In the Associated Press Top 25, Oklahoma is No. 2 and Clemson is No. 3.

In the Coaches’ Poll Top 25, Clemson is No. 2 and Oklahoma is No. 3.

In the AP Poll, No. 1 Alabama got 47 first-place votes while OU and Clemson each got six first-place votes. No. 5 Georgia (three) and No. 4 Ohio State (one) got the only other first-place votes.

After this season and before 2024, OU and Texas will leave the Big 12 and join Alabama in the Southeastern Conference.

Being near the top of the polls is familiar territory for the Sooners. OU has been ranked in the top 10 of AP Preseason Top 25 for 19 out of the last 21 years.

OU has won six straight Big 12 titles and a 55-20 win over Florida in the Cotton Bowl last season.

This marks the 22nd straight year that OU has appeared in the preseason AP Top 25, which is the second longest current string behind Ohio State (33). It also represents the 63rd time that Oklahoma has appeared in the preseason AP poll, second most behind Ohio State (68 times). OU’s all-time average preseason AP rank is 6.5, best in the nation (Alabama is second at 7.3).

Oklahoma has been ranked seventh or higher 45 times in the 63 years of the AP Preseason poll. That has occurred in 18 of the last 21 preseason polls. OU’s No. 2 ranking is its highest in the preseason AP poll since 2011 when the Sooners were ranked No. 1 entering the season.

The Sooners, who have finished in the AP’s top seven each of the last six seasons, are one of three Big 12 teams in this year’s preseason AP poll.

Following OU and Iowa State, Texas is ranked No. 21. Oklahoma State is the top Big 12 team among those receiving votes with 107 points (26th overall) while TCU received 40 votes (28th overall) and West Virginia received three votes.

No. 7 Iowa State is ranked in the preseason for the third straight year after having only one previous appearance in the preseason poll (1978). The Cyclones had never been ranked better than 20th to begin a season. They also have never been ranked higher at any point than the No. 8 they reached last year on the way to finishing ninth.

“We realize the higher you go up the mountain, the more challenging that mountain can be, the harder it is to breathe, and the more precision you need the higher up you get,” said ISU coach Matt Campbell.

Oklahoma, which is No. 3 in the preseason USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, was the preseason pick to win the Big 12 Conference by the media and boasts a league-high 10 players earned preseason All-Big 12 honors.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Spencer Rattler, redshirt senior tight end/H-back Jeremiah Hall, sophomore wide receiver Marvin Mims, redshirt senior offensive lineman Marquis Hayes, junior offensive lineman Wanya Morris, redshirt senior defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas, senior defensive lineman Perrion Winfrey, redshirt junior outside linebacker Nik Bonitto and redshirt junior placekicker Gabe Brkic were selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.

Junior transfer running back Eric Gray from the Tennessee Volunteers was picked at the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

OU opens the 2021 season at Tulane on Sept. 4 in New Orleans. The Sooners’ home opener is Sept. 11 against Western Carolina at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Preseason AP Top 25

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State (107); Ole Miss (106); TCU (40), Liberty (36), Auburn (32), NC State (14), Michigan (12), Northwestern (8), Boise State (7), Nevada (7), BYU (6), Ball State (6), Houston (5), Boston College (5), UCF (5), West Virginia (3), UAB (2), Army (2), UCLA (2)