Hogs, Mizzou ranked in preseason AP football poll

The first AP Poll of the season was released early Sunday afternoon. Alabama, third, and Auburn, sixth, are the only two SEC teams ranked ahead of Georgia in the poll.

The college football regular season is set to start in under two weeks, and like lights and carols on the radio before Christmas, the preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll sets the stage for a new season.

Preseason rankings date back to 1950.

Missouri, which has opened the season ranked six other times, has received votes in the preseason poll an additional five times under Pinkel in 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012.

The Gopher to no surprise are not listed in the Top 25 of the poll. All of the voters have an extensive background in covering college football. LSU comes in at No. 14 while Ole Miss and Arkansas follow at No. 17 and 18, respectively. They were ranked second in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Five opponents on Tennessee’s 2015 schedule now occupy places on the preseason AP Top 25, including No. 3 Alabama, No. 9 Georgia, No. 18 Arkansas, and No. 24 Missouri within conference play.

Reigning national champion Ohio State sits atop the poll after garnering all 61 first-place votes, becoming the first unanimous preseason No. 1 in the history of the nation’s oldest, continuously running poll. SEC rival Florida also received votes for the Top 25.