Week 1 AP Poll by the Numbers

One of my favorite things about college football is that because there are so many teams and so little time, they can't all play each other. So win-loss records mean less than what "experts" think.

Everyone has opinions. Some are right, some have Auburn ranked ahead of Alabama, but it's fun to discuss and argue.

So in my spare time I comb through 37 ranking services and pore over 61 AP voters' ballots every week to see what the experts think. Here's what I found in this week's AP Poll:

1

Ohio State is unanimous at the top again.

2

Alabama's highest ranking, by 36 voters.

Texas A&M's ranking on Josh Kendall's ballot. They're #24 on John Clay's.

3

Alabama's ranking last week. The Tide jumped one spot to #2 after beating Wisconsin.

4

LSU's ranking on Mitch Vingle's ballot. They're unranked on Kirk Bohls's and Sam McKewon's ballots.

Ole Miss's ranking on Eric Hansen's ballot. They're unranked on Brent Axe's and David Briggs's.

5

Michigan State's ranking, the only ranked team on Ohio State's schedule and the only other ranked team in the Big Ten.

6

Alabama's lowest ranking, by Ed Daigneault and Kirk Bohls.

Number of SEC teams on Sam McKewon's ballot, the fewest of all voters.

7

Arkansas's ranking on Sam McKewon's ballot. They're unranked on Chadd Cripe's, Duane Rankin's, Mitch Vingle's and Rustin Dodd's.

Number of SEC West teams in the Top 25. (That's 100%.) Six of them are in the Top 18.

8

Number of voters who have Auburn ranked ahead of Alabama. Eric Avidon and Rob Long gave Auburn their highest ranking (2).

9

Number of teams Alabama will face in the regular season who spent at least one week in the AP Top 25.

10

SEC teams in the Top 25, a new record.

11

SEC teams receiving Top 25 votes. Florida came in at #32.

12

Number of ranked teams Alabama will face if they navigate the most difficult schedule in the country and make it to the championship game: nine in the regular season, one in the SEC Championship Game and two in the playoff.

13

An unlucky number. I'm not superstitious, but why risk it?

14

Number of voters who had 10 SEC teams in their Top 25.