FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is back in the Associated Press Top 25 football poll after spending nearly three years out of it.
The Razorbacks, coming off a 7-6 season, checked in at No. 18 in the AP's preseason football poll that was released Sunday, the first poll placement since Arkansas was No. 8 on Sept. 4, 2012.
A a 34-31 overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe sent the Razorbacks spiraling out of the poll the next week. The Razorbacks finished 4-8 under interim Coach John L. Smith.
Arkansas, starting its third season under Bret Bielema, is making its 26th appearance in the preseason poll, its first since debuting at No. 10 in the 2012 preseason poll.
The Razorbacks were included on 53 of the 61 ballots, with a high of No. 8 on the ballot of Sam McKewon of the Omaha World-Herald.
Arkansas is one of eight SEC teams in the poll behind unanimous No. 1 Ohio State, joining No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 Auburn, No. 9 Georgia, No. 14 LSU, No. 17 Ole Miss, No. 24 Missouri and No. 25 Tennessee. The Razorbacks play all of those ranked SEC teams with the exception of Georgia, and their other two conference opponents -- Mississippi State and Texas A&M -- were the first two teams among others receiving votes.
Arkansas last season became the first college team ever to play all of its conference games against ranked teams.
The AP Top 25 poll is the only national poll to come out since Arkansas tailback Jonathan Williams suffered a foot injury on Aug. 15 that will keep him out the entire regular season. The Razorbacks are No. 20 in the preseason USA Today coaches poll.
The Razorbacks, who open the season on Sept. 5 against Texas-El Paso at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, have been ranked in the AP poll 410 weeks since making their debut at No. 18 on Dec. 3, 1936, before a 6-0 victory over Texas in Little Rock. The Hogs, who conducted a 101-play scrimmage on Saturday, resume practice on Tuesday with their eye on the Miners in the season opener.
Defending national champion Ohio State became the first unanimous No. 1 selection in the poll's 65-year run.
The next four in the poll were TCU, Alabama, Baylor and Michigan State, giving TCU and Baylor their highest preseason rankings and giving Alabama its lowest since 2009.
The Buckeyes went 14-1 last season, with victories against Alabama and Oregon in the first College Football Playoff. They have retained most of their major contributors, including the junior running back Ezekiel Elliott and the junior defensive end Joey Bosa.
The Buckeyes have three quarterbacks from which to choose: the fifth-year senior Braxton Miller, who did not play last season because of a shoulder injury and may be converted to halfback; J.T. Barrett, who put up Heisman Trophy-worthy numbers as a freshman before injuring his ankle in the final regular-season game last year; and the redshirt junior Cardale Jones, who led Ohio State in three postseason games. Coach Urban Meyer has not announced a starter.
Oregon (No. 2 in last season's final rankings) and Florida State (tied for No. 5 in the final rankings) -- teams that, in Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston, lost Heisman-winning quarterbacks to the NFL -- dropped to Nos. 7 and 10.
The SEC led all conferences with eight teams in the Top 25, followed by the Pac-12, with six. The Atlantic Coast, Big 12 and Big Ten Conferences each had three teams.
Notre Dame, an independent, was ranked No. 11 while Boise State, the top team last season in the so-called Group of 5 -- the five Football Bowl Subdivision conferences outside the five major ones -- was ranked No. 23.
The top two unranked vote-getters were Mississippi State and Texas A&M.
Information for this article was contributed by the New York Times.
Sports on 08/24/2015