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Georgia No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 and Ohio State No. 2 as expanded SEC, Big Ten flex muscles

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Georgia No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 and Ohio State No. 2 as expanded SEC, Big Ten flex muscles
News

News

Georgia No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25 and Ohio State No. 2 as expanded SEC, Big Ten flex muscles

2024-08-13 02:54 Last Updated At:03:02

Georgia is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason college football poll for the second straight year as the superconference era begins with the SEC and Big Ten dominating the top 10 of the rankings.

The Bulldogs received 46 first-place votes and 1,532 points in the Top 25 released Monday and the SEC powerhouse finished comfortably ahead of No. 2 Ohio State (15 first-place votes and 1,490 points) of the Big Ten.

New Big Ten member Oregon is No. 3, receiving one first-place vote from the panel of 62 media members who cover college football. Texas, which joins Georgia in the Southeastern Conference this season, is fourth.

The Big Ten and SEC each have four teams in the top 10.

Conference realignment has reduced the Power Five to the Power Four, with the Pac-12 whittled to just two schools. The Big Ten now has 18 schools. The Atlantic Coast Conference has 17 football teams, and the SEC and Big 12 each have 16.

All the movement created an unprecedented preseason poll with just four conferences represented: The SEC leads with nine ranked teams. The Big Ten has six, the Big 12 has five and the ACC has four.

Alabama, in its first season without coach Nick Saban since 2006, starts No. 5. No. 6 Mississippi gives the SEC half the top preseason top six.

Independent Notre Dame is the highest ranked team from outside the SEC and Big Ten at No. 7.

No. 8 Penn State and No. 9 Michigan give the Big Ten four top 10 teams. Florida State from the ACC is No. 10.

The defending national champion Wolverines said goodbye to coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback J.J. McCarthy and 12 other players who were selected in April’s NFL draft. All that attrition led to Michigan receiving the lowest preseason ranking for a defending national champion since 2011, when Auburn was No. 23 after the departure of Cam Newton.

Before that, the last time a defending national champion was ranked worse than No. 7 in the following preseason poll was Colorado at No. 13 in 1991.

Washington, which lost to Michigan in the College Football Playoff championship game, took an even bigger fall after losing its head coach (Kalen DeBoer replaced Saban at Alabama), star quarterback and a mountain of talent to the draft and transfer portal. The Huskies are the first team to reach the CFP and be unranked the following season, and the first team to be unranked after finishing the previous season No. 2 in the AP poll since Army in 1951. The rankings were a Top 20 then.

The only team to finish No. 1 and start the next season unranked was Minnesota in 1961, but the AP poll was only a Top 10 then.

Georgia started last season at No. 1 in pursuit of a record third straight national championship. Coach Kirby Smart's Bulldogs stayed there the whole regular season, and then missed the four-team playoff by losing the SEC title game to Alabama.

“We’re dealing with new challenges this year,” Smart said at SEC media days. "We don’t have a chip on our shoulder in terms of people trying to use that as motivation. I’ve never used a failure from the previous year as motivation and never used the success of a previous year as motivation; we won’t do that this year. That’s not who we are. We want to recreate ourselves to stay in the best light we can.”

There will be more room for error this season with the playoff expanding from four to 12 teams.

The Bulldogs are 42-2 over the last three seasons and loaded again. Quarterback Carson Beck leads the offense and edge rusher Mykel Williams is in line to be the next defensive star at Georgia.

Beck is a rarity in college football these days, a star quarterback in his fifth season with the same school who waited three years to become starter. Beck completed 72% of his passes last year, with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions.

“He is a great elder for us and great example of resiliency in college football,” Smart said.

Repeating as preseason No. 1 is a recent trend. Going back eight seasons, Alabama had separate streaks of three (2016-18) and two (2021-22) years as preseason No. 1. Clemson was top-ranked in the 2019 and '20 preseason rankings.

Georgia will try to become the 12th team since the AP preseason poll started in 1950 to start No. 1 and finish No. 1. The last was Alabama in 2017.

Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) throws in drills during an NCAA college football practice, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) throws in drills during an NCAA college football practice, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

LONDON (AP) — A British teen pleaded guilty Monday to murdering three girls and attempting to kill 10 other people in what a prosecutor said was a “meticulously planned” stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.

Axel Rudakubana, 18, entered the surprise plea as jury selection had been expected to begin at the start of his trial in Liverpool Crown Court.

