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Wisconsin Football will begin season in Top 5 of AP poll

By Sam Land

ARLINGTON, TX - JANUARY 02: Head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, Paul Chryst, looks on during the 81st Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between Western Michigan and Wisconsin at AT&T Stadium on January 2, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - JANUARY 02: Head coach of the Wisconsin Badgers, Paul Chryst, looks on during the 81st Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between Western Michigan and Wisconsin at AT&T Stadium on January 2, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin Football comes in at #4 in the Associated Press’ initial Top 25 poll

The Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 poll earlier today, and Wisconsin Football is definitely feeling the love from the voters.

The Badgers will begin the season as the No. 4 team in the country, and the top-ranked squad in the Big Ten.

Rounding out the Top 10, in order, are Washington, Oklahoma, Miami (FL), Auburn, and Penn State. The other Big Ten teams that earned spots in the Top 25 were Michigan State (11) and Michigan (14).

Wisconsin’s No.4 ranking matches the highest preseason ranking in program history.

Wisconsin even received one first-place vote, joining Alabama and Clemson as the only teams with that distinction.

Many college football fans (especially those in Columbus, Ohio) will undoubtedly scoff at the Badgers being ranked ahead of Ohio State, an annual title contender and a team that has had Wisconsin’s number in recent years, in addition to other perennial powers such as Oklahoma and Washington.

This sentiment is nothing new to Badger fans, who by now are accustomed to seeing Wisconsin routinely slept on and underrated when it comes to discussing the nation’s elite programs. Indeed, though Wisconsin is unquestionably a talented enough team to be deserving of this ranking, it is a bit surprising to see them so high.

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My colleague Tanner wrote an insightful piece a couple weeks ago in which he touched on this dynamic. Despite being one of the nation’s most successful programs in the last decade or so, Wisconsin does not yet possess the type of national brand power that schools such as Alabama and Ohio State enjoy.

Indeed, the national hype surrounding Wisconsin this season has paled in comparison to the attention the Buckeyes would be receiving if they were returning a Heisman Trophy frontrunner and an offensive line that returns every starter from 2017 and could see multiple players drafted in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Ultimately, the only rankings that will matter in Wisconsin’s pursuit of a Playoff berth are the College Football Playoff Rankings that will first be released at the end of October.

Next. Ten reasons Wisconsin Football is overlooked. dark

That being said, securing the No. 4 spot in the AP poll obviously represents a very encouraging start to the season for the Badgers. That ranking indicates that national experts have high confidence in Wisconsin’s talent, and offers hope that as long as they can back it up with winning play on the field, they will not get snubbed when it comes time to choose the four Playoff teams.