We’re almost there.
This coming Saturday will be the last without college football until January as we get set to kick off the 2022 season with Week 0 action on Aug. 27. A new season also means new rankings, and the Associated Press released its preseason top 25 on Monday.
After a 6-7 finish in 2021 that resulted in a coaching change, the national media isn’t particularly high on the Tigers this fall. They missed out on the AP Top 25, but they did receive the fifth-most votes among teams outside of the rankings.
It’s the first time LSU hasn’t been featured in the preseason AP Poll since 2000, Nick Saban’s first season.
Still, it’s a decent representation for the SEC, which has six teams in the initial rankings, including three in the top 10.
Without further ado, here is the initial AP Top 25, starting with the teams who did not make the ranking but received votes.
Others Receiving Votes
Tennessee 180, Texas 164, Iowa 163, Penn State 160, LSU 55, Fresno State 32, Minnesota 31, UCF 27, Purdue 17, Mississippi State 15, Auburn 15, Kansas State 14, Florida 14, North Carolina 9, Boise State 5, Air Force 4, Appalachian State 4, UCLA 2, San Diego State 2, South Carolina 2, Utah State 2, Nebraska 1