The first Associated Press poll of the season is out and Stanford comes in at number 8. Several Stanford opponents also found themselves in the top 25 providing further evidence that the Cardinal has a brutal 2016 schedule. Notre Dame came in ranked at 10th, Washington 14, UCLA 16, USC 20, and Oregon 24th.
It is important to remember that the AP poll officially has no bearing on which teams make the playoffs. Furthermore, a preseason poll is largely meaningless because no one has played a single down of football yet. The preseason polls, however, do have an impact future polls once the season starts and for better or worse tend to help shape the national narrative surrounding teams. You can see the full results below. Stanford football returns to action Friday September 2nd 6pm pacific time hosting the Kansas State Wildcats on FS1.
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida State
5. LSU
6. Ohio State
7. Michigan
8. Stanford
9. Tennessee
10. Notre Dame
11. Ole Miss
12. Michigan State
13. TCU
14. Washington
15. Houston
16. UCLA
17. Iowa
18. Georgia
19. Louisville
20. USC
21. Oklahoma State
22. North Carolina
23. Baylor
24. Oregon
25. Florida
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Comments
This year as last year
we open the season against Wildcats. But this year, we get to play our first game in a comfortable home environment. Also, we have hopefully learned something from last year. Nonetheless, KState should not be underestimated: we need to punch them hard from the start and make a statement early. No early season sleep-walk like in Evanston last year.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 08.21.16 1:48pm
The ranking is fair
Given the questions at QB and the difficulty of the schedule this season. Lots of folks are predicting another 2-loss Pac champ, and the Pac missing the playoff again.
By Brendan Ross on 08.21.16 2:31pm
Fear The Tree.
I remember when so many were down on the season of 2015. We had lost nine (9) quality starters off the 2014 "D". We survived. Take away the two (2) glitches and what a season. The QB needs to recognize he has talent on both sides of the ball, keep mistakes to a minimum, turn Love, McCaffrey, and the talented receivers loose. I wish Shaw would re-think his play where we need one(1) or two(2) yards. Sending a 200 pound RB straight up the gut may or may not work. Way too many other options to explore. ***Shades of Gaffney against Michigan State. Finally, please SAVE the 2nd half T/0’s. Remember the 4 seconds left against N. Dumb? One team went home happy, and the other sad for the next 365 days. OUCH!!!!!
By bodumb on 08.22.16 10:34am