Final 2024 AP Poll trivia and minutae

[medinabuckeye1]

The final AP Poll for 2024 is the 1,250th Poll released by the AP dating back to when they started this in 1936.  No change in conference at the top, Minnesota was #1 in the first Poll and Ohio State is #1 in the most recent Poll.  

This is Ohio State's 999th appearance in the AP Poll which is just one shy of 80%.  Ie, Ohio State has been ranked in four out of five of the AP Polls.  That is 72 more than #2 Michigan which has been ranked in 927 of the 1,250 Polls.  Ohio State's lead in AP Appearances is so large that Michigan is closer to #3 Oklahoma, #4 Alabama, and #5 Notre Dame than they are to the Buckeyes:


What I included above is the all-time twenty-five most frequently ranked teams and all the rest of the teams that were ranked at least one week during the 2024 season.  There isn't typically a lot of movement on this list because most of the best programs are ranked almost every week almost every year.  During 2024 the following teams were ranked every week:

• Texas
• Ohio State
• Oregon
• Georgia
• Penn State
• Tennessee
• Alabama
• Notre Dame
• Miami, FL
• Mississippi
• Clemson

The big change here was that Georgia passed LSU to join the top-10 in all-time AP Poll Appearances.  


Ohio State will undoubtedly make their 1,000th AP Poll Appearance in the 2025 preseason Poll.  

[medinabuckeye1]

Ohio State spent the entire year in the top-10 which extended their lead as they already had the most top-10 appearances.  The Buckeyes have been in the top-10 in 718 of the 1,250 Polls.  The Tide and Sooners have also been in more than half of the top-10's while Notre Dame, Michigan, and Nebraska have been in more than two out of five:

The big change here was Alabama passing Oklahoma for 2nd.  Oregon fans (do we have any?) will be happy to know that they surpassed Washington.  

[medinabuckeye1]

Alabama retains the most top-5 appearances at 457 in the 1,250 Polls.  Ohio State and Oklahoma have each also been in more than one out of three top-5's.  There wasn't a change to the order of the top but Ohio State went from being way behind Bama and barely ahead of OU to being roughly half-way between them:  

[medinabuckeye1]

Alabama remains the most frequent #1. They have been #1 in 141 out of 1,250 polls.  That is more than one-in-ten.  Bama's lead remains at 35 over #2 Ohio State because both teams were #1 for one week in 2024 (albeit, Ohio State's week was a bit more meaningful).  Bama's lead is so big that Ohio State is closer to #3 Oklahoma, #4 Notre Dame, #5 USC, and #6 FSU, than they are to Bama:

The big mover here was Oregon.  The Ducks passed their archrivals the Huskies as well as the Hawkeyes and the Auburn Tigers this year.  

[medinabuckeye1]

I should point out that there is a slight recency bias built in here due to the number of polls per year.  Note that there have been 1,250 Polls in 90 years which works out to just under 14 per year on average but the recent years have had 17 while earlier years typically had less fewer. 

[utee94]

I should point out that there is a slight recency bias built in here due to the number of polls per year.  Note that there have been 1,250 Polls in 90 years which works out to just under 14 per year on average but the recent years have had 17 while earlier years typically had less. 

[medinabuckeye1]

Thank you grammar police.  I'll fix it.