Ohio State, the defending national champion, is ranked No. 3. The Buckeyes open with Texas on Aug. 30 in what will be one of the biggest season-opening games of all time. Clemson received four first-place votes and is ranked No. 4. Georgia rounds out the top five. The Bulldogs received one first-place vote.

A&M entered last season ranked 20th in the initial AP Poll and climbed as high as No. 10 after its Week 9 victory over LSU. A week later, the Aggies lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks, which caused them to drop in the polls and eventually marked the start of the late-season skid that led to them being unranked in the final poll.