College Football: Appearances in the Weekly AP Poll (1936-2010)

Post Highlights

• The SEC has had at least one school ranked in the last 963 AP polls (including this year’s preseason poll).  The streak dates back to 1943.

• The Big Ten has had at least one school ranked in every weekly AP poll but one.  In 1982 in the season’s 8th AP poll the Big Ten failed to have a team ranked.

• There has never been an AP poll in which Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and USC were all unranked.

• Mississippi State has the most appearances (149) in the AP poll without an appearance in the top five.

 

Important Note: Be sure to check out College Poll Archive this season.  They have a lot of in-depth information and compilations on the AP poll.  I was planning on writing a longer post, but College Poll Archive pretty much covers all the information you could want about the AP poll.  I wish I would have run into the site awhile back.

 

Not including this year’s preseason poll, there have officially been 1,021 weekly college football polls conducted by the Associated Press since 1936.

Listed below are how many times each current FBS schools has been ranked in the AP weekly poll, the top ten of the AP weekly poll, and the top five of the AP weekly poll.

 

Number of Times Ranked in the AP Weekly Poll

Note: The tally doesn’t include this year’s preseason poll.  I will update this post after the season.

Legend: Polls (# of weekly AP polls the school has been ranked in), Top 10 (# of weekly AP polls the schools has been ranked in the top 10 of), Top 5 (# of weekly AP polls the schools has been ranked in the top 5 of), Pct (Percentage of weekly AP polls the school has been in/ranked top 5/10).

