The SEC landed eight teams in the preseason AP Poll, twice as many as any other conference. Alabama leads the conference pack with its standard No. 2 ranking, behind Oklahoma as in the Coaches' Poll. Oregon sits in third, a spot ahead of its Week 1 opponent LSU. Boise State rounds out the top five in its first year of Mountain West play.
The rankings of all the SEC teams are as follows:
- 2 Alabama
- 4 LSU
- 12 South Carolina
- 15 Arkansas
- 19 Georgia
- 20 Mississippi State
- 22 Florida
- 23 Auburn
Much like the Coaches' Poll, it seems like voters took a "when in doubt, SEC team" approach with the ends of their ballots. Nevertheless, the eight SEC teams are twice as many as any other conference. The Big 12 and Big Ten each have four teams, followed by the Pac-12 with three, the Mountain West and ACC with two, and one each for the Big East and independents (Notre Dame).
The one big difference between this poll and most others is a noticeably lower ranking for Arkansas. I believe that comes from the fact that AP voters turned in their ballots after Knile Davis' injury. Someone correct me if I'm wrong there.