College Football: 5 surprises from 2016 AP Preseason Poll
By John Buhler
What were the biggest surprises from the first AP Poll of the 2016 College Football season?
AP voters usually do a fine job of getting it right, but admittedly it is harder to ensure accuracy with the first AP Poll of the season. Who really knows how good or bad a team will be before a football season?
It’s only the first poll of the season but there are a handful of surprises we have to digest as we approach the opening weekend of the year.
5. Gap between No. 10 and No. 11 is that vast.
This may seem like nitpicking, but the AP voters have made up their minds that there is a clear separation between No. 10 Notre Dame and No. 11 Ole Miss in the first AP Poll. The No. 10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish received 1,0006 votes, while the No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels received 718 votes.
That is nearly a 300 vote difference between being in the top 10 and falling just outside of it. To be fair, teams that are just inside the top 10 like the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal, the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers, and No. 10 Notre Dame have had the perception of being top 10 caliber entering the season, whereas No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 12 Michigan State, and No. 13 TCU felt just outside of that threshold.
It may be a bit of groupthink, but is the separation between No. 10 and No. 11 really that vast? Notre Dame did have five players arrested over the weekend and Tennessee has still yet to fully capitalize on one of Butch Jones’ promising recruiting classes.
Ole Miss has played in two New Years’ Six bowls, Michigan State has been a top 10 program in the country for the last five years, and TCU is a perennial contender since joining the Big 12. No. 11 through 13 aren’t going to leapfrog teams like No. 6 Ohio State or No. 7 Michigan after Week 1, but it seems very difficult for them even get past Tennessee or Notre Dame in the first few weeks, on account of the stiff separation from No. 10 to No. 11.
Next: 4. Houston is in the middle of the pack.