Only Three Pac-12 Teams ranked in AP Preseason Top-25 Football Poll

Voters were told to include teams that will not be playing in the fall, but Pac-12 teams seem to be left out. AP might rank teams again if there is spring football

The panel of 62 sportswriters and broadcasters who voted in the preseason Associated Press top-25 college football poll released Monday were told to include teams that are not scheduled to play in the fall, but that did not do the Pac-12 much good as only three teams from the conference were ranked in the preseason AP poll.

Cal was not close to getting ranked, earning just 11 voting points in the AP poll, which would put the Golden Bears in the No. 37 spot overall and sixth among Pac-12 teams. Cal did get a little more respect than it received in the coahes poll released earlier this month, which placed the Bears 42nd overall and seventh in the Pac-12.

The Golden Bears had high hopes for the 2020 season based on the number of key players returning from last season's 8-5 squad. The rest of the nation does not seem to share that optimism for Cal.  The Golden Bears finished unranked each of the past two seasons, but climbed into the top 25 briefly during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Clemson is ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll, and Ohio State is No. 2, but the Buckeyes will be eliminated from the rankings once the fall season begins.  The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already announced they will not be playing football in the fall, and both hope to play football in the spring.

All Division I teams were eligible for the preseason AP Top 25, but after the season starts, only teams scheduled to play in the fall are eligible. At this point, that leaves 76 FBS teams from which to choose.  Six conferences, including the SEC, ACC and Big 12, are still planning to play in the fall.

If a spring season is played, the AP will consider doing rankings for those teams too.

The highest ranked Pac-12 team is Oregon at No. 9, the same slot the Ducks occupied in the coaches poll earlier this month.  USC comes in at No. 17, also its ranking in the coaches poll, and the third Pac-12 team to earn a preseason ranking is Utah, which is 22nd in the AP poll, two slots below its ranking in the coaches poll.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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