The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 30 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Final 2012 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (28) | 60-8 | 748 | 3 |
| 2 | Oklahoma (2) | 54-10 | 722 | 4 |
| 3 | California | 58-7 | 681 | 1 |
| 4 | Arizona State | 53-11 | 666 | 2 |
| 5 | Oregon | 45-18 | 622 | 12 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 52-14 | 590 | 5 |
| 7 | LSU | 40-25 | 556 | |
| 8 | USF | 50-14 | 526 | 19 |
| 9 | Texas | 47-13 | 484 | 8 |
| 10 | Georgia | 45-17 | 464 | 11 |
| 11 | Missouri | 47-14 | 431 | 10 |
| 12 | Louisiana | 53-6 | 409 | 7 |
| 13 | Arizona | 38-19 | 360 | 17 |
| 14 | Washington | 39-19 | 345 | 18 |
| 15 | Michigan | 42-17 | 324 | 21 |
| 16 | Hofstra | 42-15 | 300 | |
| 17 | Louisville | 55-5 | 282 | 9 |
| 18 | Florida | 48-11 | 258 | 20 |
| 19 | Texas A&M | 41-18 | 222 | 14 |
| 20 | UCLA | 36-20 | 173 | 15 |
| 21 | Stanford | 40-19 | 150 | 16 |
| 22 | Hawai'i | 44-9 | 129 | 13 |
| 23 | Syracuse | 43-16 | 77 | 25 |
| 24 | North Carolina | 43-15 | 58 | 22 |
| 25 | Oregon State | 36-23 | 36 |
Notre Dame 22, Florida St. 17, Northwestern 16, Texas Tech 16, BYU 12, Kentucky 11, Baylor 9, Arkansas 8, Virginia Tech 6, Tulsa 4; five others received votes, but only appeared on one ballot.
No. 20 Florida St., No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 23 Baylor