AP Preseason Top 25

[TheRef]

http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll

1. Florida State (57)
2. Alabama (1)
3. Oregon (1)
4. Oklahoma (1)
5. Ohio State
6. Auburn
7. UCLA
8. Michigan State
9. South Carolina
10. Baylor
11. Stanford
12. Georgia
13. LSU
14. Wisconsin
15. USC
16. Clemson
17. Notre Dame
18. TSUN
19. Arizona State
20. Kansas State
21. Texas A&M
22. Nebraska
23. North Carolina
24. Mizzou
25. Washington

[BulldogBear]

Well, I figure no more than 24 of those will be in the final poll

[BulldogDX55]

This doesn't bother me. We know how good we are, and respect from outsiders will come with wins.

[TheRef]

I am pretty surprised to see Oklahoma so high, but oh well.

[Vandelay Industries]

I am pretty surprised to see Oklahoma so high, but oh well.

It's amazing what a bowl win will do for your preseason ranking

[RiverCityDawg]

It's amazing what a bowl win over Alabama will do for your preseason ranking

FIFY

[TheRef]

FWIW, Mississippi State received 22 votes which would put us at #36 behind Florida(!!!), Duke, Iowa, Marshall (!!!!!!!!!), Virginia Tech, and TCU.

ETA: Could this be a magical year? We're ranked #36 and we all know who wore #36. I'm too wooly to be left alone like this.

[MarketingBully01]

http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll

1. Florida State (57)
2. Alabama (1)
3. Oregon (1)
4. Oklahoma (1)
5. Ohio State
6. Auburn
7. UCLA
8. Michigan State
9. South Carolina
10. Baylor
11. Stanford
12. Georgia
13. LSU
14. Wisconsin
15. USC
16. Clemson
17. Notre Dame
18. TSUN
19. Arizona State
20. Kansas State
21. Texas A&M
22. Nebraska
23. North Carolina
24. Mizzou
25. Washington

I think the two western division teams most overrated in that poll are LSU at 13 and A&M at 21. They will find out real quick that unproven talent doesn't always equal wins especially having to replace the QB and WR positions like those two teams do. I think Arkansas, A&M, and LSU will finish 7th, 6th and 5th in the west respectively. My records for LSU is 8-4 and A&M is 7-5. I just don't think you can replace the key positions they have to replace with true freshmen and win in this division.

[dogshiek]

What a joke! There's going to be a lot of shake ups in this poll when these teams are performing.

[GreenheadDawg]

FWIW, Mississippi State received 22 votes which would put us at #36 behind Florida(!!!), Duke, Iowa, Marshall (!!!!!!!!!), Virginia Tech, and TCU.

Respect is earned. Until we start beating people other than Kentucky and Troy this trend will continue. But I also find it pretty amusing that OM is at 18.. What have they done to deserve this? It's amazing what the hype machine will do for you

[MarketingBully01]

FWIW, Mississippi State received 22 votes which would put us at #36 behind Florida(!!!), Duke, Iowa, Marshall (!!!!!!!!!), Virginia Tech, and TCU.

ETA: Could this be a magical year? We're ranked #36 and we all know who wore #36. I'm too wooly to be left alone like this.

We will be in the poll soon enough. I think we are this year's Auburn.

[MarketingBully01]

Respect is earned. Until we start beating people other than Kentucky and Troy this trend will continue. But I also find it pretty amusing that OM is at 18.. What have they done to deserve this? It's amazing what the hype machine will do for you

I think Ole Miss is about right BUT we should be at 19 or 20. A&M once again has no business in this poll. They will find out soon enough when USC beats them by 3+ TDs.

[defiantdog]

I am pretty surprised to see Oklahoma so high, but oh well.

We'll see when they play Baylor. I think KSU, Notre Dame, Mizzou, and Texas A&M will be knocked off that list within the first few weeks of the season. KSU has to play Auburn this year, Notre Dame may lose all of their star players, Mizzou lost a ton of talent, and A&M is young with a weak defense. I think the sleeper on that board is Michigan State. If they beat Oregon, then they have chance to grab the number 1 or 2 spot early in the season.

[defiantdog]

Florida is under rated.... they lost 14 starters last year due to injury. I expect them to be a very competitive team this year. They may even scare Alabama. I guarantee we'll be ranked before we roll into Baton Rouge. We'll probably be ranked #22 or something.

