The countdown to college football season returning for local schools has almost reached single digits. The latest sign of its impending return: the release of the preseason AP college football poll, which rolled out Monday morning.
Five area/Big 12 schools appeared in the poll, highlighted by defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma, which came in at No. 7.
For the second straight year Alabama is once is ranked the top team, with Ohio State coming in at No. 2, Florida State at No. 3 and USC at No. 4.
Other Big 12 schools to appear included No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Kansas State, No. 22 West Virginia and No. 23 Texas.
Area schools TCU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, SMU, Baylor and North Texas were unranked. TCU was the closest to breaking into the top 25 out of area teams _ it received the most votes (98) out of all teams outside of the top 25. Texas A&M (3) was the only other area school to receive votes.
The coaches poll was released earlier this month, and five Big 12 schools made the list: No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Kansas State, No. 20 West Virginia and No. 23 Texas.
In the final AP poll of the 2016 season, only three Big 12 schools (No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 18 West Virginia) were ranked, and no schools from the state of Texas made the cut for the first time since its inception in 1936.
Here is the full 2017 preseason AP football poll:
No. 1 Alabama
No. 2 Ohio State
No. 3 Florida State
No. 4 USC
No. 5 Clemson
No. 6 Penn State
No. 7 Oklahoma
No. 8 Washington
No. 9 Wisconsin
No. 10 Oklahoma State
No. 11 Michigan
No. 12 Auburn
No. 13 LSU
No. 14 Stanford
No. 15 Georgia
No. 16 Louisville
No. 17 Florida
No. 18 Miami (FL)
No. 19 South Florida
No. 20 Kansas State
No. 21 Virginia Tech
No. 22 West Virginia
No. 23 Texas
No. 24 Washington State
No. 25 Tennessee