The July 29 stabbings sent shock waves across the U.K. and led to a week of widespread rioting across parts of England and Northern Ireland after the suspect was falsely identified as an asylum-seeker who had recently arrived in Britain by boat. He was born in Wales.

The attack occurred on the first day of summer vacation when the little girls at the Hart Space, a sanctuary hidden behind a row of houses, were in a class to learn yoga and dance to the songs of Taylor Swift. What was supposed to be a day of joy turned to terror and heartbreak when Rudakubana, armed with a knife, intruded and began stabbing the girls and their teacher in the seaside town of Southport in northwest England.

“This was an unspeakable attack — one which left an enduring mark on our community and the nation for its savagery and senselessness," Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Ursula Doyle said. “A day which should have been one of carefree innocence; of children enjoying a dance workshop and making friendship bracelets, became a scene of the darkest horror as Axel Rudakubana carried out his meticulously planned rampage.”

Prosecutors haven’t said what they believe led Rudakubana — who was days shy of his 18th birthday — to commit the atrocities, but Doyle said that it was clear he had a “a sickening and sustained interest in death and violence.”

Rudakubana had consistently refused to speak in court and did so once again when asked to identify himself at the start of the proceedings. But he broke his silence when he was read the 16-count indictment and asked to enter a plea, replying “guilty” to each charge.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, 10 counts of attempted murder and additional charges related to possessing the poison ricin and for having an al-Qaida manual.

Rudakubana faces life imprisonment when sentenced Thursday, Justice Julian Goose said.

Defense lawyer Stanley Reiz said that he would present information to the judge about Rudakubana's mental health that may be relevant to his sentence.

The surviving victims and family members of those killed were absent in court, because they had expected to arrive Tuesday for opening statements.

Goose asked the prosecutor to apologize on his behalf that they weren't present to hear Rudakubana plead guilty.

He pleaded guilty to murdering Alice Da Silva Aguiar, 9, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Bebe King, 6.

Eight other girls, ranging in age from 7 to 13, were wounded, along with instructor Leanne Lucas and John Hayes, who worked in a business next door and intervened. Fifteen other girls, as young as 5, were at the class but uninjured. Under a court order, none of the surviving girls can be named.

Hayes, who was stabbed and seriously wounded, said he still had flashbacks to the attack and was “hugely upset at the time that I wasn’t able to do more.”

“But I did what I could in the circumstances,” he told Sky News. “I’m grateful to be here, and by all accounts I’ll make a full recovery, at least physically. … I’m going to be OK and others won’t be, and that’s really where I I think the focus of attention should be.”

Police said the stabbings weren’t classified as acts of terrorism because the motive wasn’t known.

Several months after his arrest at the scene of the crime, Rudakubana was charged with additional counts for production of a biological toxin, ricin and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism for having the manual in a document on his computer.

Police said they found the evidence during a search of his family's home in a neighboring village.

The day after the killings — and shortly after a peaceful vigil for the victims — a violent group attacked a mosque near the crime scene and pelted police officers with bricks and bottles and set fire to police vehicles.

Rioting then spread to dozens of other towns over the next week when groups made up mostly of men mobilized by far-right activists on social media clashed with police during violent protests and attacked hotels housing migrants.

More than 1,200 people were arrested for the disorder and hundreds have been jailed for up to nine years in prison.

Media waits outside Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Axel Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Media waits outside Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Axel Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana leaves Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana leaves Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

In this Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook, Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana appears on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, where he has pleaded guilty to killing three young girls and wounded 10 other people in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)

In this Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook, Southport stabbings suspect Axel Rudakubana appears on the first day of his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, where he has pleaded guilty to killing three young girls and wounded 10 other people in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class, in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)

People queue at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Axel Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

People queue at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Axel Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

A prison van believed to contain Axel Rudakubana arrives at Liverpool Crown Court in Liverpool, England, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 where Rudakubana is charged with killing three girls and wounding 10 other people in a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in England last summer.(AP Photo/Jon Super)

FILE - Police officers watch members of the public outside the Town Hall in Southport, England, Aug. 5, 2024 after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club the week before. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, File)

FILE - Police officers watch members of the public outside the Town Hall in Southport, England, Aug. 5, 2024 after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club the week before. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, File)

FILE - Tributes are seen outside the Town Hall in Southport, England, Aug. 5, 2024 after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club the week before. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, File)

FILE - Tributes are seen outside the Town Hall in Southport, England, Aug. 5, 2024 after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club the week before. (AP Photo/Darren Staples, File)

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