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Four Illinois Football opponents appear in preseason AP Top 25

The Associated Press released their first set of rankings on Sunday.

By Jim Vainisi
Michigan State v Michigan Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Associated Press released their preseason Top 25 on Sunday morning and, as expected, the Fighting Illini didn’t receive any votes. Still, the initial rankings did manage to provide us with a better understanding of the program’s strength of schedule as four 2016 opponents — Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, and North Carolina — appeared on the list.

In addition to the Big Ten schools mentioned above, Ohio State checked in at No. 6 to give the conference four representatives. Wisconsin (42), Nebraska (11), and Northwestern (5) each received a small handful of votes as well.

Defending NCAA champion Alabama will open the year at No. 1, while Clemson, Oklahoma, Florida State, and LSU round out the top five.

Preseason AP Top 25
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS FIRST PLACE VOTES PREVIOUS RANK
1 Alabama Crimson Tide 0-0 1469 33 1
2 Clemson Tigers 0-0 1443 16 2
3 Oklahoma Sooners 0-0 1352 4 5
4 Florida State Seminoles 0-0 1325 5 14
5 LSU Tigers 0-0 1269 1 16
6 Ohio State Buckeyes 0-0 1224 1 4
7 Michigan Wolverines 0-0 1147 1 12
8 Stanford Cardinal 0-0 1029 0 3
9 Tennessee Volunteers 0-0 1021 0 22
10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 0-0 1006 1 11
11 Ole Miss Rebels 0-0 718 0 10
12 Michigan State Spartans 0-0 710 0 6
13 TCU Horned Frogs 0-0 707 0 7
14 Washington Huskies 0-0 651 0 NR
15 Houston Cougars 0-0 644 0 8
16 UCLA Bruins 0-0 496 0 NR
17 Iowa Hawkeyes 0-0 484 0 9
18 Georgia Bulldogs 0-0 448 0 NR
19 Louisville Cardinals 0-0 447 0 NR
20 USC Trojans 0-0 344 0 NR
21 Oklahoma State Cowboys 0-0 316 0 20
22 North Carolina Tar Heels 0-0 283 0 15
23 Baylor Bears 0-0 280 0 13
24 Oregon Ducks 0-0 218 0 19
25 Florida Gators 0-0 180 0 25
Others Receiving Votes: Miami 159, Texas A&M 81, Utah 74, Washington St. 68, Boise St. 49, San Diego St. 46, Wisconsin 42, Auburn 22, Pittsburgh 15, Arkansas 14, Texas 12, Nebraska 11, Navy 8, Northwestern 5, W. Kentucky 4, South Florida 2, Toledo 2.