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| USA Today Coaches Poll | |
|---|---|
| Name | USA Today Coaches Poll |
| Sport | College football |
| Founded | 1950s |
| Country | United States |
| Administered by | USA Today; American Football Coaches Association |
| Teams | Top 25 |
USA Today Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams compiled by the American Football Coaches Association in partnership with USA Today. The poll provides a coaches-based counterpart to the media-driven polls and is widely cited during the regular season, bowl selection, and postseason discussions involving the College Football Playoff, Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl.
The poll traces antecedents to the mid-20th century ranking tradition exemplified by the Associated Press poll and the Coaches Poll's early incarnations, reflecting influences from institutions such as the Big Ten Conference, Southeastern Conference, Pacific-12 Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, and Big 12 Conference. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s the coaches’ ranking evolved alongside developments at NCAA Division I-A, the creation of the Bowl Championship Series, and postseason shifts involving the Rose Bowl Game and Sugar Bowl. By the 1990s and 2000s, partnerships with media organizations including USA Today and syndication through networks such as CBS Sports, ESPN, Fox Sports, and ABC increased visibility. The poll’s practices were shaped by precedents set by figures associated with Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, University of Alabama football, Ohio State Buckeyes football, University of Southern California football, and University of Michigan football programs and by institutional decisions at the NCAA headquarters.
Voting is conducted by a panel of active head coaches from FBS programs affiliated with the American Football Coaches Association; membership overlaps with coaches from the Big Ten Conference, Southeastern Conference, Pac-12 Conference, ACC, and Big 12 Conference. Each coach submits a ballot listing 25 teams drawn from the pool of FBS schools such as Clemson University, University of Oklahoma, University of Georgia, LSU Tigers football, and University of Notre Dame. The poll uses a points system where rankings translate into aggregate scores, paralleling scoring schemes historically used in polls like the Associated Press Poll and similar to tabulations applied in the College Football Playoff selection conversation. Ballots are collected on a weekly cadence during the regular season and adjusted in response to results from marquee matchups like the Iron Bowl, Red River Showdown, The Game (Harvard–Yale)? and championship games in the SEC Championship Game, Big Ten Football Championship Game, and ACC Championship Game.
The weekly Top 25 list culminates in end-of-season recognition that has at times been honored with trophies and acknowledgments connected to bowl outcomes such as the Orange Bowl (college football), Sugar Bowl (college football), and the national championship awarded through systems including the Bowl Championship Series and the College Football Playoff National Championship. Programs that finish atop the coaches’ poll—clubs like Alabama Crimson Tide football, Florida Gators football, Oklahoma Sooners football, USC Trojans football, and Ohio State Buckeyes football—have used the poll’s designation in institutional publicity, press releases distributed to outlets such as USA Today, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. The poll’s rankings influence perceptions ahead of postseason pairings with events involving the Rose Bowl Game, Fiesta Bowl, and invitational games at venues like AT&T Stadium and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Critics have raised issues similar to debates surrounding the Associated Press Poll and the Bowl Championship Series era, including potential biases stemming from regional affiliations with the SEC, Big Ten Conference, ACC, and Pac-12 Conference and conflicts of interest when active coaches participating in high-profile rivalries like Ohio State–Michigan football rivalry or Auburn–Alabama rivalry vote. Questions about transparency echo controversies tied to selection mechanisms used in the College Football Playoff and prior criticism leveled at media coverage by outlets such as ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Historical disputes have centered on perceived recency bias following headline games involving programs like Clemson Tigers football, Georgia Bulldogs football, Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, and controversial bowl outcomes in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl.
Over time the panel has included prominent head coaches whose tenures at institutions such as Alabama Crimson Tide football, Ohio State Buckeyes football, Oklahoma Sooners football, Clemson Tigers football, LSU Tigers football, USC Trojans football, Notre Dame Fighting Irish football, and Florida State Seminoles football brought visibility to the poll. High-profile coaches associated with national titles—figures from programs coached by personalities linked to Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Jim Harbaugh, Dabo Swinney, and Nick Saban’s contemporaries—have served on or influenced coaches’ constituencies. Voting panels have sometimes included coaches who were central to discussions during seasons featuring breakout performances by teams like Boise State Broncos football, Auburn Tigers football, and Oklahoma State Cowboys football.
The poll is widely reported by national and regional outlets—including USA Today, ESPN, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times—and is cited by conferences such as the Big Ten Conference, SEC, ACC, Pac-12 Conference, and Big 12 Conference in postseason narratives. Its rankings inform conversation among broadcasters at ABC (American TV network), CBS Sports Network, and Fox Sports 1, and contribute to social media discourse across platforms operated by Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The coaches’ perspective complements analytics-driven commentary from entities like S&P+, FEI, and metrics discussed by analysts at Pro Football Focus and pundits associated with Sports Illustrated and Bleacher Report.
Category:College football polls in the United States