Michigan Ranked #7, Michigan State #12 In 2016 AP Preseason Football Poll
The Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans were among four Big Ten schools ranked in the Associated Press Preseason Poll on Sunday.
Both the Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans appeared in the AP Preseason Top 25 Poll released on Sunday, the Wolverines being ranked seventh and the Spartans 12th. Four Big Ten schools appear in the poll, Ohio State the highest-ranked at sixth and Iowa, the lone representative of the West, ranked 17th. Wisconsin also received votes, ranking seventh among those who did without cracking the top 25.
The poll is unsurprisingly headed up by Alabama, which garnered 33 of the 61 first-place votes. Clemson, Oklahoma, Florida State and Lousiana State round out the top five. Each of the top seven schools in the poll earned first-place votes, including Michigan, whose vote came from Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News.
More from Michigan State Spartans
- Betting Preview: Best Bets for Michigan vs. Michigan State
- Michigan State basketball earns no. 7 seed, will play Davidson
- Jayden Reed returning to Michigan State football is huge news
- Peach Bowl: Michigan State football betting odds and prediction
- Michigan State football’s Kenneth Walker III snubbed from popularity contest
“I don’t have any profound (reasons why),” Wolf said, “but the main reason I think I did it was Jim Harbaugh. He’s a great coach and I know how he transformed Stanford and we saw how he transformed Michigan last year.” He also said he “think(s) they’ll be even better in year two than year one with him.”
Earlier this month the AP released its all-time top 25 poll, in which Michigan also ranked seventh while Michigan State ranked 19th.
The Spartans finished sixth in last year’s final AP poll after going 12-2, winning the Big Ten championship and qualifying for the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. The Wolverines finished 12th with a 10-3 record after defeating Florida in the Citrus Bowl.
Next: Stevan Ridley No Lock Despite Guaranteed Money
The Spartans will host the Wolverines in East Lansing this season on October 29. The Wolverines will seek to avenge their 2015 loss to the Spartans, when the Spartans won 27-23 after Jalen Watts-Jackson returned a fumble for the winning touchdown on the final play.