Ohio State extends record AP Top 25 streak; Ole Miss has best preseason ranking since Archie Manning
Ohio State extends record AP Top 25 streak; Ole Miss has best preseason ranking since Archie Manning
Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin speaks during Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days Monday, July 15, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
FILE - Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown passes against Missouri during the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game on Dec. 29, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. Ohio State opened camp on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, with the usual towering expectations but also a heavy sense of urgency built up over the three consecutive seasons blown up by losses to Michigan. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
FILE - Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson reacts after a touchdown against Washington during the second half of the Pac-12 championship NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
Graphic show shows the College Football Playoff bracket based on the preseason AP Top 25 poll
Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin speaks during Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days Monday, July 15, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
Ole Miss head football coach Lane Kiffin speaks during Southeastern Conference NCAA college football media days Monday, July 15, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
FILE - Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown passes against Missouri during the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game on Dec. 29, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. Ohio State opened camp on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, with the usual towering expectations but also a heavy sense of urgency built up over the three consecutive seasons blown up by losses to Michigan. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
FILE - Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown passes against Missouri during the first half of the Cotton Bowl NCAA college football game on Dec. 29, 2023, in Arlington, Texas. Ohio State opened camp on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, with the usual towering expectations but also a heavy sense of urgency built up over the three consecutive seasons blown up by losses to Michigan. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
FILE - Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson reacts after a touchdown against Washington during the second half of the Pac-12 championship NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
FILE - Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson reacts after a touchdown against Washington during the second half of the Pac-12 championship NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
Graphic show shows the College Football Playoff bracket based on the preseason AP Top 25 poll
Graphic show shows the College Football Playoff bracket based on the preseason AP Top 25 poll
The preseason AP Top 25 is out and some tidbits and facts about every team:
— No. 1 Georgia is atop the preseason rankings for the third time in school history (2008, 2023).
— No. 2 Ohio State extended its record streak of consecutive seasons appearing in the preseason poll to 36.
— No. 3 Oregon has its best preseason ranking since 2014 when it was also No. 3.
— No. 4 Texas’ preseason ranking is its best since 2009, when it was No. 2.
— No. 5 Alabama’s ranking is its lowest in the preseason since it was No. 5 in 2009, though the Crimson Tide did extend its record streak of appearing in the preseason top five to 16 years.
— No. 6 Ole Miss has its best preseason ranking since it was No. 5 in 1970, Archie Manning’s final season as Rebels quarterback.
— No. 7 Notre Dame is ranked in the preseason top 10 for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
— No. 8 Penn State is in the preseason poll for the 50th time, eighth most in history behind Ohio State (71), Oklahoma (66), USC (63), Notre Dame (61), Alabama (58), Texas (57) and Michigan (53).
— No. 9 Michigan, where Sherrone Moore is the first Wolverines head coach to have a team ranked in the preseason poll in his debut season since Lloyd Carr in 1995 (No. 14).
— No. 10 Florida State has been ranked in the top 10 of 17 straight polls, the fourth-longest active streak behind Georgia (50), Michigan (44) and Ohio State (44).
— No. 11 Missouri has its best preseason ranking since starting No. 6 in 2008.
— No. 12 Utah is making its sixth straight appearance in the preseason poll. The Utes had only been ranked in the preseason twice (2009, ’04) in their history before 2019.
— No. 13 LSU has been left out of the preseason Top 25 just once (2022) since 2001.
— No. 14 Clemson has its worst preseason ranking since 2014 (No. 16) and first outside the top 10 since 2015 (No. 12).
— No. 15 Tennessee has two straight preseason top-15 rankings for the first time since 2003-04.
— No. 16 Oklahoma has appeared in 24 straight preseason rankings, but this is the first time during that streak the Sooners have started outside the top 10 in consecutive seasons.
— No. 17 Oklahoma State in two of the last three seasons (2021 and ’23) has started the season unranked and finished ranked. In between (2022), they started the season No. 12 and finished unranked.
— No. 18 Kansas State and No. 22 Kansas are both ranked in the preseason poll for just the second time. The last was 1996.
— No. 19 Miami has not started ranked and finished ranked in a season since 2017. This is the Hurricanes’ fifth appearance in the preseason poll during that time.
— No. 20 Texas A&M has now appeared in six straight AP preseason polls, but the Aggies have only finished ranked once (2020) since 2019.
— No. 21 Arizona is ranked in the preseason for the first time since 2015.
— No. 22 Kansas is in the preseason poll for the first time since 2009 and only the seventh time in program history.
— No. 23 USC, where coach Lincoln Riley’s seven teams with the Trojans and Oklahoma have all started the season ranked. Last year’s was the first to finish unranked.
— No. 24 North Carolina State has its second preseason ranking in three seasons after just six appearances previously.
— No. 25 Iowa has appeared in five straight preseason polls, matching the best streak in program history (1957-61).
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football