Coaches ' Poll The " USA Today " Coaches ' Poll is the current name for a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) college football , Division I college basketball , and Division I college baseball teams . The football rankings are compiled by the " USA Today " Board of Coaches which is made up of 59 head coaches at Division I FBS institutions . All coaches are members of the American Football Coaches Association ( AFCA ) . The basketball rankings are compiled by the " USA Today " Board of Coaches which is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions . All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches ( NABC ) . The baseball rankings are compiled by the " USA Today " Board of Coaches which is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions . All are members of the American Baseball Coaches Association ( ABCA ) . The football Coaches ' Poll is an element of the BCS rankings , a voting system used to determine who will play in the BCS National Championship Game and be crowned the NCAA Division I FBS national champion . History . The Coaches ' Poll began selecting the top 20 teams on a weekly basis during the 1950 - 1951 college football and basketball seasons . It was initially published by United Press from 1950 thru 1990 , followed by USA Today / CNN from 1991 thru 1996 , and USA Today / ESPN from 1997 to 2004 , and USA Today from 2005 to present . For the 1990 - 1991 football and basketball seasons , the poll expanded to a top 25 , and it has retained this format since . College football . Through the 1973 college football season , the final Coaches ' Poll was released in early December , after the regular season , but before the bowl games . Beginning with the 1974 season , the Coaches ' Poll would conduct its final poll after the bowl games . In 1991 , " USA Today " and CNN took over publishing the coaches ' football poll . In 1997 , ESPN took the place of CNN as co - sponsor . Finally , following the 2005 season , as a result of controversial voting practices related to the BCS , ESPN dropped its co - sponsorship of the football poll , leaving " USA Today " as the sole sponsor . Although the coaches ' football poll is often generally in accord with the AP Poll there have been years where the polls disagree . Eleven times the Coaches Poll has crowned a different national champion than the AP Poll – in 1954 , 1957 , 1965 , 1970 , 1973 , 1974 , 1978 , 1990 , 1991 , 1997 , and 2003 – causing consternation among some college football fans . Until 1974 the final Coaches Poll was taken before the bowl games occurred ( the final AP poll was taken after the bowls starting in 1968 ) . 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 . The same situation occurred in 1970 , when # 5 Notre Dame beat # 1 Texas 24 - 11 in the 1971 Cotton Bowl and Nebraska won the AP national title . The The change to the post - bowl final poll was well - timed as the top - ranked team would lose its bowl game four more times in 1970s : in 1975 , 1977 , 1978 , and 1979 . Also , since 1974 , teams on probation are not recognized in the poll of coaches while the AP permits their inclusion . The winner of the BCS National Championship Game is required to be voted number one , yet the AP Poll does not have this requirement . The winner of the Coaches ' Poll is awarded the Waterford Crystal AFCA National Championship Trophy in an on - field post - game presentation . The coaches poll has come under criticism for being inaccurate , with some of the charges being that coaches are biased towards their own teams and conferences , that coaches don ' t actually complete their own ballots , and that coaches are unfamiliar with even the basics , such as whether a team is undefeated or not , about teams they are voting on . In 2012 , USC Trojans coach Lane Kiffin resigned as a voter after just one vote amidst controversy over his preseason selection of USC as No . 1 . Kiffin told reporters , " I would not vote USC No . 1 , I can tell you that much . " However , " USA Today " , citing the need to " protect the poll ' s integrity " , revealed that Kiffin had voted his team for the top spot . Kiffin apologized and explained that his comments were from the perspective of an opposing coach voting for USC . College basketball . Beginning in 1993 , " USA Today " and CNN took over publishing the coaches ' basketball poll for UPI . Beginning in the 1993 - 1994 basketball season , the Coaches ' Poll began publishing its final poll after the NCAA basketball tournament . From 1995 to 2001 , the poll was co - sponsored by " USA Today " and the NABC . Finally , in 2002 , ESPN joined as a co - sponsor of the Coaches ' Poll along with " USA Today " and the National Association of Basketball Coaches where select NABC members serve as the voting block for the poll . ESPN retains its involvement with the basketball poll despite no longer being involved with the football poll . College baseball . " USA Today " and ESPN also publish a top 25 college baseball poll for NCAA Division I baseball , known as the " USA Today " / ESPN Top 25 coaches ' baseball poll . The poll began in 1992 .