It’s still early, but it’s about time for the 2018 preseason top-25 rankings to start pouring in, and on Monday, Athlon Sports got in on the action.

In their initial 2018 rankings, Athlon has five Big Ten teams cracking the top 25, with defending champion Alabama out of the SEC unsurprisingly locking down the top spot.

Below, you can see where the other five Big Ten squads stack up, with Michigan State bringing up the rear at No. 12:

  • No. 4 — Ohio State
  • No. 5 — Michigan
  • No. 9 — Wisconsin
  • No. 11 — Penn State
  • No. 12 — Michigan State

Impressively, the five teams are all in the top 12. But, that also speaks to the weakness of the rest of the conference, as there are no B1G squads in the 13-25 range.

Perhaps a team like Purdue or Northwestern could jump into the top 25 before the seasons starts, but we’ll have to wait and see.