Tag: preseason poll

Wisconsin picked to finish 7th in Cleveland.com Big Ten preseason poll

Wisconsin picked to finish 7th in Cleveland.com Big Ten preseason poll

The Wisconsin Badgers are projected to finish No. 7 in Cleveland.com‘s Big Ten football 2024 preseason poll.

The poll, released on Monday morning, marks the annual start of conference media days. The three-day event commences this week in Indianapolis, Indiana, leading directly into each program’s training camp in preparation for 2024 season kickoff.

Related: Full recap of power rankings for every Big Ten football position group entering 2024 season

The preseason ranking comes from writers from across the conference. They each slot the teams 1-18, with 18 points for a first-place vote, 17 for second place, 16 for third place and so on.

Here are the full results of Cleveland.com’s poll, including Wisconsin’s solid standing in the conference’s second tier:

  1. Ohio State (480 points) — 21 first-place votes
  2. Oregon (448 points)
  3. Penn State (418 points)
  4. Michigan (411 points)
  5. Iowa (363 points)
  6. USC (346 points)
  7. Wisconsin (313 points)
  8. Nebraska (293 points)
  9. Rutgers (249 points)
  10. Washington (236 points)
  11. Maryland (185 points)
  12. Minnesota (183 points)
  13. Illinois (145 points)
  14. Northwestern (138 points)
  15. UCLA (124 points)
  16. Michigan State (119 points)
  17. Indiana (76 points)
  18. Purdue (65 points)

The poll is yet another example of Wisconsin receiving the benefit of the doubt despite consecutive 7-6 seasons and big questions entering year two of the Luke Fickell era.

The Badgers were perennially chosen as the Big Ten West champion despite not winning the division for its final four years. That sentiment is carrying over into the conference’s post-expansion age. Writers see Wisconsin, and they assume a steady level of success.

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Tigers check in at No. 15 in Perfect Game preseason poll

Auburn is expected to be one of the SEC’s most competitive teams this season.

The 2024 college baseball season is about to begin, and the Auburn Tigers are expected to be one of the SEC’s most competitive teams yet again.

Ahead of the new season, Perfect Game has revealed its preseason top-25 rankings and has included Auburn. This season, the Tigers check in at No. 15, which is one spot below North Carolina and one spot above Iowa.

The SEC is projected to be one of the toughest conferences in the sport this season. Auburn is one of eight teams from the SEC to be included in the top-25 poll from Perfect Game and is considered to be the lowest-ranked.

Arkansas is the highest-ranked SEC squad this season, checking in at No. 2 behind No. 1 Wake Forest. Defending College World Series champion LSU comes in at No. 3 while Florida is close behind at No. 4. Vanderbilt and Texas A&M round out the top 10 at No. 6 and No. 7 respectively.

Tennessee (No. 11) and South Carolina (No. 13) join Auburn in the top 15.

Auburn is poised to return to the College World Series for the third time in five seasons in 2024, and will have plenty of weapons to get them there. The Tigers return several key bats such as [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag], [autotag]Chris Stanfield[/autotag], and [autotag]Cooper McMurray[/autotag]. Pitchers such as [autotag]Christian Herberholz[/autotag], [autotag]Joseph Gonzalez[/autotag], and [autotag]Will Cannon[/autotag] also return to the arsenal, and several exciting transfers such as [autotag]Deric Fabian[/autotag] and [autotag]Christian Hall[/autotag] also join the roster.

The 2024 campaign begins on Friday, Feb. 16 against Eastern Kentucky. First pitch from Plainsman Park for the season opener has yet to be determined.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__

Nebraska Volleyball cracks Top Ten of preseason rankings

The preseason ACVA Division I women’s volleyball coaches’ poll was released earlier in the week.

The preseason ACVA Division I women’s volleyball coaches’ poll was released earlier in the week. The Cornhuskers have earned a spot in the Top Ten.

The defending national champion Texas Longhorns are the runaway No. 1 ranked team. The Longhorns earned 44 of 64 first-place votes heading into the season.

Wisconsin and Stanford were No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. The Big Ten had a strong showing, with six teams in the Top 25 and four teams in the Top Ten.

