How Is the AP Top 25 Football Poll Calculated?

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Conceptual illustration of an American football beside a ranking ballot, pencil and calculator

The AP Top 25 college football poll combines the rankings submitted by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Each voter lists 25 teams in order. A first-place choice earns 25 points, second place earns 24, and each lower position receives one fewer point, down to one point for 25th.

The Associated Press adds each team’s points across the ballots and orders the totals from highest to lowest. For example, a team placed first by one voter and second by another earns 49 points from those two ballots. A team omitted from a ballot receives no points from that voter.

This explains why first-place votes tell only part of the story: positions farther down every ballot also affect the total. The published ranking combines many individual judgments through the same scoring system. Source: AP’s explanation of its voting method.

 

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