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After winning the inaugural College Football Playoff, the Ohio State Buckeyes found themselves unsurprisingly at the top spot of the 2015 preseason AP top 25 poll, released this afternoon. A handful of SEC teams joined them in the poll, including Alabama (3), Auburn (6), Georgia (9), LSU (14), Ole Miss (17), Arkansas (18), Missouri (24) and Tennessee (25).
As for the South Carolina Gamecocks, the schedule sets up for them to make an appearance if they're able to take care of business. After Kentucky on September 12, three of the next four games are against ranked conference foes: at #9 Georgia on September 19, at #18 Missouri on October 3 and versus #14 LSU on October 10. (Circle those two latter games as ones that might be picked up by CBS depending on how each team is doing.) Other Gamecocks opponents in the poll: #25 Tennessee (November 7) and #12 Clemson (November 28).
Here's the full poll:
| Ranking | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (61) | 1,525 |
| 2 | TCU | 1,428 |
| 3 | Alabama | 1,322 |
| 4 | Baylor | 1,263 |
| 5 | Michigan State | 1,256 |
| 6 | Auburn | 1,192 |
| 7 | Oregon | 1,156 |
| 8 | USC | 1,085 |
| 9 | Georgia | 991 |
| 10 | Florida State | 959 |
| 11 | Notre Dame | 873 |
| 12 | Clemson | 862 |
| 13 | UCLA | 698 |
| 14 | LSU | 675 |
| 15 | Arizona State | 605 |
| 16 | Georgia Tech | 588 |
| 17 | Mississippi | 563 |
| 18 | Arkansas | 410 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 394 |
| 20 | Wisconsin | 393 |
| 21 | Stanford | 347 |
| 22 | Arizona | 311 |
| 23 | Boise State | 240 |
| 24 | Missouri | 219 |
| 25 | Tennessee | 114 |