Teams to go from top ten in the preseason AP poll to unranked

By Dan Vasta

Fans, are you all excited about where your team is ranked in the 2015 preseason AP poll? Relax.

The rough truth about preseason polls is that they’re almost always wrong in some facet once all the fun stops at the end of the year.

Since 2000, there have been at least two squads in the AP poll’s preseason top ten to fall flat on their faces and missed out on the Top 25. In the last eight AP preseason polls, there has been at least one team in the top ten to finish the year unranked.

Remember last season when Oklahoma was going to win the Big 12 and how South Carolina was going to take the SEC? Things quickly got off the wrong foot as Texas A&M throttled South Carolina in the opener on the way to a disappointing year for Steve Spurrier. Meanwhile, Baylor and TCU took over the Big 12 by storm and OU could only do so much with a struggling passing game.

So who in the 2015 AP preseason poll won’t be there by early January?

Out of the top five teams in the 2014 AP preseason poll, three of them – Ohio State, Oregon and Alabama – finished in the top four, but Oklahoma was the preseason No. 4 team and finished the year out of the top 25. How many of the preseason top ten teams last year finished up there? Seven, with Auburn and South Carolina out.

In 2013, six teams ranked in the AP preseason top ten weren’t there at the end of the year, and in 2012 five preseason top ten teams finished out of the top ten and No. 1 USC didn’t even finish in the top 25.

The last eight AP top ten preseason polls have had at least one team finish the season unranked. Since 2000, teams ranked in the top ten finished the season ranked just twice.

Making this even flakier, there has been at least one team in the preseason AP ten finish the season unranked in 13 out of 15 seasons.

2014 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. FLORIDA STATE, T-5TH
2. ALABAMA, 3RD
3. OREGON, 2ND
4. OKLAHOMA, NOT RANKED
5. OHIO STATE, 1ST
6. AUBURN, 22ND
7. UCLA, 10TH
8. MICHIGAN STATE, T-5TH
9. SOUTH CAROLINA, NOT RANKED
10. BAYLOR, 7TH

2013 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. ALABAMA, 7TH
2. OHIO STATE, 12TH
3. OREGON, 9TH
4. STANFORD, 11TH
5. GEORGIA, NOT RANKED
6. SOUTH CAROLINA, 4TH
7. TEXAS A&M, 18TH
8. CLEMSON, 8TH
9. LOUISVILLE, 15TH
10. FLORIDA, NOT RANKED

2012 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. USC, NOT RANKED
2. Alabama, 1ST
3. LSU, 14TH
4. OKLAHOMA, 15TH
5. OREGON, 2ND
6. GEORGIA, T-5TH
7. FLORIDA STATE, 10TH
8. MICHIGAN, 24TH
9. SOUTH CAROLINA, 8TH
10. ARKANSAS, NOT RANKED

2011 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. OKLAHOMA, 16TH
2. ALABAMA, 1ST
3. OREGON, 4TH
4. LSU, 2ND
5. BOISE STATE, 8TH
6. FLORIDA STATE, 23RD
7. STANFORD, 7TH
8. TEXAS A&M, NOT RANKED
9. OKLAHOMA STATE, 3RD
10. NEBRASKA, 24TH

2010 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. ALABAMA, 10TH

2. OHIO STATE, 5TH
3. BOISE STATE, 9TH
4. FLORIDA, NOT RANKED
5. TEXAS, NOT RANKED
6. TCU, 2ND
7. OKLAHOMA, 6TH
8. NEBRASKA, 20TH
9. IOWA, NOT RANKED
10. VIRGINIA TECH, 16TH

2009 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. FLORIDA, 3RD
2. TEXAS, 2ND
3. OKLAHOMA, NOT RANKED
4. USC, 22ND
5. ALABAMA, 1ST
6. OHIO STATE, 5TH

7. IOWA, 7TH
8. OLE MISS, 20TH
9. PENN STATE, 9TH
10. OKLAHOMA STATE, NOT RANKED

2008 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. GEORGIA, 13TH
2. OHIO STATE, 9TH
3. USC, 3RD
4. OKLAHOMA, 5TH
5. FLORIDA, 1ST
6. MISSOURI, 19TH
7. LSU, NOT RANKED
8. WEST VIRGINIA, 23RD
9. CLEMSON, NOT RANKED
10. AUBURN, NOT RANKED

2007 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. USC, 3RD
2. LSU, 1ST
3. WEST VIRGINIA, 6TH
4. TEXAS, 11TH
5. MICHIGAN, 18TH
6. FLORIDA, 13TH
7. WISCONSIN, 24TH
8. OKLAHOMA, 8TH
9. VIRGINIA TECH, 9TH
10. LOUISVILLE, NOT RANKED

2006 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. OHIO STATE, 2ND
2. NOTRE DAME, 17TH
3. TEXAS, 13TH
4. AUBURN, 9TH
5. WEST VIRGINIA, 10TH
6. USC, 4TH
7. FLORIDA, 1ST
8. LSU, 3RD
9. CALIFORNIA, 14TH
10. OKLAHOMA, 11TH

2005 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. USC, 2ND
2. TEXAS, 1ST
3. TENNESSEE, NOT RANKED
4. MICHIGAN, NOT RANKED
5. LSU, 6TH
6. OHIO STATE, 4TH
7. OKLAHOMA, 22ND
8. VIRGINIA TECH, 7TH
9. MIAMI, 17TH
10. FLORIDA, 12TH

2004 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. USC, 1ST
2. OKLAHOMA, 3RD
3. GEORGIA, 7TH
4. LSU, 16TH
5. FLORIDA STATE, 15TH
6. MIAMI, 11TH
7. TEXAS, 5TH
8. MICHIGAN, 14TH
9. OHIO STATE, 20TH
10. WEST VIRGINIA, NOT RANKED

2003 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. OKLAHOMA, 3RD
2. OHIO STATE, 4TH
3. MIAMI, 5TH
4. MICHIGAN, 6TH
5. TEXAS, 12TH
6. AUBURN, NOT RANKED
7. KANSAS STATE, 14TH
8. USC, 1ST
9. VIRGINIA TECH, NOT RANKED
10. PITT, NOT RANKED

2002 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. MIAMI, 2ND
2. OKLAHOMA, 5TH
3. FLORIDA STATE, 21ST
4. TEXAS, 6TH
5. TENNESSEE, NOT RANKED
6. FLORIDA, NOT RANKED
7. COLORADO, 20TH
8. GEORGIA, 3RD
9. WASHINGTON, NOT RANKED
10. NEBRASKA, NOT RANKED

2001 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. FLORIDA, 3RD
2. MIAMI, 1ST
3. OKLAHOMA, 6TH
4. NEBRASKA, 8TH
5. TEXAS, 5TH
6. FLORIDA STATE, 15TH
7. OREGON, 2ND
8. TENNESSEE, 4TH
9. VIRGINIA TECH, 18TH
10. GEORGIA TECH, 24TH

2000 AP Preseason Top Ten/Final Ranking

1. NEBRASKA, 8TH
2. FLORIDA STATE, 5TH
3. ALABAMA, NOT RANKED
4. WISCONSIN, 23RD
5. MIAMI, 2ND
6. MICHIGAN, 11TH
7. TEXAS, 12TH
8. KANSAS STATE, 9TH
9. FLORIDA, 10TH
10. GEORGIA, 20TH

For more on everything sports related, feel free to agree and even argue @CI_StatsGuru