Prior to this poll, no team had received more than 97 percent of the first-place votes in a preseason poll.
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Ohio State was No. 5 in the preseason poll a year ago . Neither finished the season No. 1.
Behind Ohio State in the AP Top 25 released Sunday are TCU at No. 2, Alabama at No. 3, Baylor at No. 4 and Michigan State at No. 5.
Notre Dame is No. 11, followed by Clemson, UCLA, LSU, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Stanford, Arizona, Boise State, Missouri and Tennessee. Only twice, Florida State in 1999 and Southern California in 2004, has the top-ranked team in the preseason poll gone wire-to-wire as No. 1. The Jackets were also ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll earlier in the offseason, coming in at 17th there.
The Volunteers last appeared in the AP Poll on September 12, 2012 when it was listed at No. 23. According to the sports network, the AP Top 25 preseason rankings began in 1950.
The reigning national champions, the Buckeyes enter the season with nearly all their top contributors back on both sides of the ball and are being projected by many to repeat as the national champs in the second season of the College Football Playoff.
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The AP Poll is the last of the preseason polls to be released. TCU 3. Alabama 4. The rest of the top 10 is Auburn, Oregon, USC, Georgia and Florida State.
