It is true that most teams that landed in the preseason AP Top 25 have plenty of reason for optimism. They were good enough to get ranked after all and, in the 12-team era, that puts a program squarely in the race for the College Football Playoff.

College football is nearly here. Here's a look at where Big Ten teams landed in the preseason Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll.

At the AP, my job was to administer the poll, so I knew that as a first-time voter I'd be undertaking a challenge with no perfect answer.