Ohio State Unanimous No. 1 Ranking in AP Preseason Poll

Written by Ryan Wright

The anticipation over which college football team would start the 2015 preseason No. 1 was never in doubt but the curiosity factor wondering if an AP writer would be brave enough to vote a team other then Ohio State as the top in the land was all one could wait until Sunday to see. The results of the poll were published with Ohio State earning all 61 first-place votes becoming the first team in the 65-year history of the poll to start a season in such high regard.

Ohio State had an improbable run to the first ever Division-I playoffs after suffering an early season 35-21 loss to unranked Virginia Tech at home. The Buckeyes defeated one ranked team during the regular season and then beat No. 11 Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game leapfrogging both Baylor and TCU into the four-team playoffs. Once in the playoffs the Buckeyes dominated beating No. 1 Alabama 42-35 and No. 2 Oregon 42-20.

The Buckeyes have eight starters back on offense and seven back on defense, depending on how one counts starters, including all three starting quarterbacks and Heisman Trophy candidate Ezekiel Elliot. Elliot earned both playoff game MVP honors rushing for 230 yards against Alabama and 246 against the Ducks in the national championship game.

Despite questions under center for three SEC teams entering the season, Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia earned a spot in the Top 10. In total, eight SEC teams earned a spot in the AP Top 25, tops among all conferences; LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee.

The Big Ten landed three teams – OSU, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. The ACC did not land a team in the Top 10 but placed Florida State, Clemson, and Georgia Tech in the mix. The Big 12 had two teams in the Top 5 with TCU and Baylor. Oklahoma rounded out the Big 12’s presence on the poll coming in at No. 19.

Oregon was the highest ranked Pac-12 team slotted at No. 7 with USC coming in at No. 8. Four other Pac-12 teams were ranked, UCLA, Arizona State, Stanford, and Arizona.

The only non-Power Five Conference team, or Group of Five team, to land in the Top 25 was Boise State at No. 23. Independent Notre Dame was ranked No. 11.

2015 AP Preseason Poll
1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Baylor
5. Michigan State
6. Auburn
7. Oregon
8. USC
9. Georgia
10. Florida State
11. Notre Dame
12. Clemson
13. UCLA
14. LSU
15. Arizona State
16. Georgia Tech
17. Ole Miss
18. Arkansas
19. Oklahoma
20. Wisconsin
21. Stanford
22. Arizona
23. Boise State
24. Missouri
25. Tennessee

Photo credit: buckeyeextradispatch.com; No. 15 Ezekiel Elliot vs. Alabama.