Two human polls and a committee's selections comprise the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) Division I

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS) football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

at the FBS level. Instead, that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and the

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

. One additional poll, the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

(CFP) ranking, is usually released starting midway through the season. The CFP rankings determine who makes the four-team playoff that determines the College Football Playoff National Champion.

Legend

AP Poll

Ranking highlights

;Preseason * Iowa State received its highest ranking (No. 7) in program history. * Coastal Carolina and Louisiana, respectively No. 22 and No. 23, were the first Sun Belt Conference teams ever ranked in the preseason. ;Week 5 *Clemson's long streak of poll rankings ends. ;Week 6 * Cincinnati received its highest ranking (No. 3) in program history. ;Week 7 * UTSA was ranked for the first time in program history at No. 24. * Cincinnati received its highest ranking (No. 2) in program history. ;Week 8 *UTSA received its highest ranking (No. 23) in program history. ;Week 9 *Wake Forest received its highest ranking (No. 10) in program history. *UTSA received its highest ranking (No. 16) in program history. ;Week 10 *UTSA received its highest ranking (No. 15) in program history. ;Final Poll * Cincinnati received its highest final ranking (No. 4). Its previous high was No. 8 in 2009 and 2020. * Baylor received its highest final ranking (No. 5). Its previous high was No. 7 in 2014. * Wake Forest received its highest final ranking (No. 15). Its previous high was No. 18 in 2006.

Coaches Poll

CFP rankings

The initial 2021 College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.

Notes

References

{{2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season navbox

Rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

NCAA Division I FBS football rankings