[GreenheadDawg]

I think Ole Miss is about right BUT we should be at 19 or 20. A&M once again has no business in this poll. They will find out soon enough when USC beats them by 3+ TDs.

I agree. I don't think A&M are going to be nearly as good as people give them credit for. They will talented but extremely inexperienced

[maroonmania]

Respect is earned. Until we start beating people other than Kentucky and Troy this trend will continue. But I also find it pretty amusing that OM is at 18.. What have they done to deserve this? It's amazing what the hype machine will do for you

True, but 36th? That's probably lower ranked than we started the year off last year and we all pretty much knew going in last year that to even reach 7 wins was going to be an uphill struggle.

[ShotgunDawg]

delete

[ShotgunDawg]

I wonder what the line would be if we played Michigan State?

I have no problem not being ranked because we know what we have, but we also haven't done much to earn any respect. With wins, that will come.

No matter how unimpressive those wins really were, to the outside observer, Ole Miss beat LSU and Texas last season, while also taking Texas A&M to the wire. If you were from the west coast, and didn't have much inside knowledge about Ole Miss' team, it is perfectly understandable why they are ranked.

This is what is great about being in the SEC. Preseason rankings are meaningless, because the national championship runs through the SEC West. We will have all the opportunities that any other SEC school has to be on top.

[starkvegasdawg]

But I also find it pretty amusing that OM is at 18.. What have they done to deserve this? It's amazing what the hype machine will do for you

They bought a good class a couple years ago. That, along with a bunch of pictures of photoshopped BCS trophies and players the current staff never saw except on tv get u a 18 ranking I guess.

[CadaverDawg]

Ole Miss at 18 is laughable. It pisses me off bc the higher you start, the easier it is to climb High in the rankings with a few wins.

In other words, we win our first 3, we'll be ranked #20-#25....If OM wins their first 3 they'll be #10-#15. So they can pitch that shit to recruits and get more coverage in the media while not deserving it any more than us. There is nothing to warrant them being ahead of us. Oh well, what the **** is new.

[TheRef]

Also, Ohio State will be playing ONE team ranked in the AP Top 25 this year...let that sink in for a moment as the Ohio State fans say that they play a tough schedule and they're better than the SEC.

[GreenheadDawg]

True, but 36th? That's probably lower ranked than we started the year off last year and we all pretty much knew going in last year that to even reach 7 wins was going to be an uphill struggle.

I totally agree that we should be higher than 36th. I was surprised with all the Dak publicity and the way our defense played late last year I did think we would be around 25-28.

[MarketingBully01]

We were what 28th in the coach's poll. We will get in there at least by week 3.

[ShotgunDawg]

Dan Wolken gets it:

Dan Wolken ‏@DanWolken 1m
A little baffled by the poll steam for Ole Miss. Offense wasn?t good last year, didn?t exactly finish strong. Want to see before buying in.

I think polls and rankings at this point in the preseason are complete BS. A snowball effect happens with some of these teams that receive hype and all reality is lost.

[TheDogFather]

The AP proves it's fallibility once again.

[DawgPoundtheRock]

Want more? The Sports Illustrated top 25:

1. FSU
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. OSU
5. UCLA
6. Michigan State
7. Auburn
8. Oregon
9. Stanford
10. Baylor
11. South Carolina
12. Georgia
13. Notre Dame
14. LSU
15. Wisconsin
16. Clemson
17. USC
18. Ole Miss
19. Arizona State
20. Texas A&M
21. Kansas State
22. Missouri
23. Oregon State
24. Nebraska
25. Marshall

Same song, different verse.

[bluelightstar]

I'm not surprised. Like Shotgun mentioned earlier in the thread, they are getting a lot of mileage from a strong recruiting class and wins over Texas and LSU. You collect wins over name teams and win a bowl game -- you get hype. Happened to us after 2010 -- we were preseason top 20 (and I think we were 16 or so when we lost on the Plains) in 2011.

[Quaoarsking]

Weird that every poll is picking Texas A&M so high. Their defense blew last year, and their offense is certainly going to take a step back after losing 3 NFL first rounders.

[ShotgunDawg]

I think we would run Marshall and Nebraska off the field. Like, not even a very competitive game kind of game.