Atlantic Coast
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Boston College	140	13.7%	34	3.3%	16	1.6%
Clemson	312	30.6%	79	7.7%	21	2.1%
Duke	160	15.7%	57	5.6%	21	2.1%
Florida St	463	45.3%	308	30.2%	206	20.2%
Georgia Tech	288	28.2%	144	14.1%	58	5.7%
Maryland	191	18.7%	79	7.7%	45	4.4%
Miami FL	450	44.1%	291	28.5%	202	19.8%
North Carolina	230	22.5%	74	7.2%	26	2.5%
North Carolina St	149	14.6%	11	1.1%	4	0.4%
Virginia	166	16.3%	21	2.1%	5	0.5%
Virginia Tech	251	24.6%	91	8.9%	44	4.3%
Wake Forest	42	4.1%	0	-	0	-
Big East
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Cincinnati	35	3.4%	12	1.2%	8	0.8%
Connecticut	6	0.6%	0	-	0	-
Louisville	81	7.9%	22	2.2%	3	0.3%
Pittsburgh	292	28.6%	125	12.2%	70	6.9%
Rutgers	30	2.9%	2	0.2%	0	-
South Florida	22	2.2%	4	0.4%	2	0.2%
Syracuse	197	19.3%	69	6.8%	19	1.9%
West Virginia	245	24.0%	77	7.5%	32	3.1%
Big Ten
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Illinois	176	17.2%	77	7.5%	37	3.6%
Indiana	55	5.4%	15	1.5%	7	0.7%
Iowa	297	29.1%	115	11.3%	51	5.0%
Michigan	761	74.5%	488	47.8%	273	26.7%
Michigan St	316	31.0%	147	14.4%	97	9.5%
Minnesota	159	15.6%	79	7.7%	46	4.5%
Nebraska	670	65.6%	509	49.9%	296	29.0%
Northwestern	150	14.7%	73	7.1%	25	2.4%
Ohio St	785	76.9%	527	51.6%	310	30.4%
Penn St	583	57.1%	353	34.6%	159	15.6%
Purdue	237	23.2%	83	8.1%	27	2.6%
Wisconsin	281	27.5%	125	12.2%	37	3.6%
Big 12
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Baylor	128	12.5%	38	3.7%	3	0.3%
Iowa St	40	3.9%	1	0.1%	0	-
Kansas	109	10.7%	38	3.7%	9	0.9%
Kansas St	164	16.1%	66	6.5%	19	1.9%
Missouri	225	22.0%	79	7.7%	19	1.9%
Oklahoma	704	69.0%	520	50.9%	371	36.3%
Oklahoma St	156	15.3%	31	3.0%	5	0.5%
Texas	679	66.5%	443	43.4%	267	26.2%
Texas A&M	372	36.4%	159	15.6%	72	7.1%
Texas Tech	125	12.2%	30	2.9%	6	0.6%
Pac-12
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Arizona	150	14.7%	29	2.8%	5	0.5%
Arizona St	246	24.1%	64	6.3%	20	2.0%
California	193	18.9%	92	9.0%	47	4.6%
Colorado	293	28.7%	141	13.8%	47	4.6%
Oregon	202	19.8%	70	6.9%	25	2.4%
Oregon St	82	8.0%	21	2.1%	4	0.4%
Stanford	202	19.8%	45	4.4%	12	1.2%
UCLA	478	46.8%	214	21.0%	110	10.8%
USC	696	68.2%	452	44.3%	273	26.7%
Utah	77	7.5%	23	2.3%	6	0.6%
Washington	389	38.1%	145	14.2%	66	6.5%
Washington St	127	12.4%	27	2.6%	3	0.3%
Southeastern
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Alabama	661	64.7%	422	41.3%	277	27.1%
Arkansas	391	38.3%	185	18.1%	55	5.4%
Auburn	496	48.6%	250	24.5%	116	11.4%
Florida	525	51.4%	307	30.1%	179	17.5%
Georgia	482	47.2%	231	22.6%	91	8.9%
Kentucky	78	7.6%	29	2.8%	8	0.8%
LSU	499	48.9%	243	23.8%	88	8.6%
Mississippi	244	23.9%	112	11.0%	56	5.5%
Mississippi St	149	14.6%	9	0.9%	0	-
South Carolina	132	12.9%	17	1.7%	3	0.3%
Tennessee	564	55.2%	318	31.1%	122	11.9%
Vanderbilt	29	2.8%	4	0.4%	0	-
Independents
School	Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Army	140	13.7%	104	10.2%	75	7.3%
BYU	235	23.0%	58	5.7%	17	1.7%
Navy	122	11.9%	75	7.3%	41	4.0%
Notre Dame	712	69.7%	496	48.6%	277	27.1%
Conference USA
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Central Florida	2	0.2%	0	-	0	-
East Carolina	28	2.7%	1	0.1%	0	-
Houston	164	16.1%	47	4.6%	9	0.9%
Marshall	21	2.1%	1	0.1%	0	-
Memphis	1	0.1%	0	-	0	-
Rice	70	6.9%	17	1.7%	3	0.3%
SMU	161	15.8%	73	7.1%	30	2.9%
Southern Miss	51	5.0%	1	0.1%	0	-
Tulane	59	5.8%	18	1.8%	7	0.7%
Tulsa	42	4.1%	5	0.5%	1	0.1%
UAB	0	-	0	-	0	-
UTEP	5	0.5%	0	-	0	-
Mountain West
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Air Force	78	7.6%	20	2.0%	2	0.2%
Boise St	92	9.0%	41	4.0%	18	1.8%
Colorado St	40	3.9%	5	0.5%	0	-
New Mexico	0	-	0	-	0	-
San Diego St	14	1.4%	0	-	0	-
TCU	173	16.9%	65	6.4%	30	2.9%
UNLV	0	-	0	-	0	-
Wyoming	56	5.5%	11	1.1%	0	-
Mid-American
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Akron	0	-	0	-	0	-
Ball St	10	1.0%	0	-	0	-
Bowling Green	16	1.6%	0	-	0	-
Buffalo	0	-	0	-	0	-
Central Michigan	2	0.2%	0	-	0	-
Eastern Michigan	0	-	0	-	0	-
Kent St	1	0.1%	0	-	0	-
Miami OH	42	4.1%	2	0.2%	0	-
Northern Illinois	9	0.9%	0	-	0	-
Ohio	7	0.7%	0	-	0	-
Temple	8	0.8%	0	-	0	-
Toledo	38	3.7%	0	-	0	-
Western Michigan	0	-	0	-	0	-
Sun Belt
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Arkansas St	0	-	0	-	0	-
Florida Atlantic	0	-	0	-	0	-
Florida Intl	0	-	0	-	0	-
UL Lafayette	2	0.2%	0	-	0	-
UL Monroe	0	-	0	-	0	-
Mid Tennessee St	0	-	0	-	0	-
North Texas	2	0.2%	0	-	0	-
Troy	0	-	0	-	0	-
Western Kentucky	0	-	0	-	0	-
Western Athletic
School	# Polls	Pct	Top 10	Pct	Top 5	Pct
Fresno St	41	4.0%	4	0.4%	0	-
Hawaii	28	2.7%	1	0.1%	0	-
Idaho	0	-	0	-	0	-
Louisiana Tech	1	0.1%	0	-	0	-
Nevada	16	1.6%	1	0.1%	0	-
New Mexico St	6	0.6%	0	-	0	-
San Jose St	3	0.3%	0	-	0	-
Utah St	3	0.3%	1	0.1%	0	-

 

There has never been an AP poll in which Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and USC were all unranked.

Wake Forest has the most appearances (42) in the AP poll without an appearance in the top ten.  Followed by Toledo (38 appearances), Bowling Green (16 appearances), and William & Mary (16 appearances).

Mississippi State has the most appearances (149) in the AP poll without an appearance in the top five.  Followed by Wyoming (56 appearances) and Southern Miss (51 appearances).

Most Times Ranked in the AP Poll (Non-BCS Conference)

The following schools have the most appearances in the AP poll amongst schools currently from FBS non-BCS conferences.

