If the Tide is to reach the top spot at the end of the season, they will have to beat seven teams during the regular season that are ranked in the first poll of the year. The SEC’s media has predicted the Vols to finish second in the SEC East behind Georgia, which is ranked No. 9 in the preseason AP Top 25.
Advertisement
This is the 27th straight year the Buckeyes are ranked in the AP preseason poll. The last time the preseason No. 1 finished as the national champion was USC in 2004.
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.
Since 2002, the preseason No. 1 has been the previous year’s national champion six times and none of those teams have gone on to repeat.
The season-opener against Bowling Green on September 5 now stands as the first time since 2008 that the Volunteers will take the field while ranked simultaneously in both major college football polls.
You can check the top 25 poll in its entirety here to see where other teams are ranked.
Anyway, below is the complete AP Top 25 preseason poll.
The AP Poll is the last of the preseason polls to be released. Alabama, 4. Baylor, 5.
Advertisement
Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports.
