From the Newsroom: The College Student Media Poll

Student Media Poll. SMP Top 25.

CW File

Ashlee Woods | @ashleemwoods, Sports Editor
September 8, 2021

Every season, journalists and coaches around the country gather to vote on who’s at the top of college football. In January, one student journalist took it upon himself to give other students the chance to share their perspectives. 

Patrick Felts, an Indiana University sophomore and football multimedia reporter for the Indiana Daily Student, started the College Student Media Poll. Similar to the AP Weekly poll, a group of student journalists across the country rank the top 25 college football teams in the country. The poll has over 100 student voters for this season. 

“When I founded the student media poll back in January, my goal was to elevate the voices of student reporters across the nation, because I think that the work we do everywhere is incredibly important,” Felts said. “Never before have student sports reporters been so connected, knowing over 100 other student reporters all over the country, and meeting some incredible people along the way.”

Voters for the poll come from various schools, from Rutgers University to the University of Hawaii. Each member brings a different background in covering collegiate sports. Through everyone’s differences, a camaraderie has formed. 

For Michael Hull, junior football writer at The Independent Florida Alligator, it’s important for this poll to continue.

“I’d like to see this poll grow beyond the current group and continue once we all graduate and are no longer students,” Hull said. “It’d be amazing to look back, years from now, and see the SMP is still up and running with a new generation.”

The poll is published weekly on the student media poll website. The website has information on every voter for this season. 

Read this week’s poll below. 

Rank Team Points Record Trend
1 67 Alabama 1675 1-0 –
2 Georgia 1592 1-0 +3
3 Ohio State 1528 1-0 +1
4 Oklahoma 1398 1-0 -1
5 Texas A&M 1381 1-0 +1
6 Clemson 1311 0-1 -4
7 Cincinnati 1278 1-0 +1
8 Notre Dame 1131 1-0 +1
9 Iowa State 1123 1-0 -2
10 Iowa 993 1-0 +8
11 Oregon 969 1-0 -1
12 Penn State 900 1-0 +8
13 Florida 882 1-0 –
14 USC 814 1-0 +3
15 Texas 688 1-0 +4
16 UCLA 546 2-0 NR
17 Wisconsin 520 0-1 -5
18 Coastal Carolina 468 1-0 +4
19 Mississippi 392 1-0 +4
20 Utah 319 1-0 NR
21 North Carolina 293 0-1 -10
22 Miami (FL) 286 0-1 -8
23 Virginia Tech 263 1-0 NR
24 Arizona State 252 1-0 +1
25 LSU 120 0-1 -9

Dropped Out: Indiana, Washington, Louisiana

Receiving Votes: Indiana (84), Michigan (83), Auburn (83), UCF (62), Florida State (50), NC State (37), Oklahoma State (35), Michigan State (22), Washington (19), TCU (18), Nevada (16), Kentucky (16), Louisiana (16), BYU (10), Appalachian State (9), Army (9), Liberty (8), Texas State (8), Boston College (8), Arizona (7) Kansas State (7), North Texas (6), Rutgers (6), Boise State (4), Minnesota (4), Tulane (4), Wake Forest (3), Pitt (2), Tennessee (2), Houston (1), Maryland (1), Purdue (1)