It’s here.

By “it,” I mean the thing we can’t help but dissect endlessly: the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Its purpose of upsetting fan bases and giving us something to talk about as the season approaches still holds true in 2019. It shapes storylines and essentially tells us what the early-season narrative will be about a team.

As usual, I had many thoughts on the first poll, which came out Monday. I say that as someone who not only put together his own Top 25, but I also predicted how I thought the AP poll would look.

Here are said thoughts on the actual AP Top 25:

1. The top of the AP Poll is even more SEC than you realize

There are 6 SEC teams in the Top 25 and 5 in the top 12. If you dig a little deeper in the top 13, it has even more SEC interest. No. 4 Oklahoma has Jalen Hurts, No. 5 Ohio State has Justin Fields, No. 7 Michigan has Shea Patterson and No. 13 Washington has Jacob Eason.

What does that mean? It means that of the top 13 teams, 9 are led by a quarterback who plays for/did play for an SEC team. It’s 7 of the top 8 with Clemson as the lone team without a quarterback with direct SEC ties (and Trevor Lawrence, of course, is from Georgia). That’s crazy.

That feeds into this storyline that I wrote about earlier in the offseason. The 2019 season will be the year of the SEC quarterback transfer. All 4 of those guys could be in the Heisman/Playoff conversation at season’s end. Obviously, if that happens, the fans of their former SEC teams will have plenty to say about that.

2. I can be high on Auburn’s season-long outlook and still think the Tigers got too much love at No. 16

I have Auburn projected to win 9 regular-season games and beat the likes of Georgia and Oregon. I think they’ll have the best defensive line in the country, too. So why do I think the Tigers got too much love at No. 16?

It’s simple. We’re talking about a team that went 3-5 in conference play and is starting either a true freshman or a redshirt freshman at quarterback. That, in my opinion, should have made Auburn a fringe Top 25 team to start the season. I think the offensive line is unproven, but that it’ll get better once the offense gets back to its run-first identity.

After Auburn beat Alabama in the 2017 Iron Bowl, the Tigers are:

  • 8-7 overall
  • 3-6 vs. SEC teams
  • 2-5 vs. AP Top 25

The offense is an unknown, the team is unproven and Gus Malzahn’s future is uncertain for a reason. I’m optimistic, but I still need to see it before Auburn deserves to be considered a Top 25 team again.

3. Nah, give me LSU over Ohio State

I predicted that Ohio State would start the season ranked ahead of LSU and that I’d hate it. Why? Well, as I talked about with Auburn, there are some key unknown elements with this Buckeyes. You’ve got a first-time head coach with a quarterback in Justin Fields who, while talented, has yet to start a college game.

LSU, meanwhile, returns its starting quarterback in Joe Burrow. It returns major production on the offensive line and at receiver. It also returns what I believe is the best secondary in America, led by the best defensive player in America in Grant Delpit.

Only 5 Power 5 teams in America return a higher percentage of their 2018 production than LSU. Ohio State isn’t one of them. The Buckeyes are No. 62 with major turnover on the offensive line.

And yeah, give me Ed Orgeron over Day for now just because I already saw the former beat 4 top 10 teams last year.

4. Kentucky not getting a single AP vote is _________

Offensive. Disrespectful. Telling.

It blows me away that the Cats, coming off a 10-win season, didn’t get 1 vote. Like, not a single voter thought, “You know, I didn’t really think Kentucky would be any good last year and Mark Stoops proved me wrong. Maybe I should give them some more preseason love this year.”

Nope. Not one. Meanwhile, 15 (!) media members gave South Carolina AP Top 25 love … even though Will Muschamp lost 10 consecutive games against Top 25 teams. As you recall, that’s the team that Stoops beat each of the past 5 years. And then there’s 4-8 Nebraska, which earned a Top 25 spot even though it ranks No. 93 in FBS in percentage of returning production.

Yes, I understand that Kentucky lost Josh Allen and Benny Snell, both of whom were all-time greats for that program. But I’d argue this year’s team will be more diverse offensively with Terry Wilson getting more throwing opportunities in Year 2. And while this defense has big questions in the secondary, they’re more experienced up front than people realize.

What Stoops said this offseason about his team not getting enough respect was true. This is all the proof he needs.

You’re crazy if you think that South Carolina thing didn’t get his blood boiling on a Monday afternoon.

5. Yes, Clemson should be No. 1

Sorry, Alabama fans. Clemson’s first preseason No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 was earned. Obviously what we saw in January should matter. It was a beatdown.

But it’s more than that. It’s the fact that Clemson is still absolutely loaded with talent, even though it lost an all-time great defensive line to the NFL Draft. You could make a case that the Tigers have the best quarterback (Trevor Lawrence), running back (Travis Etienne) and receiver (Justyn Ross) in college football.

Why would a team with all of those things coming off an undefeated season with 2 dominant Playoff victories not be No. 1?

But here’s the good news for Alabama and everyone else vying for a title in 2019. According to the AP’s Ralph Russo, only twice (1999 Florida State and 2004 USC) has a team gone wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the AP Top 25. Heck, the No. 1 seed in the Playoff has yet to win the national championship. In other words, the odds of Clemson keeping a stranglehold on the top spot throughout 2019 are slim.

Knocking Clemson off, though? As Alabama showed us, that’ll be easier said than done.