Editors:To help you with your planning ahead of the college football season, we will have the following stories, photos and more in coming weeks, anchored by a special project surrounding the Top 25 poll, team and Power Five conference previews as well as two weekends of feature stories. This digest is subject to change and will be updated throughout the month of August. For questions, please call 212-621-1630 or email Ed Montes (emontes(at)ap.org) and Dave Zelio (dzelio(at)ap.org). All times Eastern.DIGITAL NEWS EXPERIENCEAll the stories in this advisory as well as exclusive blog content, a weekly podcast and videos will be available through the College Football Digital News Experience, a fully curated digital presentation of APs college football coverage that is anchored around the Top 25 poll. The site, which is responsive to all devices, is available for free and even pays a revenue share to participating sites. The DNE allows for local customization of the site logo, navigation bar, highlighted teams and other features, including embeddable widgets around the poll and Latest News. Some examples:
http://collegefootball.ap.org/lufkindailynews and
http://collegefootball.ap.org/wvgazette. Contact Barry Bedlan at bbedlan(at)ap.org to take advantage of this free digital offering.TOP 25 POLLThe 2016 preseason AP Top 25 will be released on Sunday, Aug. 21, at 2 p.m. The weekly poll will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 6, and will then be sent every Sunday at 2 p.m. through the regular season. The final poll will be sent roughly an hour after the national championship game the evening of Monday, Jan. 9, in Tampa, Florida.AP SPORTS EXTRA -- PRESEASON POLL PAGEA paginated look at the preseason AP Top 25 poll will be available shortly after the poll is released on Aug. 21. The AP Sports Extra pages are available in full broadsheet, half broadsheet and tabloid size (perfect for preseason football tabs). They will include space for local advertising or content. The pages will focus on the 25 teams selected by AP poll voters with emphasis on those at the very top. The pages are available at no charge to all AP Sports subscribers. Contact Barry Bedlan at bbedlan(at)ap.org for more information.ONLY ON APFor the first time, AP has tabulated every single one of its weekly college football polls since the first was released 80 years ago. That research has been used to determine an all-time rankings list and other stories, including an eight-part series looking at the top teams of each decade. A separate advisory on this package was also sent.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLLTo look back, all the way back, to the first Top 25 college football poll is to take a walk through history. The great teams at Notre Dame and Army, at Oklahoma and Alabama, the coaching greats like Bud Wilkinson and Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno, Lou Holtz and Nick Saban. For the first time, The Associated Press has sorted through all those polls -- all 1,103 of them -- to determine the top 100 programs of all time after eight decades of arguing whos the best. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. SENT: 800 words , photos on Aug. 2.With:FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL -THE TOP 100-LISTThe Top 100 college football teams of all time as determined by The Associated Press Top 25. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. SENT: 2,500 words on Aug. 2. Capsules on the best 25 teams, then a list of the remaining 75. Featured on special page of the College Football DNE.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL -THE NO. 1s-LISTAll 44 teams ranked No. 1 at least once over the 80 years, with capsules that include the overall top team for each school. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. SENT: 5,000 words , photos on Aug. 4.Also:FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-1930s-40sThe Associated Press college football poll was created to try to answer the simplest yet most divisive question in sports: Whos better? The poll helped give a regional sport more of a national scope. The poll helped define the Army-Notre Dame rivalry in the 1940s and was part of their games becoming major events. By John Kekis. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 14.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-1950sBy the 1950s, college footballs power has drifted away from the elite Eastern schools and into the Midwest. Bud Wilkinsons Oklahoma dynasty dominated the polls as it set a record winning streak that still stands. By College Football Writer Eric Olson. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 15.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-1960sThe focus on the national championship race and the polls reached new heights in the 1960s, with a peak in 1966 when the matchup of No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State late in the season ended in a famous 10-10 tie. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 16.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-1970sCoaching icons dominated the AP poll during the 1970s with Bear Bryant at Alabama, Joe Paterno at Penn State, Woody Hayes at Ohio State, Bo Schembechler at Michigan, Barry Switzer at Oklahoma and Tom Osborne at Nebraska. Their matchups would often help determine No. 1. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 17.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-1980sA new dynasty emerges at Miami, where the brash Hurricanes upend the established Midwestern powers, with pro-style offenses and speedy defenses that smother option football. It takes a little while for AP poll voters to catch up to the power shift, but when they do, Miami becomes a fixture. By Tim Reynolds. