College Football Preseason Rankings 2011: Breaking Down the AP Poll

If anything, the college football rankings and polls like today's Associated Press Preseason Top 25 keep fans talking and certainly spark discussion about who's better, who should be where, who's too high and who's too low.

The AP Poll is comprised of votes from the media—writers and broadcasters who cover college football—as opposed to the USA Today/ESPN poll, which is made up of votes from selected FBS coaches from around the country.

It's debatable which poll is actually "better," but the AP poll has been ranking teams for more than half a century now and, prior to the creation of the BCS, was the barometer for naming a national champion when the final votes were tallied.

Moreover, the AP Poll votes do not