Alabama ranked No. 3 in preseason AP Top 25

Alabama will begin the season at No. 3 in both major college football polls as it was ranked third in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, released Monday. The Crimson Tide received two first-place votes and followed No. 1 Clemson (38 first-place votes) and No. 2 Ohio State (21 first-place votes). No. 6 LSU also received a first-place vote.

Earlier this month, Alabama was ranked No. 3 in the Amway Coaches Poll, marking the first time since 2015 that the Crimson Tide didn’t start the season in the top two of either poll.

Unlike the Coaches Poll, the AP Top 25 came out after the Big Ten and Pac-12 canceled their fall football seasons. The AP asked its voters to consider all Division I teams when filling out their preseason brackets. After games begin next month, only teams that are playing this fall will be included in the rankings.

The SEC had the most teams included in the preseason AP top 25 with seven. No. 3 Alabama was followed by No. 4 Georgia, No. 6 LSU, No. 8 Florida, No. 11 Auburn, No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 25 Tennessee.