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Hawkeyes, Cyclones football ranked one spot apart in preseason AP Top 25

Danny Lawhon
The Des Moines Register

The state of Iowa is 2-for-2 — or 4-for-4, depending on how you want to view it — in the preseason football rankings sweepstakes.

The unprecedented pairing of both Iowa State and Iowa in the summertime top-25s continued Monday with both the Cyclones and Hawkeyes denting The Associated Press' preseason poll.

Matt Campbell's bunch is ranked for the first time since he took charge in Ames and for just the second time in program history. This year's team comes in at No. 21.

Iowa State's only other appearance was in 1978, when Earle Bruce's squad started the year in 20th before going 8-4.

Kirk Ferentz has the Hawkeyes in the preseason AP rankings for the seventh time in his 21 seasons as coach, but just the second time since 2011. They check in at No. 20. Iowa's last appearance was at No. 17 in 2016 and was preceded by a run of five preseason rankings in seven years from 2004-10.

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The dual ranking for Iowa's two Power Five teams continues a month of celebration for Cyclones and Hawkeyes fans; each school was ranked in the USA Today Amway Coaches' Poll released earlier in August. Iowa was slotted 19th, and Iowa State made the poll for the first time ever at No. 24.

The possibility of an ESPN College GameDay matchup when the Hawkeyes travel to Ames for the 3 p.m. kickoff Sept. 14 is likely to continue gathering steam as well.

Defending national champion Clemson is ranked atop the AP poll with 52 first-place votes out of a possible 62. Alabama garners the other 10 first-place votes to lead a poll that mirrors the coaches' top 10. Georgia is third, Oklahoma fourth and Ohio State fifth. LSU, Michigan, Florida, Notre Dame and Texas round out the top 10.

FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25

  1. Clemson (52 first-place votes), 1,540 points
  2. Alabama (10), 1,496
  3. Georgia, 1,403
  4. Oklahoma, 1,331
  5. Ohio State, 1,261
  6. LSU, 1,199
  7. Michigan, 1,164
  8. Florida, 1,054
  9. Notre Dame, 1,044
  10. Texas, 1,005
  11. Oregon, 860
  12. Texas A&M, 852
  13. Washington, 786
  14. Utah, 772
  15. Penn State, 651
  16. Auburn, 578
  17. Central Florida, 410
  18. Michigan State, 377
  19. Wisconsin, 370
  20. Iowa, 330
  21. Iowa State, 302
  22. Syracuse, 209
  23. Washington State, 200
  24. Nebraska, 154
  25. Stanford, 141

Others receiving votes: Missouri 117, Army 94, Mississippi St. 87, Miami 70, Northwestern 63, TCU 57, Virginia 44, Boise St. 38, Cincinnati 16, South Carolina 15, Virginia Tech 12, Fresno St. 8, Utah St. 8, Minnesota 7, Memphis 6, Appalachian St. 5, UAB 3, West Virginia 3, Oklahoma St. 3, Arizona St. 3, Arizona 1, Southern Cal 1.