The AP college poll began in 1936 after a three-way tie for the national champion caused a controversy between the fans of Minnesota, Princeton, and South Methodist (some things change, Princeton national champion in football, while others do not, fans complaining about rankings). In 1950, the AP preseason poll began, ranking Alabama as the number 1 team (certain things do not change) and has continued doing so for the last seven decades. The question proposed today is how effective is the preseason poll and how much of a boost do certain teams and conferences get from the poll.
The first and most important question is “how many times is the preseason number 1 the post season number 1?