Head coach John Cook has been in charge at Nebraska since 2000. In that time, he has won four National Championships, made seven National Finals, won 13 conference championships, has had 18 Top Ten finishes, and coached 52 All-Americans.

Scroll below to see where Nebraska ranked in the preseason coaches poll.

Alabama ranks No. 2 in Phil Steele’s preseason AP top 10 prediction

Alabama football is expected to start the 2023 season near the top

The 2023 college football regular season is still a few months away, but it’s never too early to look at projections. Phil Steele recently revealed his AP top 10 preseason predictions, and the expected heavy hitters from across the nation remain on top.

The reigning national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs, will open the season as the top-ranked team in the nation, according to Steele. Alabama didn’t make the College Football Playoffs last season but Steele expects the Crimson Tide to open the 2023 season ranked No. 2.

Other teams to make the top 10 include: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, LSU, Florida State, Clemson, USC and Notre Dame.

Alabama will open the college football season at home against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 2, 2023.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Crimson Tide football as the offseason progresses.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on Twitter @SpurrFM.

Tigers ranked in Baseball America’s preseason poll

Auburn is one of eight SEC teams ranked in the poll.

The SEC has made its presence known in the first preseason baseball poll.

The Auburn Tigers came in at No. 22 in Baseball America’s first top 25 preseason poll, but they’re far from the only SEC team featured. The poll features eight SEC teams, of which Auburn is lowest ranked — the top three teams in LSU, Tennessee and Florida all hail from the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers will look to improve on last year’s results where a loss to Arkansas ended the team’s season in Omaha.

Auburn comes in at the back of the poll after two victories in its fall exhibitions, one a 12-11 win over Louisiana Tech and the other 13-8 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. It should be an interesting year for the Tigers, as a good portion of the roster that made the team so talented last year has been drafted to MLB. Despite this, players Bobby Peirce, Tommy Sheehan, Mike Bello and Joseph Gonzalez will be back on the Plains for the upcoming season.

The Tigers will get their first chance to improve on their ranking on Feb. 17 when they begin a three-game home series against the Indiana Hoosiers at 6 p.m. CT. The team will play its first SEC team on Mar. 23 against the Georgia Bulldogs.

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Breaking down the preseason AP Top 25

Did the Tigers crack the preseason AP Poll?

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

Where Notre Dame is ranked in the preseason USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Thoughts?

You know football is close when the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll releases their first rankings of the season. That is exactly what has happened today. Check out below where Notre Dame and the rest of the preseason Top-25 were ranked.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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Oklahoma Sooners ranked No. 9 in USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

The Oklahoma Sooners come in at No. 9 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

With teams flocking to their respective campuses for fall practices, the preseason coaches poll is finally here. The Oklahoma Sooners came in at No. 9 in the country in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

This year’s preseason ranking is good for best in the Big 12, right ahead of No. 10 Baylor and No. 11 Oklahoma State. The final team in  the Big 12 to make the top 25 is Texas at No. 18.

In last season’s preseason poll, the Sooners came in at No. 3. Spencer Rattler was viewed as a Heisman favorite and was poised to lead the Sooners back to the College Football Playoff.

All but two of the top 25 are Power 5 teams, the exceptions being Cincinnati at No. 22 and Houston at No. 25. Those two programs will be joining the Big 12 after this season along with BYU and UCF.

Three of the four teams that made the CFP last year are in the top six. Alabama is at No. 1, Georgia is at No. 3, and Michigan is at No. 6.

USC is at to No. 15, which is a spot lower than they were a year ago. Two teams in the Pac-12 came in ahead of the Trojans, with Utah at No. 8 and Oregon at No. 12.

No. 9 feels like a good spot for the Sooners going into year one of the Brent Venables era. Both Baylor and Oklahoma State lost important pieces just like Oklahoma. The Sooners ahead of their Big 12 foes is a testament to Venables’ reputation.

