8/15/2022 football Edit

Nebraska earns recognition in preseason AP poll

Scott Frost. (Greg Smith/Inside Nebraska)

Steve Marik • InsideNebraska

Staff Writer

Steve Marik is a staff writer covering football and men's basketball for Inside Nebraska. After covering prep sports for seven years, he made the transition to college and hasn't looked back.

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The Associated Press released its preseason top-25 poll on Monday, and there was a small amount of Nebraska flair to it.

After a 3-9 campaign in 2021 that was followed by the addition of 33 new faces to the program — 15 transfers from Division I schools, 15 true freshmen and three junior-college products — as well as four new assistant coaches, the Huskers were awarded one vote in the "others receiving votes" category.

"I really like the bond the team has, it's fun being around these guys," Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said Saturday. "Haven't had camp letdowns like I've seen before. The guys show up to work every day. I think they're hungry."

Perennial powerhouse Alabama came in No. 1 while receiving 1,566 points and 54 first-place votes. Big Ten juggernaut Ohio State was No. 2 with 1,506 points and six first-place votes. Georgia rounded out the top three with 1,455 points and three first-place votes.

The SEC had six teams in the top-25, most of all the conferences. The ACC (five), Big Ten (four), Big 12 (three), Pac-12 (three), American (two) and a couple Independents (Notre Dame and BYU) followed.

Here's how the rest of the top-25 shakes out, with their point totals:

No. 4 Clemson 1,294
No. 5 Notre Dame 1,242
No. 6 Texas A&M 1,212
No. 7 Utah 1,209
No. 8 Michigan 1,203
No. 9 Oklahoma 956
No. 10 Baylor 884
No. 11 Oregon 831
No. 12 Oklahoma State 814
No. 13 North Carolina State 752
No. 14 USC 711
No. 15 Michigan State 631
No. 16 Miami (Fla.) 476
No. 17. Pittsburgh 383
No. 18 Wisconsin 365
No. 19 Arkansas 348
No. 20 Kentucky 332
No. 21 Ole Miss 324
No. 22 Wake Forest 303
No. 23 Cincinnati 265
No. 24 Houston 263
No. 25 BYU 234

Others receiving votes: Tennessee 180, Texas 164, Iowa 163, Penn State 160, LSU 55, Fresno State 32, Minnesota 31, UCF 27, Purdue 17, Mississippi State 15, Auburn 15, Florida 14, Kansas State 14, North Carolina 9, Boise State 5, Air Force 4, Appalachian State 4, South Carolina 2, UCLA 2, San Diego State 2, Utah State 2, Nebraska 1.

The Huskers have three opponents inside the top-25, including Michigan, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

Five other Big Ten teams were listed outside the top 25, including Iowa, Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska.