All-Time SuperWest AP Football Poll Appearances

All-Time SuperWest AP Football Poll Appearances

Updated through the 2023 regular season and 2023-24 bowls with average and highest ranks

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Posted on March 31, 2024


  By SuperWest Sports Staff

The Associated Press (AP) Football Poll has run continuously since 1936. Up to 1960, the poll ranked only 20 teams. From 1961 to 1967, it was reduced to just the Top 10.

The Poll returned to ranking the Top 20 teams in 1968, retaining that format through 1988. In 1989, it was expanded to the Top 25, and has not altered its count since.

Initially, AP did not conduct a preseason poll, adding it in 1950.

Through 1968, except the 1965 poll, AP crowned its national football champion after the regular season, before the bowl games were played.

That changed in 1964, when the regular-season AP champ, Alabama, lost the Orange Bowl to Texas.

Consequently, the news organization made plans to hold its poll after the bowl season, beginning in 1967, to award its national title.

Below you will find a table showing the counts of each SuperWest program’s all-time appearances plus its:

national rank
percentage of polls appeared in
average ranking
all-time highest ranking

USC leads by a large margin with 813 all-time appearances, followed by UCLA with 553, Washington with 481, and Oregon with 366.

National Rank	Program	App	Pct	Avg	High
6	USC	813	65.9%	9.5	1
16	UCLA	553	44.8%	12.1	1
20	Washington	481	39.0%	12.1	1
24	Oregon	366	29.7%	11.5	1
29	Colorado	308	25.0%	11.9	1
32	Stanford	303	24.6%	13.6	2
33	Arizona State	291	23.6%	14.7	2
36	BYU	279	22.6%	15.4	1
45	California	200	16.2%	12.1	1
54	Utah	174	14.1%	15.2	2
54	Arizona	174	14.1%	15.4	3
57	Washington State	166	13.5%	16.0	3
58	Boise State	165	13.4%	14.7	2
65	Oregon State	116	9.4%	15.5	4
69	Air Force	84	6.8%	16.1	4
75	Fresno State	65	5.3%	20.2	8
76	Wyoming	56	4.5%	16.5	6
83	Colorado State	43	3.5%	19.7	10
92	San Diego State	32	2.6%	20.0	13
96	Hawaii	28	2.3%	19.4	10
104	Nevada	16	1.3%	17.2	10
112	Utah State	13	1.1%	17.8	10
125	San Jose State	8	0.6%	21.3	18
131	New Mexico State	6	0.5%	16.5	14