Georgia is No. 1 again.
The Bulldogs are No. 1 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 for the second straight season. Georgia was voted No. 1 in the USA Today UFCA Coaches Poll last week.
Georgia has won two of the last three national championships under coach Kirby Smart, and the Bulldogs finished No. 4 in the AP Poll last season. Georgia received 46 first-place votes.
Ohio State is ranked No. 2 and received 15 first-place votes. The Buckeyes have a loaded roster under coach Ryan Day and are the favorite in the new-look 18-team Big Ten. Ohio State had 11 players projected to be NFL Draft picks return to school for one more season, and they added Kansas State quarterback Will Howard, Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins and Alabama safety Caleb Downs via the transfer portal.
Oregon is ranked No. 3 and received one first-place vote, and Texas is No. 4. Alabama, which was the Preseason AP Poll No. 1 in 2021 and 2022 – rounds out the top five.
The AP Preseason Poll started in 1950. A total of 11 teams that opened as the Preseason No. 1 have won the national championship.
MORE: Composite media preseason Top 25 rankings
Preseason AP Top 25
A look at the Preseason AP Top 25, which was released Monday:
| RANK | SCHOOL | VOTES |
| 1 | Georgia (46) | 1,532 |
| 2 | Ohio State (15) | 1,490 |
| 3 | Oregon (1) | 1,403 |
| 4 | Texas | 1,386 |
| 5 | Alabama | 1,260 |
| 6 | Ole Miss | 1,189 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 1,122 |
| 8 | Penn State | 1,060 |
| 9 | Michigan | 995 |
| 10 | Florida State | 971 |
| 11 | Missouri | 997 |
| 12 | Utah | 887 |
| 13 | LSU | 804 |
| 14 | Clemson | 689 |
| 15 | Tennessee | 629 |
| 16 | Oklahoma | 566 |
| 17 | Oklahoma State | 538 |
| 18 | Kansas State | 526 |
| 19 | Miami, Fla. | 492 |
| 20 | Texas A&M | 292 |
| 21 | Arizona | 237 |
| 22 | Kansas | 231 |
| 23 | USC | 172 |
| 24 | NC State | 171 |
| 25 | Iowa | 140 |
Others receiving votes: Louisville 111, Virginia Tech 77, Boise St. 47, SMU 33, Iowa St. 33, Liberty 32, Washington 23, West Virginia 17, Memphis 16, Nebraska 16, Wisconsin 15, UTSA 6, Tulane 5, Appalachian St. 4, Kentucky 3, Auburn 2, Colorado 1.
How many Preseason No. 1 teams have won national championship?
Georgia will try to become the 12th team to open as No. 1 in the AP Preseason Poll to win the national championship. Alabama was the last team to accomplish that feat in 2017.
MORE: Preseason No. 1 teams who won national title
Preseason No. 1 teams since 2014
Here is a look at how the Preseason No. 1 team has finished in the CFP era :
| YEAR | PRE. NO. 1 | FINISH | NAT. CHAMP | PRE. |
| 2014 | Florida State | 5 | Ohio State | 5 |
| 2015 | Ohio State | 4 | Alabama | 3 |
| 2016 | Alabama | 2 | Clemson | 2 |
| 2017 | Alabama | 1 | Alabama | 1 |
| 2018 | Alabama | 2 | Clemson | 2 |
| 2019 | Clemson | 2 | LSU | 6 |
| 2020 | Clemson | 3 | Alabama | 3 |
| 2021 | Alabama | 2 | Georgia | 5 |
| 2022 | Alabama | 5 | Georgia | 3 |
| 2023 | Georgia | 1 | Michigan | 2 |
| 2024 | Georgia | ? | ? | ? |
Alabama is the only team that opened No. 1 that won the national championship in the last 10 seasons. The eventual national champion has started at No. 6 or higher, with the 2019 LSU team the only one to start outside the top five in the last nine years. The preseason No. 1 team has finished in the top 5 every season.
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