Kansas Football Ranked 14th In Associated Press Preseason Poll
Aug. 16, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. – With a listing of 14th in the Associated Press preseason football poll, Kansas enters the 2008 season with its second-highest AP preseason ranking in school history.
The Jayhawks, who were ranked 13th in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll earlier this month, entered the 1961 season listed eighth in the country. It is the fifth time KU has been listed in the preseason AP polls as the Jayhawks entered 1952 listed 17th, 1961 eighth, 1976 19th and 1996 25th.
Kansas finished seventh in last year’s AP poll after posting a 12-1 record with a BCS bowl victory.
The Jayhawks will meet five teams ranked in the preseason listings as KU will play #4 Oklahoma, #6 Missouri, #11 Texas, #12 Texas Tech and #19 South Florida. KU will also play Nebraska, which received two votes in the poll.
Last year KU was 2-1 against ranked teams defeating #24 Kansas State and #5 Virginia Tech, while falling to #4 Missouri.
The last time KU played five teams which were ranked in the poll at game time was 1998.
Georgia tops the poll with 1,528 points to barely edge Ohio State, which received 1,506 points. The Bulldogs received 22 first-place votes, while OSU pulled in 21. USC, Oklahoma and Florida round out the top five.
Kansas will open its season hosting Florida International on Saturday, August 30. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Kivisto Field at Memorial Stadium. The Jayhawks return 40 lettermen, including 15 starters from last year’s Orange Bowl Champion and co-Big 12 North Champion team.
Associated Press Top 25 Poll
Team (1st place votes) 2007 Pts.
1. Georgia (22) 11-2 1528
2. Ohio State (21) 11-2 1506
3. Southern California (12) 11-2 1490
4. Oklahoma (4) 11-3 1444
5. Florida (6) 12-2 1266
6. Missouri 12-2 1266
7. LSU 12-2 1135
8. West Virginia 11-2 1116
9. Clemson 9-4 1105
10. Auburn 9-4 968
11. Texas 10-3 966
12. Texas Tech 9-4 786
13. Wisconsin 9-4 771
14. Kansas 12-1 707
15. Arizona State 10-3 631
16. BYU 11-2 590
17. Virginia Tech 11-3 578
18. Tennessee 10-4 509
19. South Florida 9-4 496
20. Illinois 9-4 483
21. Oregon 9-4 366
22. Penn State 9-4 293
23. Wake Forest 9-4 227
24. Alabama 7-6 89
25. Pittsburgh 5-7 85
