Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Football Ranked 25th In AP Preseason Poll
8/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 5, 2000
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State head football coach Bobby Williams will enter his first full season as head coach with his Spartans ranked 25th in the Associated Press preseason college football poll. Last season, the Spartans finished with a 10-2 record and a No. 7 ranking after edging Florida 37-34 in the Florida Citrus Bowl.
"It's nice to be recognized as one of the Top 25 teams in the country," said Williams. "Preseason polls deal with other people's expectations for our program, but we have set our own high expectations. We all know it's not where you start the season but where you finish it. Someday, I hope our program can be a perennial preseason Top 10 pick and finish the season there as well."
The Spartans will boast a tough schedule in 2000, with their six final opponents of the season all being ranked in the Top 25.
The Big Ten leads all conferences with seven teams in the preseason Top 25 -- Wisconsin, Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State, Illinois, Penn State and Michigan State. The Southeastern and Big 12 conferences have five each -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Mississippi in the SEC, and Nebraska, Texas, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Colorado in the Big 12.
Frank Solich's Nebraska squad barely edged Florida State in the preseason college football poll. Conspicuous by its absence is Notre Dame, unranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 1986.
The Huskers start on top for the sixth time since the AP's first preseason poll in 1950. An ominous note for Nebraska fans, though: The Cornhuskers have won four AP national titles since then, but none in years they started No. 1.
Coming off a strong 12-1 season and No. 3 final ranking, the defending Big 12 champion Huskers received 36 first-place votes and 1,732 points from the 71 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel.
The Seminoles, 12-0 last season and the first team to be ranked No. 1 from start to finish, collected 29 first-place votes and 1,720 points. The 12-point difference is one of the closest -- the tightest preseason poll was 1994 when Florida edged Notre Dame by two points.
Alabama, the defending Southeastern Conference champion, is No. 3 -- the Crimson Tide's highest preseason ranking since a No. 2 start in 1993. The Tide received three first-place votes and 1,570 points.
Wisconsin, the two-time Rose Bowl winner and defending Big Ten champion, is No. 4, followed by No. 5 Miami, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Kansas State, No. 9 Florida and No. 10 Georgia. Wisconsin, with its highest preseason ranking, had one first-place vote. Texas had two first-place votes.
Virginia Tech, a 46-29 loser to Florida State in the national title game at the Sugar Bowl after going 11-0 in '99, is No. 11, followed by No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Washington, No. 14 Purdue, No. 15. USC, No. 16. Ohio State, No. 17 Clemson, No. 18 Mississippi, No. 19 Oklahoma and No. 20 TCU, ranked in the preseason for the first time since 1960.
Illinois is No. 21, followed by No. 22 Penn State, No. 23 Southern Mississippi, No. 24 Colorado and No. 25 Michigan State.
The first AP regular-season poll will be released Monday, Aug. 28.
With Connecticut moving up to Division I-A, the AP panel increases from 70 to 71 voters.
For the third season, the AP poll is part of the Bowl Championship Series standings used to determine which teams play in its national title game -- this year it's the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3.
The BCS standings use the AP poll, the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, eight computer ratings and a strength-of-schedule formula to pick the teams for a title game. The first BCS standings will be released Monday, Oct. 23.
The AP national champion is announced after a final vote by the AP panel following the Orange Bowl. The BCS' title game winner is crowned champion in the coaches' poll.
