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AP pollster: Spartans No. 2 team in CFB
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If Dave Reardon ever makes it to the mainland and finds himself in East Lansing, he might not be paying for a drink.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser sports writer was the only one of the 61 Associated Press voters that put Michigan State at No. 2. That was the highest ranking among the voters in the first preseason poll, who unanimously picked Ohio State No. 1. It did mark the first time the Big Ten had two teams ranked in the preseason top five since 2003.
Outside of Reardon’s vote, the Spartans settled in at No. 5, which is where 11 pollsters ranked them.
MSU received its first top-five preseason ranking since 1967, despite the fact that it’s the only team in college football to finish in the AP top five in each of the last two seasons.
No voter had MSU lower than No. 9 in the poll. Of the 61 voters, 38 had MSU ranked No. 4-6.
This was the total breakdown for each spot a voter had the Spartans:
No. 2 — 1
No. 3. — 7
No. 4 —12
No. 5 —11
No. 6 — 15
No. 7 — 8
No. 8 — 5
No. 9 — 2
Will Sparty best its preseason ranking for the third year in a row?
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.