Ohio State is No. 3.
In the preseason Associated Press Top 25 Poll released on Monday, the Buckeyes ranked third behind Georgia and Michigan. Ohio State ranked ahead of Alabama, LSU, USC, Penn State, Florida State, Clemson and Washington, who rounded out the top 10.
The top-four teams in the AP Poll were different from the USA TODAY Coaches Poll released last week. The American Football Coaches Association selected Georgia, Michigan, Alabama and Ohio State in the No. 1 through No. 4 slots. Additionally, the coaches ranked LSU, USC, Penn State, Florida State, Clemson and Tennessee as the teams to round out the top 10.
In the AP Poll, Georgia received 60 first-place votes. Michigan and Ohio State were the only other teams to receive first-place votes, as the Wolverines earned two votes and the Buckeyes earned one vote.
Along with Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, the only other Big Ten teams to make the preseason AP Poll were Wisconsin and Iowa, who checked in at No. 19 and No. 25, respectively. Minnesota (six) and Illinois (three) were featured in the "Others Receiving Votes" category of the AP Poll.
Here is the complete top 25 from the Associated Press:
| RANK | SCHOOL | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | 1572 (60) |
| 2 | Michigan | 1490 (2) |
| 3 | Ohio State | 1400 (1) |
| 4 | Alabama | 1398 |
| 5 | LSU | 1276 |
| 6 | USC | 1245 |
| 7 | Penn State | 1177 |
| 8 | Florida State | 1147 |
| 9 | Clemson | 1032 |
| 10 | Washington | 977 |
| 11 | Texas | 882 |
| 12 | Tennessee | 868 |
| 13 | Notre Dame | 863 |
| 14 | Utah | 811 |
| 15 | Oregon | 732 |
| 16 | Kansas State | 501 |
| 17 | TCU | 416 |
| 18 | Oregon State | 406 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 386 |
| 20 | Oklahoma | 296 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 292 |
| 22 | Ole Miss | 281 |
| 23 | Texas A&M | 227 |
| 24 | Tulane | 224 |
| 25 | Iowa | 131 |
Ohio State finished fourth in the final 2022 AP Poll after a season in which the Buckeyes suffered their second consecutive loss to Michigan in its last regular-season contest and fell to the eventual national champion Georgia, 42-41, in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl.
Ryan Day will enter his fifth year as Ohio State's head coach in 2023. He is 45-6 in the previous four seasons he has held the position and has led the Buckeyes to two Big Ten championships (2019, 2020), three College Football Playoff appearances (2019, 2020 and 2022) and one CFP Final appearance (2020).
This season, Day will have 13 returning starters on offense and defense, headlined by Marvin Harrison Jr., who was named the Big Ten Receiver of the Year, a Biletnikoff Award finalist and a unanimous All-American in 2022.
Day has several question marks to resolve in preseason camp, including who will start at quarterback and on the offensive line for the Buckeyes. He will also need to ensure Ohio State's defense experiences another season of improvement in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles' second season with the program.
Ohio State will continue with preseason practices this week and over the next two to three weeks. The Buckeyes will open its season on the road in Bloomington, Indiana, where the they will battle the Hoosiers on Sept. 2 at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.
