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Oklahoma football: Sooners strong No. 2 in AP’s 2021 Preseason Poll

By Chip Rouse

HONG KONG, CHINA - 2020/12/31: A microphone of Associated Press (AP), an American non-profit news agency is placed outside the Court of Final Appeal as they wait for the verdict of Jimmy Lai's bail. (Photo by Chan Long Hei/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
HONG KONG, CHINA - 2020/12/31: A microphone of Associated Press (AP), an American non-profit news agency is placed outside the Court of Final Appeal as they wait for the verdict of Jimmy Lai's bail. (Photo by Chan Long Hei/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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What a difference a few short months make in the preseason rankings for the 2021 edition of Oklahoma football.

Back in January, when the only thing making news in college football was several way-too-early 2021 top-25 projections, Oklahoma found itself in the 3-4-5 spots in terms of where the media and various other CFB experts thought the Sooners would start the next season.

Since that time, the Oklahoma bandwagon has been picking up steam. A week ago, the 2021 preseason Coaches Poll was released with the Sooners in the No. 3 position. Now its the media’s turn in the Preseason Associated Press Top 25, and their view of the Sooners coming into the new season is No. 2 behind — who else? — top-ranked Alabama.

No. 3 Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia round out the top five in the newly released AP poll. Alabama received 47 first-place votes, OU and Clemson received six each, Georgia got three first-place votes and Ohio State one.

This is the highest ranking for Oklahoma in the preseason AP Top 25 since being tabbed No. 1 in 2011. The Sooners have started out in the top five in the AP poll five times in the past 10 years.

This is the 22nd consecutive year that the Sooners have been ranked in the preseason AP poll and the 63rd overall since the AP poll was introduced in 1936. OU’s 63 preseason appearances in the AP Top 25 ranks second most to Ohio State’s 68.

The Sooners have been ranked No. 7 or higher 45 times.

Two other Big 12 teams appear in the the preseason AP Top 25: Iowa State is No. 7 and Texas is No. 21.

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