Gophers, with fall football season canceled, hit No. 19 in preseason poll

Minnesota is one of six teams in the Big Ten, including No. 2 Ohio State, that are ranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 college football poll. There are three teams from the Pac-12, which like the Big Ten has opted out of playing during the fall.

The Gophers are ranked 19th in their first appearance in the preseason poll since 2004. Minnesota started the 2019 season unranked and ended up No. 10 after defeating Auburn in the Outback Bowl for its best poll finish since 1962.

Clemson is the preseason No. 1 in the poll, which features nine Big Ten and Pac-12 teams and gives a glimpse of what has already been taken by the pandemic from an uncertain college football season.

Ohio State (1,504 points) was a close No. 2 behind quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Clemson (1,520), which starts atop the rankings for the second straight season. The Tigers beat the Buckeyes in a thrilling College Football Playoff semifinal last season.

Alabama is No. 3, Southeastern Conference rival Georgia is No. 4 and defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma is No. 5. Defending national champion LSU is No. 6.

All Division I teams were eligible for the preseason AP Top 25, but after the season starts — if the season starts — the Buckeyes and 53 other Football Bowl Subdivision teams will no longer be eligible for inclusion because they have postponed their seasons to the spring or canceled them over concerns about the coronavirus. That leaves 76 FBS teams to fill the 25 spots.

The Big Ten, Pac-12, Mid-American and Mountain West conferences have said they will sit out the fall.

If a spring season is played, the AP will consider doing rankings for those teams, too.

Also Monday, the College Football Playoff unveiled a revised schedule for its weekly rankings, with the first set delayed two weeks to Nov. 17 and the final list now planned for Dec. 20. The change accommodates schedules adjusted because of the pandemic. Leagues have pushed back their championship games to as late as Dec. 19.

The semifinals are scheduled to be held Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The championship game is scheduled for Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Fla.