The Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 on Monday on the doorstep of a college football season shadowed in doubt.
Ohio State is slotted at No. 2 in the country in what could be its only week in the poll this year. The Buckeyes trailed only Clemson in the rankings, with the two schools sharing the same spots in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.
The AP asked voters to consider all teams in the first release of the 2020 rankings, meaning schools from leagues that are not planning to hold a fall season are still included. However, the preseason poll will be the only edition including such schools.
Ohio State’s streak of 132 straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 could come to an end after this week unless the Big Ten backtracks on its plan to postpone fall sports to the winter or spring.
“Once games kick off, it does not make sense to rank teams that are not participating,” Michael Giarrusso, the AP’s global sports editor said on Sunday. “There is no solution that will satisfy every fan or every team. But ranking teams that play is the one that makes the most sense.”
Of the preseason Top 25, nine are teams from the Big Ten or Pac-12, the two Power 5 conferences that have already announced fall sports postponements.
After Ohio State at No. 2, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa represent the Big Ten, while Oregon and USC make appearances from the Pac-12. The remainder of the rankings is made up of teams currently on pace to have a fall season.
The Buckeyes’ run of consecutive weeks in the AP Poll ranks No. 2 in the country, trailing only Alabama. The Crimson Tide secured week No. 197 straight in the poll on Monday, coming into the season ranked No. 3. The SEC is still slated to hold a fall football season as of Monday.
Ohio State has ranked in the top 10 in the country in 111 of those 132 straight weeks. Its last time outside of the top 10 was when it dropped to No. 11 on Oct. 21, 2018, following a 49-20 loss to Purdue.
On Tuesday, the AP will release its preseason All-America teams. The format will be the same- all players on Division 1 teams will be eligible for inclusion in the first week, but players who do not participate in the fall season will not be qualified for any later version of the teams.
As for a winter or spring edition of the AP Poll, Giarrusso said nothing has been ruled out.
“The AP and our voters have no idea what a spring football season will look like. But we are open to adapting and finding a way for our Top 25 voters to be involved in ranking teams if real games are played in the spring of 2021,” Giarrusso said.
This year makes the thirty-second consecutive season in which Ohio State is ranked in the preseason AP Top 25, dating back to 1989. The active streak of preseason appearances is the longest in the country, and the third-longest streak in the history of the AP.
