Though the 2025 college football season is just a few days away, hope still springs eternal among most fanbases. That veneer of offseason optimism has yet to wear off. All of the positive training camp reports and preseason rankings have bolstered that positive outlook.

At the AP, my job was to administer the poll, so I knew that as a first-time voter I'd be undertaking a challenge with no perfect answer.

College football is nearly here. Here's a look at where Big Ten teams landed in the preseason Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll.