The AP Poll and Coaches Poll are the two major polls used annually within the highest level of college football to determine the national championship. Division I FBS football is the only National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sport for which the NCAA does not sanction a yearly championship event. As such, it is sometimes unofficially referred to as a “mythical national championship”.
These polling systems began with the introduction of the AP poll in 1936, followed by the Coaches’ Poll in 1950.
Currently, two widely recognized national champion selectors are the Associated Press, which conducts a poll of sportswriters, and the Coaches’ Poll, a survey of active members of the American Football Coaches Association.
Until the 1968 college football season, the final AP Poll of the season was released following the end of the regular season, with the exception of the 1965 season.
The 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season is a season of college football games in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision. The regular season began on August 24, 2019 and is scheduled to end on December 14, 2019. The postseason will conclude on January 13, 2020 with the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. This is the sixth season of the College Football Playoff (CFP) championship system.
November 6, 2019 marked the 150th anniversary of what is traditionally considered the first college football game, played between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869. Various sports media, the NCAA, and the CFP are honoring the 150th anniversary of the sport throughout the season.Because there were no games played during the 1871 season, this is also the 150th season of college football.
