Sports Illustrated recently published a top 25 post-spring that only includes four SEC programs: #1 Alabama, #8 Georgia, #16 Auburn, and #17 Mississippi State. The ranking did rank FAU among the top 25.

That’s one way to get people to pay attention to your poll.

Is FAU really better than the 10 other SEC teams? That seems like quite the stretch, no matter how impressive FAU’s run last season was, which included a 42-19 loss to Navy, a 34-31 loss to Buffalo, and a five-point win over Marshall. FAU’s bowl win over Akron, which was played at home in Boca Raton, seems to have really won Kiffin’s program some love this offseason.

Florida State, which rescheduled a game against ULM during Championship Week when good teams actually competed for meaningful victories, was also ranked in the poll — at No. 25. The reason for the rescheduling? FSU needed that win to avoid a five-win season. Texas, coming off yet another sub-.500 season, also made its annual appearance in a preseason poll by ranking at No. 23.