USC is back and ready to go, earning the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25. (Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE)
As we near the start of the NCAA football season, the top 25 i starting to shape up and teams are getting a look at how hard their run to a National Championship will be. For the USC Trojans, that ride just got a lot easier as they top the preseason AP poll.
No word on whether or not Lane Kiffen voted or not.
But all kidding aside, the AP Top 25, in combination with the USA Today Coaches Poll which was released earlier this month, the race for a title is starting to stack up. It’s a well known fact that your schedule has little to do with your journey to a title. It’s all location, location, location. LSU topped the USA Today poll, but USC has pulled out their first major victory of their first season back from a bowl ban, by earning the top spot in the AP Poll.
Speaking of LSU, the loss of Tyrann Mathieu sunk their value in this poll, and it ended up dropping them two spots from the USA Today poll, as they start the year No. 3 in the AP Poll.
Alabama jumps LSU but remains the No. 2 team in the country in both polls. The top three teams in both polls are consistent, and things pretty much they same the rest of the way down. From Oklahoma at No. 4 and Texas at No. 15, the AP Poll is the exact same as the USA Today poll when it comes to the top 15. After that things get different and interesting with some teams even getting dropped from the Top 25 all together.
Notre Dame and Auburn both got dropped from the AP Poll and are replaced by Louisville and Houston.
Houston made the biggest leap between the two polls, going from not even making an appearance in the USA Today Poll to No. 18 in the AP Poll. The second biggest leap was had by the Virginia Tech Hokies, who jumped form No. 20 to No. 16.
Here’s a rundown of how the AP Top 25 stacks up for the preseason:
AP Preseason Top 25
| 1. | USC |
| 2. | Alabama |
| 3. | LSU |
| 4. | Oklahoma |
| 5. | Oregon |
| 6. | Georgia |
| 7. | Florida State |
| 8. | Michigan |
| 9. | South Carolina |
| 10. | Arkansas |
| 11. | West Virginia |
| 12. | Wisconsin |
| 13. | Michigan State |
| 14. | Clemson |
| 15. | Texas |
| 16. | Virginia Tech |
| 17. | Nebraska |
| 18. | Ohio State |
| 19. | Oklahoma State |
| 20. | TCU |
| 21. | Stanford |
| 22. | Kansas State |
| 23. | Florida |
| 24. | Boise State |
| 25. | Louisville |
Read more:Â http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/08/18/preseason-ap-poll.ap/index.html#ixzz23uV973I1
