The AP college football poll is out. Are any NC teams ranked?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Texas secured No. 1 in the AP poll, edging Penn State by five poll points.
- Clemson, Miami and SMU represent the ACC's top-ranked teams in the poll.
- No North Carolina teams made the top 25, though Duke received some votes.
The Associated Press released its top-25 preseason football poll on Monday afternoon, featuring three ACC teams.
Out of the ACC, No. 4 Clemson, No. 10 Miami and No. 16 SMU earned spots in this week’s poll. These three teams are also expected to fill out the top-three slots in the ACC in that order.
Texas earned the nation’s No. 1 ranking, the first time the Longhorns have been atop the AP’s preseason poll. With 25 first-place votes and 1,552 poll points, Texas narrowly edged No. 2 Penn State for the top spot. The Nittany Lions received 23 first-place votes and had 1,547 poll points from the national media panel.
Ohio State, Clemson and Georgia rounded out the top five.
No team in North Carolina made the cut. Duke was the only program to receive votes.
The Blue Devils are projected to finish sixth in the ACC, according to the conference’s preseason poll, while UNC and N.C. State are expected to finish eighth and tenth, respectively.
In his first year at Duke, head coach Manny Diaz finished the 2024 season with a 9-3 regular season record, falling to No. 16 Ole Miss 52-20 at the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. Heading into 2025, Diaz wants the Blue Devils to become a strong 48-quarter team.
Duke could have a chance to impress voters in the season’s second week with a home game against Illinois on Sept. 6. The Illini are No. 12 in the preseason poll.
Meanwhile, newly-appointed Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick has captivated headlines, but expectations for the team’s performance have been mostly under the radar. Belichick welcomed around 70 new players ahead of fall practice in August, but has played coy about what this team will look like in September.
During N.C. State’s first week of fall practice, head coach Dave Doeren expressed his intent to focus on fundamentals, an area that cost the Wolfpack losses in the 2024 season. Last year, N.C. State finished 6-7, ending the season with a 26-21 loss to East Carolina — whom the Wolfpack will take on in the season-opener on Aug. 28.
Preseason AP poll
| 1 | Texas |
| 2 | Penn State |
| 3 | Ohio State |
| 4 | Clemson |
| 5 | Georgia |
| 6 | Notre Dame |
| 7 | Oregon |
| 8 | Alabama |
| 9 | LSU |
| 10 | Miami |
| 11 | Arizona State |
| 12 | Illinois |
| 13 | South Carolina |
| 14 | Michigan |
| 15 | Florida |
| 16 | SMU |
| 17 | Kansas State |
| 18 | Oklahoma |
| 19 | Texas A&M |
| 20 | Indiana |
| 21 | Ole Miss |
| 22 | Iowa State |
| 23 | Texas Tech |
| 24 | Tennessee |
| 25 | Boise State |
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM.