The USC Trojans have opened as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press' Preseason Top 25 Poll. They moved ahead of the LSU Tigers as a result of Tyrann Mathieu's dismissal from the team earlier in August. The Tigers opened at No. 3. USC received 25 first-place votes while Alabama, the defending national champion, took 17 to reach No. 2 in the poll. LSU received 16 first-place votes.
The Boise St. Broncos came in at No. 24, just ahead of the Louisville Cardinals. The school received 212 votes in polling. Utah and BYU each received a smattering of votes to make it just outside of the top 25.
Earlier in August, the Coaches poll had LSU as No. 1 with Alabama and USC following at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.
The college football season kicks off in two weeks.
| 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.
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