Ohio State will begin the season ranked fifth in the Associated Press preseason football poll.
Cincinnati, the Buckeyes' opponent Sept. 27 at Ohio Stadium, was the only other Ohio college to receive votes in the poll. The Bearcats are 40th.
Joining Cincinnati as Ohio State opponents receiving votes are Virginia Tech, Michigan, Penn State and Navy. Defending Big Ten champion Michigan State, which hosts Ohio State on Nov. 8 in what figures to be the game of the year in the conference, begins the season ranked No. 8.
Like the Big Ten East, the newly formed West division has two teams in the top 25: No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 22 Nebraska. Iowa and Northwestern also received votes in the West.
Ohio State is the highest-rated Cincinnati opponent in the preseason poll. Miami (Fla.), the Bearcats' Oct. 11 opponent, received one more vote than UC. Defending AAC champ UCF is the highest-rated team in the conference at No. 26, but the Knights are not on the Bearcats' schedule.
Ohio State is sixth in the first coaches' poll while Cincinnati is tied for No. 43.
