College Football Rankings: Why We Need To Wait Until Week 6
First and 16
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The AP Top 25 has a major problem: we start ranking college football teams before they've played a single game.
And those preseason rankings don't disappear once the season begins — they can create a domino effect that changes how we evaluate teams, ranked wins, strength of schedule and even entire conferences.
In this episode of First and 16, Adam Gibby breaks down why college football should consider waiting until Week 6 to release the first official AP Top 25.
Texas A&M began the season ranked No. 8, which made Kentucky's win over the Aggies look enormous. Ole Miss climbed to No. 4, Florida destroyed the Rebels and jumped to No. 8, and then Missouri blew out Florida and shot up the rankings.
But what happens when the team at the beginning of that chain wasn't actually as good as we thought?
That's the problem.
Preseason rankings aren't rankings based on accomplishments — they're predictions that become the foundation for future rankings.
We also discuss how the transfer portal makes preseason projections less reliable, why teams that begin outside the Top 25 face an uphill battle, and why waiting several weeks could create a much more accurate college football ranking system. Your transcript specifically argues that modern roster turnover and early poll positioning make preseason assumptions even harder to justify.
Should the AP Top 25 disappear until Week 6?
Let me know in the comments.
Subscribe to First and 16 for college football discussion, rankings, Big 12 coverage and analysis throughout the 2026 season.
College Football Rankings: Why We Need To Wait Until Week 6
First and 16
49 views
The AP Top 25 has a major problem: we start ranking college football teams before they've played a single game.
And those preseason rankings don't disappear once the season begins — they can create a domino effect that changes how we evaluate teams, ranked wins, strength of schedule and even entire conferences.
In this episode of First and 16, Adam Gibby breaks down why college football should consider waiting until Week 6 to release the first official AP Top 25.
Texas A&M began the season ranked No. 8, which made Kentucky's win over the Aggies look enormous. Ole Miss climbed to No. 4, Florida destroyed the Rebels and jumped to No. 8, and then Missouri blew out Florida and shot up the rankings.
But what happens when the team at the beginning of that chain wasn't actually as good as we thought?
That's the problem.
Preseason rankings aren't rankings based on accomplishments — they're predictions that become the foundation for future rankings.
We also discuss how the transfer portal makes preseason projections less reliable, why teams that begin outside the Top 25 face an uphill battle, and why waiting several weeks could create a much more accurate college football ranking system. Your transcript specifically argues that modern roster turnover and early poll positioning make preseason assumptions even harder to justify.
Should the AP Top 25 disappear until Week 6?
Let me know in the comments.
Subscribe to First and 16 for college football discussion, rankings, Big 12 coverage and analysis throughout the 2026 season.