College football season is back! We are less than week away from the Week 0 slate of games so it is time to once again publish the College Football Researchers Association preseason poll! This will be the 28th season overall that the CFRA will crown a contemporaneous national champion and the 17th consecutive since the re-emergence of the poll in 2009.  The history of this poll there may not seem overwhelmingly vast but keep in mind that when you include all of the retrospective champions we’ve elected, this season’s champion will be the 156th in poll history which is more than any other multi-voter, NCAA-recognized poll in the country.

One interesting aspect of this year’s preseason polls is that we had a tie at the # 2 spot between the two most recent national champions in Georgia and Ohio State. The Bulldogs of Georgia are not in the top 4 of either the Coaches or AP top 25 polls but the CFRA has them in a deadlock for number 2 in the country. Also, like last season, I am denoting each of the CFRA’s 12 currently selected CFP teams with an asterik next to their names.

Without further ado, here is this year’s preseason poll.

1.  Texas (6)*– 303 points

2.  Ohio State (3)*– 296 points

2.  Georgia (1)*– 296 points  

4.  Penn State*– 289 points

5.  Notre Dame*– 262 points

6.  Clemson*- 258 points

7.  Oregon*– 249 points

8.  LSU*– 227 points

9.  Alabama*- 211 points

10. Miami-FL*- 176 points

11. Illinois– 133 points

12. South Carolina– 132 points

13. SMU– 131 points

14. Arizona State*– 119 points

15. Ole Miss– 114 points

16. Michigan– 94 points

17. Texas A & M– 91 points

18. Florida– 90 points

19. Tennessee– 86 points

20. Kansas State– 82 points

21. Oklahoma– 59 points

22. Indiana– 57 points

23. Boise State*– 55 points

24. Southern Cal– 53 points

25. Texas Tech– 46 points

Others Receiving Votes: Iowa State 43, Utah 42, Colorado 20, Missouri 20, Florida State 17, Auburn 17, Louisville 16, Washington 15, Oklahoma State 14, TCU 14, Memphis 13, BYU 13, Navy 12, Baylor 12, Wisconsin 10, Nebraska 9, Iowa 7, North Carolina 6, James Madison 5, Western Kentucky 4, Duke 4, Georgia Tech 1, Army 1, Kentucky 1

Teams Ranked Higher in CFRA than AP and Coaches Polls: Georgia (2), LSU (8), Illinois (11), South Carolina (12), SMU (13), Texas A & M (17), Boise State (23), Southern Cal (24).

Teams Ranked Lower in CFRA than AP and Coaches Polls: Penn State (4), Alabama (9), Arizona State (14), Michigan (16), Florida (18), Indiana (22), Texas Tech (25), BYU (NR), Iowa State (NR).

Teams Ranked Exactly the Same in All 3 Major Human Polls (AP, CFRA, and Coaches): Texas (1), Oregon (7), Miami-FL (10).