Maybe they are not referred to as super conferences, as least not yet, but they sure are in the polls. Hence, it should come as no surprise with Oklahoma and Texas having joined the SEC and Oregon, USC and Washington among new members of the Big Ten that the nation’s two most powerful conferences occupy the top six spots in the recently released top 25 polls.
The SEC/Big Ten is also among the 10 of the 12 most sensible in the Coaches Poll and 10 of the thirteen most sensible in the AP Poll.
Notre Dame is ranked No. 7 in any of the polls and is the highest-ranked team in the SEC or the Big Ten. The state of Florida, ranked 10th in either ranking, is the highest-ranked conference-affiliated team as a member of the Super 2. .
Here are some more observations from the preseason ballots before Florida State and Georgia Tech open the 2024 high school football season on Aug. 24 in Dublin.
This is the sixteenth consecutive year that Alabama, No. 5/5, has been in the top five, and the lowest preseason rating since 2009, when the Crimson Tide was also ranked No. 5. The last time Tide n wasn’t the best- five teams in 2008. He kicked off Nick Saban’s second season in Tuscaloosa at No. 24/NR. They finished 12-2, finished 6/6 and left.
Thanks to the remarkable paintings Jedd Fisch made in his first season in Tucson, the Wildcats open their first season as a member of the Big 12 in the 21/21st spot. The last two times the Wildcats were in the preseason ratings, in 2015 and 1999, they failed to finish the season in the ratings. The 2015 team led through Rich Rodriguez in 22nd place and finished 7-6. At No. 4, the 1999 Wildcats had their highest preseason rating in their history, only to go 6-6 with Dick Tomey.
Registering 14/14, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have their lowest preseason rating since 2015, when they were ranked 12/12 before winning the first of two national titles in 3 years. Clemson recently had a seven-year term (2016-2022) ranked in the top five most sensible.
The Bulldogs, who dominated both polls and won national titles in 2021 and 2022, have been among the top five most sensible in either preseason poll for seven straight years. Since 2012, under the leadership of Mark Richt, they have been in the top 10 most sensible out of 10. of the last thirteen years.
The No. 22/24 Jayhawks are ranked in the preseason for the first time since Mark Mangino’s final year at Lawrence (2009) and only the seventh time in the program’s history. KU took first place (No. 17) in the 1952 pre-season as a member of the Big 7 and under the direction of Jules Skiles.
At 11/11, Missouri is in the preseason ratings for the first time since 2015, when it was 24/23 before Gary Pinkel’s final season, a 5-7 crusade in which the Tigers lost six of their last games. September of this year marks Mizzou’s highest preseason rating since he started at 6/7 in 2008 as a member of the Big 12. The Tigers finished 10-4 and in 19/16 place.
This is the 36th consecutive year that the Ohio State No. 2/2 has been in the preseason rankings, extending his national record. The Buckeyes also extended their record of 71 qualifying seasons in the preseason. It’s also the 12th straight year Ohio State will start among the top six teams. During this run, they were No. 1 or No. 2 six times.
Ranked 16/16 this year, after starting 20/19th last year, the Sooners are the best 10 straight years on the road for the first time since Bob Stoops’ first two seasons in 1999-00. They were not ranked in 1999 before appearing in 19/20 the following year. By the way, with their 66th place in the preseason rankings, the Sooners are second with 71 from Ohio State.
Lane Kiffin’s fifth season at Oxford (five seasons already!) begins with the Rebels at 6/6 and their highest preseason rating since the team led through Archie Manning in 1970 at 5th. Ole Miss went 7-4 this season and finished No. 20 under John Vaught.
At 12/13, the Utes have the second-highest preseason rating in team history, on 8/7, 2022. This is the sixth straight year Utah has been seeded in the preseason after appearing just twice before. All 8 pre-season qualifiers have been established throughout this century, the first of which was in 2004 under Urban Meyer, when the school was in Mountain West. While Meyer was heading to Florida at the end of that season, Kyle Whittingham took over a Fiesta Bowl win over Pitt to end an undefeated season. Since then, he has been on the sidelines of the Utes.
Neither team is qualified, and that’s the point. The Broncos are the most level-headed team in AP Five Eyes after receiving 47 votes for 28th overall. The Tigers won 44 votes in the coaches’ poll, placing them 30th and 14th ahead. of the Broncos No. 31. La last time a G5 team didn’t make the top 25 in the preseason was in 2014. UCF was the top team in the AP that year, ranking 26th overall, 36 times over No. The Knights ranked 28th in the coaching survey.
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