Ohio State will open the 2024 season on Aug. 31 as the second-ranked team in the nation.
The Buckeyes are ranked No. 2 behind top-ranked Georgia in the AP Top 25 preseason poll released Monday afternoon, receiving 15 first-place votes for the top spot. This follows suit with the USA Today Coaches Poll released last week, which had Ohio State trailing behind Georgia and earning seven first-place votes.
This marks the fourth time in the last eight years that Ohio State has started the season ranked No. 2, while it is the 12th-straight year the team has been ranked in the top 10 and the 10th time being in the top five since 2013.
The Buckeyes have now extended their streak of consecutive AP preseason poll appearances to 36, a mark that is 11 years longer than the second-best streak of 25 years held by Oklahoma (2000-present).
Ohio State is one of four Big Ten teams in the AP Top 10, with new conference rival Oregon coming in at No. 3 and receiving one first-place vote, Penn State ranked at No. 8 and Michigan defending its national title at No. 9. Also occupying the top 10 are Texas at No. 4, Alabama at No. 5, Ole Miss at No. 6, Notre Dame at No. 7 and Florida State at No. 10.
The Big Ten has two other teams ranked within the top 25 in USC (No. 23) and Iowa (No. 25), giving the expanded conference a total of five AP Top 25 teams to open the season, the second-most by any conference behind only the SEC, who has nine teams featured and four within the top 10.
This year’s AP Top 25 poll is dominated by the recently expanded Power Four conferences, those being the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. The Big 12 has five teams represented. Including No. 12 Utah, No. 17 Oklahoma State, No. 18 Kansas State, No. 21 Arizona and No. 22 Kansas, while the ACC has four teams ranked, including Florida State, No. 14 Clemson, No. 19 Miami (Fla.) and No. 24 NC State.
The only non-Power-Four team ranked within the top 25 is Notre Dame, who is considered independent.
Ohio State, who will open its highly anticipated 2024 season in 19 days at home against Akron, has four ranked games on the schedule, including road tests against Oregon on Oct. 12 and Penn State on Nov. 2 and home contests against Iowa on Oct. 5 and Michigan on Nov. 30.
