The Longhorns received 25 first-place votes and 1,552 points in the rankings released Monday to edge past No. 2 Penn State in the closest preseason vote since 1998. The Nittany Lions have their best preseason ranking since they started No. 1 in 1997. Penn State received 23 first-place votes and 1,547 points.

The SEC placed a record 10 teams in the Associated Press preseason poll, which was released Monday with Texas on top (for the first time).

According to Connelly, SP+ is a "tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football ... these projections aren't intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the year.