[bluelightstar]

I think we would run Marshall and Nebraska off the field. Like, not even a very competitive game kind of game.

Agree on Marshall. I think Nebraska under Pelini is better than they get credit for -- they aren't national title quality but they're solid. I understand they've lost a number of defensive players to injury this off-season and during camp, so that would help.

[ShotgunDawg]

Tony Barnhart weighs in:

Tony Barnhart ‏@MrCFB 1m
8 teams from SEC in AP Top 25. Five from West (Bama, AU, LSU, Ole Miss, TAMU) and three from East (UGA, FL, Mizzou). Miss. St should be in

When you see tweets like this one and the one from Wolken, both of whom are respected journalists, it makes you wonder who is voting on this stuff.

Does the AP let Sallee have a vote?

[DawgPoundtheRock]

After the dust clears at the end of November, I think that the SEC will have at least 8 teams in the top 25. 4 from the west; Bama, AU, LSU & State. 4 from the east UGA, USCe, FL & Mizzou. Ole Miss and aTm fall by the wayside.

[Political Hack]

we're better than 10 of those teams, maybe more.

I have zero clue how anyone is ranking A&M right now.

[IMissJack]

So the team we beat last year starting our number 2 QB is 18 spots above us? Um yeah.

[DudyDawg]

So the team we beat last year starting our number 2 QB is 18 spots above us? Um yeah.

Number 3

[IMissJack]

Number 3

Dang, forgot about Tyler.

[ShotgunDawg]

Here is the deal IMO:

Ole Miss might be the 18th best team in the country. They truly might be. I can't conclusively say that there are 18 teams in the country that are truly better than them. The problem isn't their ranking, the problem is their ranking in RELATION to ours. While there may not be 18 teams in the country that can beat them, I feel fairly certain that, there aren't 18 better teams in the country than us either.

Just for whatever reason, Ole Miss was given full credit for their potential and we weren't, and I can't answer why that is.

[RougeDawg]

Here is the deal IMO:

Ole Miss might be the 18th best team in the country. They truly might be. I can't conclusively say that there are 18 teams in the country that are truly better than them. The problem isn't their ranking, the problem is their ranking in RELATION to ours. While there may not be 18 teams in the country that can beat them, I feel fairly certain that, there aren't 18 better teams in the country than us either.

Just for whatever reason, Ole Miss was given full credit for their potential and we weren't, and I can't answer why that is.

Because they continue to win the press conference. To most people, perception is reality, and the false perception continues to fuel itself. Most people don't care to dig into the details. The only see recruiting class rankings and beating "name" teams. They fail to see that LSU played one of their worst games in a decade. That the OM offense scored a total of 1 TD the final 120 minutes plus OT of the regular season. Their talent is very too heavy and drops off dramatically after the top 8 guts or so. That their depth is paper this at the most critical positions. The quality of their depth is dismal. That we beat them with our true freshman QB playing 50 minutes and Dak racking up 140 yards in 10 minutes plus OT. At that clip he would have racked up over 800 yards in a full game. All of this is overlooked.

All these voters see is the press conference, so to speak.

[Clanga]

Sit back and let the chips fall where they may. No one thought Auburn was worth a darn last year and look how that worked out. I can't wait everyone sees the light and starts changing their tune.

[Clanga]

The phrase "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" seems to apply here, but I personally think these rankings are about perfect for us. Gives us a chip on the shoulder.

[ShotgunDawg]

The phrase "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" seems to apply here, but I personally think these rankings are about perfect for us. Gives us a chip on the shoulder.

We've had a chip on our shoulder for the better part of the past 100 years. I don't buy into that too much. However, we do have great leadership this year, so maybe that will fuel it more.

[maroonmania]

Tony Barnhart weighs in:

Tony Barnhart ‏@MrCFB 1m
8 teams from SEC in AP Top 25. Five from West (Bama, AU, LSU, Ole Miss, TAMU) and three from East (UGA, FL, Mizzou). Miss. St should be in

When you see tweets like this one and the one from Wolken, both of whom are respected journalists, it makes you wonder who is voting on this stuff.

Does the AP let Sallee have a vote?

Yea, and wouldn't surprise me if a third of the votes intended for us were written into the ballots as Mississippi and counted for TSUN.

