BOZICH | 5 reasons to shake your head at the AP preseason Top 25 college football poll (2024)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- All precincts have finally reported.

Monday's arrival of the Associated Press preseason Top 25 college football poll, which snubbed the University of Louisville as well as the University of Kentucky, means every preseason poll and magazine projection is available for debate before the local season begins in 18 days.

Jeff Brohm's second Louisville team finished 29 poll points behind Kirk Ferentz and Iowa for the 25th and final spot in the poll.

In Lexington, Mark Stoops has more to howl about than his NIL issues. The AP voters believe that Liberty, Memphis and Texas-San Antonio are all more deserving of Top-25 recognition than the Wildcats.

That's a UTSA team that lost to Army last season.

That make this the perfect time to discuss 5 Reasons to Shake Your Head at the AP Preseason Top 25.

1. Miami, Miami, Miami, Miami.

I'll say it again: Miami.

Miami, which lost six of its last nine games last season, including a home game to Louisville, is ranked 19th, seven spots ahead of the Cards.

The media's slobbering love affair with The U has been taken up a notch in 2024. A Miami program with 13 losses in its last 25 games was named on all but five ballots.

The Hurricanes crushed the portal. The U is back. Never heard that before.

Dylan Sinn of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette ranked the Hurricanes No. 6, two spots ahead of Alabama and 10 ahead of Florida State, which has won three straight over Miami by a combined margin of 52 points.

Brett McMurphy, of The Action Network in Florida, likes Mario Cristobal's team at No. 8 — ahead of Notre Dame, Florida State and LSU.

The Hurricanes open at embattled Florida on Aug. 31. If they win that one, I'm expecting several votes for No. 1.

2. Kentucky, which upset U of L in L&N Cardinal Stadium for its fifth-straight win in the Governor's Cup series, is ranked No. 40, 14 spots behind the Cardinals.

Two voters stood and delivered for the Wildcats, the only two voters to put UK in the Top 25:

• Koki Riley of the Baton Rouge, (Louisiana) Advocate
• Stephen Means of Cleveland.com

Greg Stephenson of the Alabama Media group in Theodore, Alabama, put Tulane (which lost coach Willie Fritz to Houston) and Appalachian State, which lost five games last season, ahead of the Wildcats.

Dave Preston of WTOP radio in Washington, D.C., voted Texas-San Antonio No. 21, which was also ahead of Tennessee.

No disrespect to those voters but that's some disrespect to what Stoops have achieved in Lexington.

3. Tie goes to the Cardinals.

According to the data at CollegePollTracker.com, the group of media members (31) that voted for the Cards was equal to the number of writers and broadcasters that did not include Louisville on their ballots.

Brohm's team received at least one vote in every ballot position from No. 19 to No. 25. The guy with the most belief in the Cardinals was Steven Johnson of Fort Worth Star Telegram, who put Louisville No. 19.

The media members with the most national juice who voted for the Cardinals was Adam Zucker of CBS Sports. He put the Cards No. 20, ranking Brohm's team of USC, which scored 42 points in its Holiday Bowl win over U of L last December in San Diego. Don't tell Lincoln Riley.

4. UK vs. U of L Schedule Debate.

Toss this nugget on to the debate about which program will play a more difficult 2024 schedule.

Four AP Top 25 teams sit on the Kentucky schedule: The Wildcats will host No. 1 Georgia on Sept. 14 and then make trips to No. 6 Ole Miss (Sept. 28); No. 15 Tennessee (Nov. 2) and No. 4 Texas (Nov. 23).

Louisville is currently booked to play a trio of Top 25 teams. The Cards visit No. 7 Notre Dame (Sept. 28) and No 14 Clemson (Nov. 2) while hosting No. 19 Miami on Oct. 19.

Advantage (or disadvantage) Kentucky.

If you're wondering if Kentucky plays more or at least as many Top 25 teams than anybody, wonder no longer.

If Billy Napier survives this season in Gainesville, he'll deserve an extension and a pay raise.

The Gators play eight teams preseason Top 25 squads — Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and Florida State away from Gainesville with Miami, Texas A&M, LSU and Ole Miss visiting The Swamp.

Bobby Petrino will earn his millions. Arkansas' new offensive coordinator will be matched against seven teams that cracked the preseason Top 25 — Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Missouri on the road with Tennessee, LSU, Ole Miss and Texas visiting Fayetteville.

South Carolina also drew seven ranked opponents.

Oklahoma plays six — Tennessee Texas and Alabama at home; Ole Miss, Missouri and LSU on the road. Mississippi State also plays six.

No. 25 Iowa plays one — Ohio State.

No wonder the Hawkeyes are ranked.

5. Oh, how did the AP preseason Top 25 shake out last season?

This is where the four teams that made the playoff were ranked in the AP 2023 preseason poll:

• Michigan, the playoff winner, was No 2
• Washington, the playoff runner-up, was No. 10
• Alabama, a playoff semifinalist, was No. 4
• Texas, the other playoff semifinalist, was No. 11

Not bad work, voters.

Eight teams from the preseason Top 25 disappeared from the final rankings, led by USC, which tumbled from No. 6 in August, to unranked in January, despite its Holiday Bowl success.

The eight replacement teams were led by Missouri, which soared to No. 8 in January after failing to receive a single vote in August. Louisville, for the record, moved from No. 34 in the preseason to 19th in the final AP poll.

Play ball.

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• BOZICH | Louisville, Kentucky suffer from Brand Name bias in football polls
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