland (9), TCU (4), Boise State (2), Army West Point (2), North Carolina (1), Virginia (1).