buckeyes preseason #1

For the first time since 1998, Ohio State is the preseason No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25. The Buckeyes received 35 of a possible 65 first-place votes from a panel of media members in the poll released Friday, the clear-cut #1 team in the nation. Southern California, preseason No. 1 the past two years, was No. 6.

AP Top 25 odds and ends
• Ohio State received its seventh preseason No. 1 ranking. Only Oklahoma with nine has had more preseason No. 1 rankings.

• Ohio State has never won the national title in a season in which it was preseason No. 1. Oklahoma has won the national title four times when it started No. 1. The Buckeyes finished second in 1998 after being preseason No. 1.

• Ohio State has been ranked in 53 of 57 preseason polls, the most of any school. Notre Dame and Oklahoma have been ranked 48 times.

• California has its highest preseason ranking, No. 9, since 1952 (No. 8).

• Six teams received first-place votes in the preseason Top 25. The most teams to receive first-place votes in the preseason poll is 11 in 1984.

• The SEC has the most teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 with five. The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-10 each have four. The Big East has two, the Mountain West has one and there is one independent.

The Buckeyes Troy Smith