[ShotgunDawg]

Another national college football writer weighs in:

Ralph D. Russo @ralphDrussoAP ? 4h
I probably stand alone on this, but Ole Miss at No. 18 and Missisippi State unranked (way down in others receiving) doesn't jive for me.

Hopefully, the educated voters making noise will get us into the polls rather quickly. However, the problem is that, when you are outside the top 25, your highlights don't get shown on ESPN and thus, idiot voters out west or up north that only see perception, won't really get to see any of our highlights.

Maybe this is where the SEC Network could help us, because I believe they will show all the SEC highlights and not just the Top 25.

[War Machine Dawg]

First of all, F TSUN. They don't deserve it, but they somehow own the media and continuously bamboozle them. It is what it is and should be expected at this point. But it's TSUN, so F 'em for good measure.

Second, I'd love to know how the Catholics continue to be ranked year after year after year after year of mediocrity. Then if they win their first 2, the media puts them top 5, and starts slobbering about "ND a possible title contender" until Meechigan or USC beats that ass. It's such a damn joke. They'd lose AT LEAST 5 if they played a SEC schedule. Other than Kelly's second year, when they inevitably got embarrassed by Bama, what have they done in the last 20 years to deserve such continued media fellatio? I probably hate them as much as I hate all other SEC schools not named TSUN.

[jbjones]

Not sure if it's been mentioned or not, but The Score had a pretty good article about this:

Why Mississippi State should have been in the preseason Top 25 (http://www.thescore.com/ncaaf/news/557351)

[Dawgowar]

Another national college football writer weighs in:

Ralph D. Russo @ralphDrussoAP ? 4h
I probably stand alone on this, but Ole Miss at No. 18 and Missisippi State unranked (way down in others receiving) doesn't jive for me.

Hopefully, the educated voters making noise will get us into the polls rather quickly. However, the problem is that, when you are outside the top 25, your highlights don't get shown on ESPN and thus, idiot voters out west or up north that only see perception, won't really get to see any of our highlights.

Maybe this is where the SEC Network could help us, because I believe they will show all the SEC highlights and not just the Top 25.

This is just the trophy they get for "winning February". I have peace knowing that when we break through it will be done by what is accomplished on the field. Bottom line we have to slay some giants this year. Football justice is properly served on a scoreboard. LSU, A&M, and Auburn need to go down and one of them HARD.

[Dawgfan77]

We will know a good bit about tsun with in those first three games. Bosie is going to be physical with them and we saw it last year the bears don't like to be physical. Vandy is going back to being vandy so that's a win and Memphis is well Memphis. The ULL game is going to be a game for the Rebears and I think the game is going to be there for the Cajuns taking. The bears won't be undefeated when the tide roll in this year and even though isn't was a close 25 pt loss**** the Rebs will again show they don't like to be physical. Anothe thing is this is year three of Frezzus and defenses have started figured out his offenses that combined with Womack getting canned every three years this has the making of a crash and burn season. Even some national guys arnt buying the hype. Barnhart saw us practice last week and Russo has strong ties to the state. These guys know what they are talking about

[IMissJack]

Dan needs to run up some scores when we can, and forget being Mr. Nice guy with some of these lesser teams. If you don't toot your own horn, the AP is not going to recognize you.

[RougeDawg]

Maybe the voters are factoring in all the moral victories OM had last year.

[Bucky Dog]

Remember Auburn wasn't ranked pre season last year if I am correct. Let's quit measuring our dicks next to the Missus! They will get what they deserve in the end. Personally I think they should be around 23-25 and I am fine with not being ranked. Chip on the shoulder and go earn the respect. Go Boise!!

[BulldogBear]

I would really rather be under the radar. This is fine. We know better. If we live up to our potential we will end up highly ranked. Let Bear Nation revel in anything but on field results. It's what they do better than any other school. This means nothing. IN the modern era at least two national champions were unranked in the preseason poll.

[maroonmania]

Remember Auburn wasn't ranked pre season last year if I am correct. Let's quit measuring our dicks next to the Missus! They will get what they deserve in the end. Personally I think they should be around 23-25 and I am fine with not being ranked. Chip on the shoulder and go earn the respect. Go Boise!!

Well this year, if you make it to #4 in the committee's eyes you have just as good of a chance to win the whole thing as the #1 and #2 teams so an unranked team has a smaller hill to climb.