K-State, Mizzou in AP preseason college football poll

Kansas State and Missouri have residence in The Associated Press preseason top 25 poll.

The Wildcats are No. 20, the Tigers No. 24 on the list that was announced Sunday.

The top five: Florida State, Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

If the top four teams in the poll find themselves in that order at the end of the regular season, the first College Football Playoff would match Florida State against Oklahoma and Alabama against Oregon.

But neither the AP nor the coaches’ poll is being used as criteria for the playoff committee, which will select the four teams for the bracket.

Kansas State is coming off an 8-5 season that was capped by a victory over Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. The Wildcats are one of three Big 12 teams in the rankings, with Baylor 10th. The Bears have their best preseason ranking since 1957, when they were No. 7.

Mizzou went 12-2 last season, won the East Division in its second year in the Southeastern Conference and defeated Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl.

The Tigers were one of eight SEC teams in the rankings, matching the league’s own record for most teams from one conference in the preseason poll, set in 2011.

Nebraska came in at No. 22.

Florida State, which won its first national championship last season since 1999, received 57 first-place votes. The Seminoles return Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jamies Winston and will start the season No. 1 for the sixth time.

Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma each received a first-place vote.

This story was originally published August 17, 2014 at 1:26 PM with the headline "K-State, Mizzou in AP preseason college football poll."