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Oklahoma football: Sooners ranked 7th in AP Preseason Poll

By Chip Rouse

PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Rodney Anderson #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts during the first half of the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - JANUARY 01: Rodney Anderson #24 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts during the first half of the 2018 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game against the Georgia Bulldogs at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual at the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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Members of the media apparently aren’t as gung ho about Oklahoma football heading into the 2018 college season as the coaches.

The Associated Press Preseason Top 25, which is voted on by a panel of media representative who closely follow college football, was released on Monday and has the Sooners in the No. 7 spot. OU is No. 5 in the Coaches Poll.

For the third consecutive year, the Alabama Crimson Tide begin the season as the nation’s top-ranked team in the AP Preseason Poll. Only one other school — Oklahoma — has been ranked No. 1 heading into the season by the AP voters, according to the Associated Press.

Alabama received 48 first-place votes, second-ranked Clemson 18 and No. 4 Wisconsin 1.

Oklahoma Sooners Football
Oklahoma Sooners Football /

Oklahoma Sooners Football

Click here to see the complete results of the AP College Football Preseason Top 25.

This marks the 19th consecutive year Oklahoma has appeared in the AP Preseason Poll and the 60th time overall that the Sooners have been ranked in the preseason poll.

According to the OU athletic department communications team, the Sooners average all-time ranking in the AP Preseason Poll is 6.7. That leads all schools (Michigan ranks second with an average rank of 7.4).

Four Big 12 teams made the AP Preseason Top 25, headed by the No. 7 Sooners. TCU is ranked 16th, West Virginia 17th and the Texas Longhorns are at No. 23. Oklahoma State and Kansas State also received votes. If the AP ranking went beyond the top 25, Oklahoma State would have been 29th and K-State 36th, based on the votes received.

Also of note to Sooner fans, Florida Atlantic, OU’s opponent  in the season opener on Sept. 1, received the 30th most votes in the 2018 AP Preseason Poll.

The Sooners lead all NCAA schools in the number of AP preseason No. 1 rankings. Oklahoma has held that position 10 times. Ohio State is next with eight, followed by Alabama and USC with seven.

Oklahoma leads the nation in the number of weeks (406) the Sooners have been ranked in the top five in the weekly Associated Press poll since the service was first introduced in 1936. The Sooners have been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll for 101 weeks, which ranks third among all NCAA Division I teams behind Alabama (117) and Ohio State (105).

*Information for part of this article was obtained from the 2018 Oklahoma Football Media Guide.

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