Alabama takes top spot in annual vote
NEW YORK (AP) — Alabama will begin this season the way it ended the last two — No. 1.
Nick Saban and the two-time defending national champion Crimson Tide are top-ranked in The Associated Press preseason college football poll as they try to become the first team to win three straight national titles.
Much like the BCS championship game against Notre Dame, the vote was an Alabama landslide. The Tide received 58 of 60 first-place votes from the media panel to easily outdistance No. 2 Ohio State and match Florida in 2009 for the highest percentage of first-place votes received in the 63-year history of the preseason rankings.
The Buckeyes received one first-place vote.
Oregon is No. 3, followed by Stanford and Georgia, which received the other first-place vote.
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press preseason college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2012 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and final ranking:
| Record | Pts | Pv | |
| 1. Alabama (58) | 13-1 | 1,498 | 1 |
| 2. Ohio St. (1) | 12-0 | 1,365 | 3 |
| 3. Oregon | 12-1 | 1,335 | 2 |
| 4. Stanford | 12-2 | 1,294 | 7 |
| 5. Georgia (1) | 12-2 | 1,249 | t5 |
| 6. South Carolina | 11-2 | 1,154 | 8 |
| 7. Texas A&M | 11-2 | 1,104 | t5 |
| 8. Clemson | 11-2 | 1,083 | 11 |
| 9. Louisville | 11-2 | 1,042 | 13 |
| 10. Florida | 11-2 | 894 | 9 |
| 11. Florida St. | 12-2 | 845 | 10 |
| 12. LSU | 10-3 | 802 | 14 |
| 13. Oklahoma St. | 8-5 | 755 | NR |
| 14. Notre Dame | 12-1 | 748 | 4 |
| 15. Texas | 9-4 | 677 | 19 |
| 16. Oklahoma | 10-3 | 579 | 15 |
| 17. Michigan | 8-5 | 531 | 24 |
| 18. Nebraska | 10-4 | 382 | 25 |
| 19. Boise St. | 11-2 | 328 | 18 |
| 20. TCU | 7-6 | 323 | NR |
| 21. UCLA | 9-5 | 286 | NR |
| 22. Northwestern | 10-3 | 199 | NR |
| 23. Wisconsin | 8-6 | 185 | NR |
| 24. Southern Cal | 7-6 | 134 | NR |
| 25. Oregon St. | 9-4 | 129 | 20 |
Others receiving votes: Michigan St. 95, Baylor 92, Virginia Tech 86, Miami 85, Arizona St. 53, Kansas St. 43, Fresno St. 36, Vanderbilt 19, Washington 17, N. Illinois 16, Mississippi 11, Utah St. 8, Georgia Tech 6, Arizona 3, Cincinnati 3, North Carolina 3, Penn St. 2, BYU 1.