Rk	School	Conference	# Polls	Pct
1	BYU	IND	235	23.0%
2	TCU	MWC	173	16.9%
3	Houston	CUSA	164	16.1%
4	SMU	CUSA	161	15.8%
5	Army	IND	140	13.7%
6	Navy	IND	122	11.9%
7	Boise St	MWC	92	9.0%
8	Air Force	MWC	78	7.6%
9	Rice	CUSA	70	6.9%
10	Tulane	CUSA	59	5.8%
11	Wyoming	MWC	56	5.5%
12	Southern Miss	CUSA	51	5.0%
13t	Tulsa	CUSA	42	4.1%
13t	Miami OH	MAC	42	4.1%
15	Fresno St	WAC	41	4.0%
16	Colorado St	MWC	40	3.9%
17	Toledo	MAC	38	3.7%
18t	East Carolina	CUSA	28	2.7%
18t	Hawaii	WAC	28	2.7%
20	Marshall	CUSA	21	2.1%
21	Bowling Green	MAC	16	1.6%
22	Nevada	WAC	16	1.6%
23	San Diego St	MWC	14	1.4%
24	Ball St	MAC	10	1.0%
25	Northern Illinois	MAC	9	0.9%

Least Amount of Times Ranked in the AP Poll (BCS Schools)

The following schools have the least amount of appearances in the AP poll amongst schools currently from BCS conferences.

School	Conference	# Polls	Pct
Connecticut ¹	Big East	6	0.6%
South Florida ¹	Big East	22	2.2%
Vanderbilt	SEC	29	2.8%
Rutgers	Big East	30	2.9%
Cincinnati ¹	Big East	35	3.4%
Iowa St	Big 12	40	3.9%
Wake Forest	ACC	42	4.1%
Indiana	Big Ten	55	5.4%
Utah ¹	Pac-12	77	7.5%
Kentucky	SEC	78	7.6%
Louisville ¹	Big East	81	7.9%
Oregon St	Pac-12	82	8.0%
Kansas	Big 12	109	10.7%
Texas Tech	Big 12	125	12.2%
Washington St	Pac-10	127	12.4%
Baylor	Big 12	128	12.5%
South Carolina	SEC	132	12.9%
Boston College	ACC	140	13.7%
NC St	ACC	149	14.6%
Mississippi St	SEC	149	14.6%
Northwestern	Big Ten	150	14.7%
Arizona	Pac-12	150	14.7%
Oklahoma St	Big 12	156	15.3%
Minnesota	Big Ten	159	15.6%
Duke	ACC	160	15.7%

¹ Keep in mind that a number of the teams on this list have only recently (last 10 years) joined a major conference.

 

Schools from the Southeastern Conference have made the most appearances (4027) in the AP poll.

AP Poll Appearances by Conference

Note: The tally below reflects the conference’s actual AP poll appearances.  Meaning Oklahoma’s appearances in the AP poll when they were a school from the Big Eight conference, weren’t counted as Big 12 AP poll appearances.

Legend: Pct (Percentage of AP rankings that schools from the conference have held)

Conference	# Polls	Pct
Southeastern	4027	18.76%
Big Ten	3368	15.69%
Independents	3211	14.96%
Pac-12	2628	12.24%
Atlantic Coast	1596	7.43%
Big 12	1059	4.93%
Big East	769	3.58%
Western Athletic	600	2.79%
Southern	290	1.35%
Mountain West	213	0.99%
Mid-American	147	0.68%
Conference USA	128	0.60%
Ivy League	17	0.08%
Rocky Mountain	4	0.02%
California Collegiate	3	0.01%
Little Three	1	0.01%
Defunct Conference	# Polls	Pct
Southwest	1654	7.70%
Big Eight	1630	7.59%
Missouri Valley	56	0.26%
Border Intercollegiate	27	0.13%
Big West	16	0.07%
Skyline	12	0.06%
Middle Three	4	0.02%
Mason-Dixon	3	0.01%
Louisiana Intercollegiate	2	0.01%
Arkansas Intercollegiate	1	0.01%
North State	1	0.01%

 

The SEC has had at least one school ranked in the last 963 AP polls (including this year’s preseason poll).  The streak dates back to 1943.  The SEC has had at least one school ranked in every weekly AP poll but two (3rd and 4th polls in 1943).

The Big Ten has had at least one school ranked in every weekly AP poll but one.  In 1982 in the season’s 8th AP poll the Big Ten failed to have a team ranked.

The Big Twelve has had at least one school ranked in every weekly AP poll since it’s first season in 1996.

The Sun Belt Conference has never had a school ranked in the AP poll.

The ACC, Big Ten, and SEC have had seven different schools in one weekly AP poll on many occasions.  The last occurrence of this happened in the 2010, when the SEC had seven schools in the 2nd and 11th polls of the 2010 season.  No conference has had more than seven schools in a weekly AP poll.

In 1999 the Big Ten made 101 appearances in the weekly AP polls.  The most weekly AP poll appearances in a season by one conference.  Followed by the SEC in 1997 and 1999 (99 appearances).

Reference: College Football at Sports-Reference.com, College Poll Archive, College Football Data Warehouse