Hey there! I'm a fan of college football and I'm trying to delve a bit deeper into the ranking system. Specifically, I'm interested in knowing about the teams that have spent the most weeks at number 1 in the AP poll. Could someone guide me to any comprehensive resource or database which provides this information? Thanks in advance!
Hi! It's really great that you want to delve deeper into the college football ranking system. The AP poll has a long and storied history.
To obtain the information you're looking for, which is the teams that have spent the most weeks at No. 1 in the AP poll, you can certainly review the AP poll archives. While there is not a single comprehensive database that aggregates this exact statistic, you can manually review the past polls and tally up the weeks yourself, which could be an interesting and enjoyable project if you're a college football enthusiast.
In case you're curious about the mechanism of the AP poll, it was created to rank top teams in both college football and basketball, and publications have been ongoing since as far back as 1936 for football and 1949 for basketball. It includes top 25 teams, with number one being the best. The teams are ranked by sportswriters and broadcasters from across the country. The ranks are determined by the number of points a team gets, with the highest number of points allotted to the team ranked number one, and so forth.
I will note, however, that more recently established databases like ESPN and NCAA themselves may have some statistics regarding weeks at No. 1 in their sports stats and records sections, but they might not be as detailed or might not go back as far historically.
I hope this helps! Enjoy your delve into the world of AP poll historical football rankings!
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