Junior tight end Josiah Price, 82, and sophomore linebacker Chris Frey celebrate after the game against Michigan, on Oct. 17, 2015 at Michigan Stadium. The Spartans defeated the Wolverines 27-23.
MSU football checks in at No. 12 in the Associated Press Preseason Poll, marking the third straight season the Spartans have garnered a spot inside the AP’s top 15 and the fifth time under Mark Dantonio that MSU has started the season in the AP Top 25.
Earlier in August, the Spartans were ranked No. 11 in the Coaches Poll. The two top 15 rankings come as little surprise to many pundits as a wide range of sites, blogs, magazines and writers have the Spartans floating in the No. 11 to 15 ranking.
MSU faces three preseason AP top 10 opponents including at No. 10 Notre Dame (Sept. 24), home against No. 7 Michigan (Oct. 29) and home against No. 6 Ohio State (Nov. 19).
No. 17 Iowa is the only other Big Ten school to join Ohio State, MSU and Michigan in the preseason Top 25.
This year’s AP preseason top five sees defending national champion Alabama return to the preseason No. 1 slot for the first time since the 2013 season. Following behind the Crimson Tide is national runner up Clemson at No. 2, College Football Playoff attendee Oklahoma at No. 3, Florida State at No. 4 and LSU at No. 5 making MSU the only College Football Playoff participant from last season, not to be ranked in the Top 5.
The AP Poll’s top 5 is nearly same as the Coaches Poll though the AP ranks LSU at No. 5 instead of Ohio State.
The preseason AP Poll Top 25 is as follows. (First place votes in parentheses)
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