Even without Johnny Manziel and his electric wideout Mike Evans, the program that Kevin Sumlin has built at Texas A&M has garnered nationwide respect from poll voters.

The new-look Aggies led by a star-studded freshman class and recently named starting quarterback Kenny Hill come in at No. 21 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25.

Eight teams from the SEC are ranked in this year’s preseason poll.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PRESEASON TOP 25 POLL

1 FLORIDA STATE 14-0 57 NR –
2 ALABAMA 11-2 1 NR –
3 OKLAHOMA 11-2 1 NR –
4 OREGON 11-2 1 NR –
5 OHIO STATE
 12-2 0 NR –
6 AUBURN 12-2 0 NR –
7 UCLA 10-3 0 NR –
8 MICHIGAN STATE 13-1 0 NR –
9 SOUTH CAROLINA 11-2 0 NR –
10 BAYLOR 11-2 0 NR –
11 STANFORD 11-3 0 NR –
12 GEORGIA 8-5 0 NR –
13 LSU 10-3 0 NR –
14 WISCONSIN 9-4 0 NR –
15 USC 10-4 0 NR –
16 CLEMSON 11-2 0 NR –
17 NOTRE DAME 9-4 0 NR –
18 OLE MISS 8-5 0 NR –
19 ARIZONA STATE 10-4 0 NR –
20 KANSAS STATE 8-5 0 NR –
21 TEXAS A&M 9-4 0 NR –
22 NEBRASKA 9-4 0 NR –
23 NORTH CAROLINA 7-6 0 NR –
24 MIZZOU 12-2 0 NR –
25 WASHINGTON 9-4 0 NR –