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West Virginia receives votes in AP Top 25 preseason poll, will start season unranked

For the third straight year, the Mountaineers will begin the upcoming season outside of the AP Top 25, looking in.

NCAA Football: Big 12 Media Days Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

For the third consecutive year, the West Virginia Mountaineers will begin their upcoming season unranked.

Although West Virginia was left out of the AP Top 25, which was released earlier this afternoon, the Mountaineers still received one vote in the poll. Ryan Pritt of the Charleston Gazette-Mail selected the Mountaineers as the 23rd best team in the country in his preseason ballot, landing West Virginia near the end of the “others receiving votes” category at No. 41 overall.

There are just three Big 12 teams ranked in the preseason top 25. Oklahoma is ranked second in the nation, followed by Iowa State at No. 7 and the Texas Longhorns at No. 21. Oklahoma State and TCU landed just outside of the top 25 at No. 26 and No. 28, respectively.

The Mountaineers are unlikely to face a ranked team until their September 25th matchup with the aforementioned No. 2 ranked Sooners. Non-conference opponents Maryland and Virginia Tech did not receive a vote in the poll.

AP Top 25 — College Football 2021 (Preseason)

Rank School Conference Previous Previous
Rank School Conference Previous Previous
1 Alabama SEC 1 1548 (47)
2 Oklahoma Big 12 6 1462 (6)
3 Clemson ACC 3 1447 (6)
4 Ohio State Big Ten 2 1393 (1)
5 Georgia SEC 7 1364 (3)
6 Texas A&M SEC 4 1223
7 Iowa State Big 12 9 1160
8 Cincinnati AAC 8 1014
9 Notre Dame Independent 5 1009
10 North Carolina ACC 18 999
11 Oregon Pac-12 UR 968
12 Wisconsin Big Ten UR 743
13 Florida SEC 13 728
14 Miami ACC 22 663
15 USC Pac-12 21 660
16 LSU SEC UR 631
17 Indiana Big Ten 12 549
18 Iowa Big Ten 16 513
19 Penn State Big Ten UR 456
20 Washington Pac-12 UR 449
21 Texas Big 12 19 350
22 Coastal Carolina Sun Belt 14 232
23 Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt 15 208
24 Utah Pac-12 UR 176
25 Arizona State Pac-12 UR 125

Others receiving votes:

Oklahoma State 107, Ole Miss 106, TCU 40, Liberty 36, Auburn 32, North Carolina State 14, Michigan 12, Northwestern 8, Boise State 7, Nevada 7, Brigham Young 6, Ball State 6, Houston 5, Boston College 5, UCF 5, West Virginia 3, UAB 2, Army 2, UCLA 2