OSU Lands at No. 15 in Preseason AP College Football Rankings

The preseason AP Top 25 college football poll was released Monday, and four of the teams ranked ahead of Oklahoma State — Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon and Wisconsin — will not be playing this fall. Nonetheless, those programs are clogging up the top of the rankings, and they are the difference between a No. 11 ranking (where OSU would be without those teams) and a No. 15 ranking (where OSU currently stands).

The poll puts the Pokes just behind Texas and just ahead of Michigan and USC, both of which are not currently on pace to play this fall because of the Big Ten and Pac-12’s decision to cancel the season.

Here’s a look at the top 25.

As every single commercial I’ve seen the last three months might put it, these are truly unprecedented times. Nine of the 25 teams in the ranking are not playing this fall. That sets us up for some potentially wild scenarios, including this one I am now actively rooting for …

It’s going to be wild when Clemson loses early and Ohio State moves to No. 1 with a 0-0 record and no games scheduled. https://t.co/Dwl4eHQKyw

— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) August 24, 2020

Here’s a by-conference breakdown of who is ranked and who is not.

ACC: 2
Big 12: 4
Big Ten (not playing): 6
SEC: 7
Pac-12 (not playing): 3
AAC: 2

This is just the second time OSU has been ranked inside the top 15 of the preseason AP poll since 2013. It came into the 2017 season ranked No. 10 in the country.