Harold Shelton III, BTN Studio Researcher, August 20, 2019

No conference fares better in the preseason AP poll, released Monday, than the Big Ten.

Seven Big Ten teams are ranked, one more than the SEC, the conference's most in the preseason poll since 2000. It also had seven teams ranked during the 2003 season.

Here's where the B1G teams land:

Here are some more B1G-AP poll nuggets:

Most B1G Teams Ranked in AP Preseason Poll, All-Time
2019: 7
2000: 7
2004: 6
1997: 6
1959: 6

Last Time B1G Had 7, in 2000
No. 4 Wisconsin
No. 6 Michigan
No. 14 Purdue
No. 16 Ohio State
No. 21 Illinois
No. 22 Penn State
No. 25 Michigan State

Most Ranked Teams, by Conference
Big Ten: 7 (Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska)
SEC: 6 (Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Texas A&M, Auburn)
Pac-12: 5 (Oregon, Washington, Utah, Washington State, Stanford)
Big 12: 3 (Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa State)
ACC: 2 (Clemson, Syracuse)
American: 1 (UCF)
Independent: 1 (Notre Dame)

Most Consecutive Appearances in Preseason AP Poll, Active Streaks
31, Ohio State
20, Oklahoma
19, LSU
18, Georgia

Most Consecutive Appearances in Preseason AP Poll
33, Nebraska – 1970-2002
33, Penn State – 1968-2000
31, Ohio State – 1989-pres.
28, Oklahoma – 1968-95

Most Appearances in Preseason AP Poll
66, Ohio State
61, Oklahoma
58, USC
56, Notre Dame

Most Appearances in Preseason AP Top 5
35, Oklahoma
28, Ohio State
28, Alabama
24, Texas

Most Consecutive Appearances in AP Poll, Active Streaks
180, Alabama
115, Ohio State
69, Clemson
44, Oklahoma
41, Penn State

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The Big Ten teams had very wide ranges in the rankings. Here are some examples of those:

Ohio State
– Ranked 5th in AP Poll
– Ranked as high as #3 by 2 different voters
– Ranked as low as #14 by Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register

Michigan
– Ranked 7th in AP Poll
– Ranked as high as #4 by 5 voters
– Ranked as low as #13 by 2 voters

Penn State
– Ranked 15th in AP Poll
– Ranked as high as #8 by Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun
– Not ranked by Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News

Michigan State
– Ranked 18th in AP Poll
– Ranked as high as #9 by James Kratch of NJ.com
– Not ranked by 10 voters

Wisconsin
– Ranked 19th in AP Poll
– Ranked as high as #14 by 2 voters
– Not ranked by 10 voters

Iowa
– Ranked 20th in AP Poll
– Ranked as high as #13 by Jerry DiPaola of Trib Media in Pittsburgh
– Not ranked by 13 voters

Nebraska
– Ranked 24th in AP Poll
– Ranked as high as #12 by Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com
– Not ranked by 32 voters

Northwestern
– Ranked 30th in AP Poll (received 5th-most votes of unranked teams)
– Ranked as high as #15 by Kirk Bohls of Austin-American Statesman
– Ranked in Top 25 by 20 voters, unranked by 42 voters

Minnesota
– Ranked 39th in AP Poll (received 14th-most votes of unranked teams)
– Ranked as high as #22 by Sam McKewon of Omaha World Herald
– Ranked in Top 25 by 3 voters, unranked by 59 voters