Ad Disclosure
For a second-consecutive week, there will be no B1G presence in the Associated Press Poll.
Last weekend, the B1G was not included in the updated AP Top 25 despite being included in the preseason rankings. The league’s decision to postpone the season forced tthe AP to move forward without ranking any teams from the conference for the season.
It was the same circumstance for the Pac-12, Mountain West and MAC, which also postponed the fall football season.
FYI — Big Ten teams will not appear in the AP poll that comes out after this weekend. AP wants to give writers more time to digest (still unannounced) Big Ten schedule and learn about opt-in statuses (un-opts? statusi?).
Big Ten teams would then re-enter for the Sept. 27 poll.
— Nathan Baird (@nwbaird) September 18, 2020
Now that the B1G will be resuming activities, it will qualify for the Associated Press Poll again. But it won’t be for at least another week. The AP says it will not be voting for B1G teams during the upcoming poll, allowing voters time to evaluate schedules (once it’s released) and players who want to opt back in.
So, the B1G’s absence from the rankings will last at least one more week.
The B1G is scheduled to begin the season the weekend of Oct. 23-24. At this time, no schedule of games has been laid out from the conference.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB