College Football Rankings 2012: AP Top 25 Led By USC

Members of the Associated Press voted USC No. 1 in the 2012 preseason AP Top 25 poll.

The Trojans received 25 of the 60 first place votes in the poll to secure the top spot. Lane Kiffin's squad was ranked third in the USA Today Coaches' poll.

Alabama and LSU are ranked second and third, respectively. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide garnered 17 first place votes, while LSU picked up 16 -- despite Tyrann Mathieu's dismissal from the team.

Oklahoma and Michigan each received a first place vote.

RANK	TEAM	2011 RECORD	POINTS	PV
1	Southern Cal (25)	10-2	1,445	6
2	Alabama (17)	12-1	1,411	1
3	LSU (16)	13-1	1,402	2
4	Oklahoma (1)	10-3	1,286	16
5	Oregon	12-2	1,274	4
6	Georgia	10-4	1,107	19
7	Florida St.	9-4	1,093	23
8	Michigan (1)	11-2	1,000	12
9	South Carolina	11-2	994	9
10	Arkansas	11-2	963	5
11	West Virginia	10-3	856	17
12	Wisconsin	11-3	838	10
13	Michigan St.	11-3	742	11
14	Clemson	10-4	615	22
15	Texas	8-5	569	NR
16	Virginia Tech	11-3	548	21
17	Nebraska	9-4	485	24
18	Ohio St.	6-7	474	NR
19	Oklahoma St.	12-1	430	3
20	TCU	11-2	397	14
21	Stanford	11-2	383	7
22	Kansas St.	10-3	300	15
23	Florida	7-6	214	NR
24	Boise St.	12-1	212	8
25	Louisville	7-6	105	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame 83, Washington 55, Auburn 53, North Carolina 32, Utah 30, Georgia Tech 25, BYU 22, Tennessee 15, South Florida 11, Baylor 9, Texas A&M 5, UCF 4, Cincinnati 3, Missouri 3, N.C. State 3, Houston 1, Louisiana Tech 1, Mississippi St. 1, N. Illinois 1.

College football season officially gets underway on Thursday, Aug. 30.

Update: Curious about those Michigan and Oklahoma first-place votes? Ralph Russo explains:

Since many are asking and the votes are public: Bob Asmussen of the Champaign (IL) News-Gazette voted Michigan No. 1.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) August 18, 2012