Preseason poll: Alabama No.1, Penn State No.19

NEW YORK - Penn State will get an early test when it visits Alabama on Sept. 11.

The Crimson Tide are starting this football season where they ended the last one - on top. Coach Nick Saban has the Tide rolling the way Bear Bryant did in his day, No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason poll for the first time since 1978.

Alabama received 54 of 60 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,491 points to easily outdistance second-ranked Ohio State in the top 25 released Saturday.

Penn State, which will open the season Sept. 4 against Youngstown State, is ranked No. 19 with 382 points. The Lions won't face Big Ten Conference rival Ohio State until Nov. 13. They will play another top-10 team, No. 9 Iowa, on Oct. 2.

Temple received two votes.

Ohio State has been ranked no lower than 11th in the last eight preseason polls.

Boise State is third, its best preseason ranking, after another undefeated season.

Florida, Alabama's Southeastern Conference rival, is fourth, and Texas is fifth.

The rest of the top 10 has Texas Christian sixth, followed by Oklahoma, which received a first-place vote; Nebraska; Iowa; and Virginia Tech.

Bryant was coach the last time Alabama was the AP's preseason No. 1. It started and ended that 1978 season on top of the rankings, the first of two consecutive national titles for Alabama. The only other time it was the preseason No. 1 was in 1966, coming off back-to-back national championships.

Here are the top 25 teams in the Associated Press preseason college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses; 2009 records; total points, based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote; and final ranking:

Rec.   Pts   Pv

1. Alabama (54) 14-0   1,491   1

2. Ohio St. (3) 11-2   1,400   5

3. Boise St. (1) 14-0   1,336   4

4. Florida 13-1   1,237   3

5. Texas(1) 13-1   1,223   2

6. TCU 12-1   1,160   6

7. Oklahoma(1) 8-5   1,104   -

8. Nebraska 10-4   1,033   14

9. Iowa 11-2   1,007   7

10. Virginia Tech 10-3   973   10

11. Oregon 10-3   870   11

12. Wisconsin 10-3   822   16

13. Miami 9-4   785   19

14. Southern Cal 9-4   590   22

15. Pittsburgh 10-3   516   15

16. Georgia Tech. 11-3   511   13

17. Arkansas 8-5   496   -

18. North Carolina 8-5   397   -

19. Penn State 11-2   382   9

20. Florida State 7-6   379   -

21. LSU 9-4   300   17

22. Auburn 8-5   296   -

23. Georgia 8-5   206   -

24. Oregon State 8-5   198   -

25. West Virginia 9-4   184   25

Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 108, Stanford 81, Utah 80, South Carolina 71, Houston 66, Connecticut 32, Notre Dame 31, Missouri 27, BYU 19, Arizona 15, Clemson 15, Texas Tech 14, Navy 12, Washington 8, Texas A&M 7, Mississippi 6, Oklahoma St. 3, Cent. Michigan 2, Middle Tennessee 2, Temple 2, Boston College 1, SMU 1, UCF 1.

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