A look at the full preseason AFCA Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports:

Rank Team Points 1st Place Votes
1 Alabama 1,634 54
2 Ohio State 1,564 5
3 Georgia 1,542 6
4 Clemson 1,356 –
5 Notre Dame 1,284 –
6 Michigan 1,232 –
7 Texas A&M 1,219 –
8 Utah 1,134 –
9 Oklahoma 1,027 –
10 Baylor 891 –
11 Oklahoma State 859 –
12 Oregon 734 –
13 North Carolina State 726 –
14 Michigan State 711 –
15 Southern California 602 –
16 Pittsburgh 450 –
17 Miami (Fl) 433 –
18 Texas 383 1
19 Wake Forest 381 –
20 Wisconsin 369 –
21 Kentucky 353 –
22 Cincinnati 339 –
23 Arkansas 334 –
24 Ole Miss 327 –
25 Houston 257 –

Others Receiving Votes

Iowa 248; Penn State 246; Tennessee 163; Brigham Young 152; Louisiana State 143; Auburn 98; Central Florida 55; North Carolina 34; San Diego State 25; Fresno State 21; Mississippi State 19; Florida 17; Utah State 12; Air Force 12; UCLA 10; Boise State 10; Appalachian State 10; Minnesota 6; South Carolina 5; Kansas State 4; Iowa State 3; Army 3; UL Lafayette 2; Southern Methodist 2; Purdue 2; Oregon State 2; Coastal Carolina 2; Texas-San Antonio 1; Louisville 1; Florida State 1

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Vanderbilt football, winner of zero SEC games since 2019, really received a first-place vote in the SEC preseason poll

At least one person in the SEC really believes in Clark Lea

It shouldn’t be difficult to talk a bettor out of a long shot. Show them the odds, provide a bit of historical context and find a different wager.

For instance, there isn’t a reason for casual bettors to put money down on Vanderbilt to win, well, anything this football season. The program is 1-24 in the SEC dating back to 2019 and has since swapped out head coach Derek Mason for Clark Lea. In his first season last year, Lea went 2-10 with his only victories coming against Colorado State and UConn.

East Tennessee State outscored the Commodores by 20 points in the season opener. Eventual national champion Georgia defeated Vandy, 62-0. When all was said and done, Vanderbilt’s strength of schedule ranked 38th last year, per ESPN. Things will only get harder this year. The Commodores’ 2022 schedule is considered the third-toughest in the country—behind only Auburn and Mississippi State.

But Vanderbilt apparently has something those are two schools don’t: Significantly high expectations.

Vandy somehow earned a first-place vote to win the SEC East (you know, the division that includes that aforementioned Georgia team) as well as the conference title game. Sadly, we do not know which media member cast this vote.

It’s safe to say this unexpected news did not impact betting lines. At Tipico, Vanderbilt is +50000 to win the SEC—the longest odds in the conference and notably longer than Mizzou (+30000), which has the second-worst odds.

A $100 bet on the Commodores could win $50,000, but it would mainly just lose you $100.

Considering teams have to win games to win their conference, and considering Tipico set Vandy’s win total line at 2.5, no one should consider this bet.

In fact, we reached out to FTW’s lone Vanderbilt fan on staff for comment on both the team’s conference title odds and it receiving a first-place vote in the media poll. His response has been published in full below:

“Lol.” — Christian D’Andrea, Vanderbilt MPP ’08 and former editor of Anchor of Gold, a Commodores website.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

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Texas picked fourth in the 2022 Big 12 preseason poll

The 2022 Big 12 preseason poll picks Texas to finish in fourth place.

Texas is picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 conference in 2022 after a less than impressive 5-7 campaign a year ago.

The transfer portal and recruiting ranks did favors for Steve Sarkisian and Texas over the course of the offseason. Texas’ rebuilt roster has those around the program optimistic the Horns can get back in the right direction this season.

Baylor is the media’s pick to win the conference again in 2022. The Bears snapped Oklahoma’s dominant conference title run a season ago and have high hopes for a repeat this year.

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are selected behind Baylor with Texas and Kansas State rounding out the top five.

Here is a full look at the 2022 Big 12 preseason football poll.

  1. Baylor (17 first place votes)
  2. Oklahoma (12)
  3. Oklahoma State (9)
  4. Texas (2)
  5. Kansas State
  6. Iowa State (1)
  7. TCU
  8. West Virginia
  9. Texas Tech
  10. Kansas

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