LIVE Ohio State, Oregon and Georgia lead AP Top 25 preseason rankings

Why have a preseason ranking at all? Why not wait until the first couple of games have been played?

It’s a legit question.

Teams ranked in the preseason have a different weight than others. They’re more often given the benefit of the doubt after a 2-2 September because they were ranked in the preseason. The flip side is that unranked teams are sometimes overlooked, that a 4-0 September was smoke and mirrors or the fault of the teams they beat. It’s harder for them to make up ground.

Evidence: A team unranked in the preseason hasn’t won the national title since Georgia Tech split it with Colorado in 1990. So perception matters.

What happened

That would leave preseason polls to serve their primary purposes: to provide an early barometer for the season even if it proves to be flawed; shed light on teams and players that large swaths of the country might not know much concerning; and to provide debate and discussion enough to satisfy (to a degree) college football fans during the dog days of summer.

After all, is it ever bad to be talking about college football, especially when the games seem so far away?

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

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