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 22.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-1990sControversial championships, sometimes with the AP poll breaking one way and the coaches poll going another, prompt the bowls and conferences to start working toward a more definitive way to determine the national title. Eventually, it becomes the BCS. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 23.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-2000sThe first half of the decade is dominated by USCs unprecedented run at No. 1, but then the SEC takes over. The overlap produces the last split national champion with the Trojans taking the AP title and LSU winning the BCS. The constant controversy leads to the AP asking out of the BCS process. By David Brandt. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 24.FBC--T25-ALL-TIME AP POLL-2010sA new power emerges in Oregon, a rarity for college football. But an old one in Alabama dominates as Nick Saban reigns. AP voters are asked to judge a changing brand of football that is played fast and furious and often without a lot of defense. By John Zenor. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos on Aug. 25.CONFERENCE AND TEAM PREVIEWSEach of the following will move in a `things to watch chunky text format of approximately 700 words, with photos.Team previews:All previews for Power Five conference schools, BYU, Notre Dame and the service academies will move on Aug. 12.Conference previews:Aug 8: SEC , Pac-12Aug. 9: Big Ten, Atlantic CoastAug 11: Big 12, Mountain WestAug. 12: American Athletic, Sun Belt, Conference USA, Mid-AmericanSHAREABLE CONTENTEvery Wednesday until the regular season, AP will offer a FBC--PICK SIX story from July 13 until Aug. 31.- FBC--Pick Six-SEC-Pivotal Players. SENT: 700 words , photos on July 14.- FBC--Pick Six-Pac-12-Pivotal-Players. SENT: 700 words , photos on July 20.- FBC--Pick Six-Big 12-Pivotal Players. SENT: 700 words , photos on July 28.- FBC--Pick Six-ACC-Pivotal Players. SENT: 700 words , photos on Aug. 3.- FBC--Pick Six-Big Ten-Pivotal Players. SENT: 700 words , photos on Aug. 4.PLAYOFF PULSE PODCASTPosted Wednesday evenings on top topics of the day. All podcasts can be accessed via the College Football DNE blog and through your locally branded version of the DNE.PREVIEW PACKAGE FOR AUG. 6-7 WEEKENDFBC--SEC SCHEDULINGKNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- With so many high-profile intersectional matchups on neutral sites, the Southeastern Conferences opening-week schedule bears a striking resemblance to a bowl lineup. By Steve Megargee. SENT: 750 words , photos on Aug. 5.FBC--HARBAUGHS NEXT ACTANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Hes slept at recruits houses, had his wife mock his $8 khakis and taken his team on the road for camp, rankling the SEC and forcing the NCAA to take a stand. There may be no louder voice in college football. But whats happening behind the scenes makes Harbaugh much more than a meme. By Larry Lage. SENT: 750 words , photos on Aug. 5.FBC--HEISMAN HYPELeonard Fournette. Christian McCaffrey. Deshaun Watson. Baker Mayfield. Four of the top six vote-getters from last years Heisman race are back, giving this falls competition for college footballs top honor plenty of intrigue. By David Brandt. SENT: 800 words , photos on Aug. 6.PREVIEW PACKAGE FOR AUG. 13-14 WEEKENDFBC--GOING INDEPENDENTUMass is going it alone this season, its first as a football independent since essentially being booted out of the Mid-American Conference. New Mexico State and Idaho have faced similar decisions recently, too -- to go independent and stay in the Bowl Subdivision or drop to the FCS. New Mexico State is staying. Idaho will be going. When you arent Notre Dame, there are a lot of pros and cons to independence. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. UPCOMING: 780 words, photos by 5 a.m. Aug. 13.FBC--YEAR OF THE RUNNING BACKIts another year of the running back in college football. LSUs Leonard Fournette, Stanfords Christian McCaffrey, Oregons Royce Freeman and Florida States Dalvin Cook all are back after rushing for over 1,800 yards last season. The talent at running back is so loaded that guys such as Tennessees Jalen Hurd and North Carolinas Elijah Hood -- who would be boldface names in any other year -- are relatively under the radar. By Steve Megargee. UPCOMING: 700 words, photos by noon Aug. 13.FBC--CHASING BEARTUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Nick Saban is one national title away from matching Bear Bryants record and, with his 65th birthday coming up on Halloween, shows no signs of slowing down. By John Zenor. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by noon Aug. 14.FBC--RUGBY-STYLE TACKLINGLINCOLN, Neb. -- Rugby-style tackling, which positions the defenders head to the side of the ball-carrier rather than straight-on, is growing in popularity in a sport beleaguered by concussion concerns. The Seattle Seahawks were the first team to teach the technique, with Ohio State following last season. Nebraska, among others, is the latest program coaching rugby-style technique. By College Football Writer Eric Olson. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by noon Aug. 14.AP Sports . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings.Head coach Dan Ryan admitted he was shocked by Manchester Thunders performance as they suffered defeat to Surrey Storm. The Thunder slipped to a 55-49 loss against the reigning champions, ending their unbeaten start to the season in the Vitality Netball Superleague, and Ryan revealed he was bitterly disappointed in tthe post-match interview.ddddddddddddlick on the video above to see Ryan reflect on Manchesters home loss. Also See: Vitality Superleague fixtures Table Live on Sky Sportswomen ' ' '
