The Coaches Poll began selecting the "Top 20" teams on a weekly basis during the 1950-1951 college football and basketball seasons.
In August 2023, US LBM, a distributor of specialty building materials, became the football poll's new title sponsor in a deal that will run through at least the 2026 season.
This was changed after the 1973 season, when Alabama was crowned as the Coaches Poll national champion in December, yet lost the Sugar Bowl to Notre Dame on New Year's Eve.
In the preceding decade, the UPI coaches poll national champion lost its bowl game three times: 1960 (Minnesota), 1964 (Alabama), and 1965 (Michigan State).
Since the 1974 season, teams on probation are not recognized in the poll of coaches while the AP permits their inclusion.
The team that finishes first in the coaches' poll is currently awarded with the AFCA National Championship Trophy—from its inception through 2014, the winner of the BCS National Championship Game and its precursors was contractually named the #1 team on the Coaches Poll, and awarded the trophy in a post-game presentation.
With the replacement of the BCS by the College Football Playoff in 2014, the trophy will still be awarded, but in a separate ceremony some time following the College Football Playoff National Championship (which chose to award its own trophy), and the Coaches' Poll is no longer obligated to name the winner of the game as its post-season #1.
[7][8] In 2012, USC Trojans coach Lane Kiffin resigned as a voter after just one vote amidst controversy over his preseason selection of his school as No.
However, USA Today, citing the need to "protect the poll's integrity", revealed that Kiffin had voted his team for the top spot.
From the 1993 to 1997 seasons, the poll was co-sponsored by USA Today, Cable News Network, and the NABC.