[2] The football poll is released Sundays at 2 pm Eastern time during the season, unless ranked teams have not finished their games.
The news media began running their own polls of sports writers to determine, by popular opinion, the best college football teams in the country.
[3] In 1935, AP sports editor Alan J. Gould declared a three-way tie for national champion in football between Minnesota, Princeton, and Southern Methodist.
[4] Minnesota fans protested and a number of Gould's colleagues led by Charles "Cy" Sherman suggested he create a poll of sports editors instead of only using his own list.
As a result, the public and the media began to acknowledge the leading vote-getter in the final AP poll as the national champion for that season.
In 1964, Alabama was named the national champion in the final AP Poll following the completion of the regular season, but lost in the Orange Bowl to Texas, leaving Arkansas as the only undefeated, untied team after the Razorbacks defeated Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl.
In 1965, the AP's decision to wait to crown its champion paid handsomely, as top-ranked Michigan State lost to UCLA in the Rose Bowl, number two Arkansas lost to LSU in the Cotton Bowl, and fourth-ranked Alabama defeated third-ranked Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, vaulting the Crimson Tide to the top of the AP's final poll (Michigan State was named national champion in the final UPI Coaches Poll, which did not conduct a post-bowl poll).
The resulting split national title was the very problem that the BCS was created to solve, and has been widely considered an embarrassment.
Also, in that same year, Texas made up late ground on California (Cal) in the BCS standings and as a result grabbed a high-payout, at-large spot in the Rose Bowl.
While officials from both Cal and the Pac-10 called for the coaches' votes to be publicized, the overtures were turned down and did little to solve the problem of AP voters.
It was replaced in the BCS equation by the newly created Harris Interactive College Football Poll.
In Division I men's and women's college basketball, the AP Poll is largely just a tool to compare schools throughout the season and spark debate, as it has no bearing on postseason play.
Generally, all top 25 teams in the poll are invited to the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournament, also known as March Madness.
[19] The AP began compiling a ranking of the top 20 college men's basketball teams during the 1948–1949 season.
[20] On January 10, 2024, the Associated Press published an article detailing their 75th anniversary of the AP poll for men's college basketball.
In this article they highlight the most successful programs in terms of rankings released by the AP during the previous 75 years.
[21] The women's basketball poll began during the 1976–1977 season, and was initially compiled by Mel Greenberg and published by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The initial list of coaches did not include Pat Summitt, who asked to join the group, not to improve her rankings, but because of the lack of media coverage.
[24] The contributors continued to be coaches until 1994, when the AP took over administration of the poll from Greenberg, and switched to a panel of writers.