TCU opens at No. 2 in AP poll, with Baylor at No. 4

TCU will begin pursuit of a berth in this year’s College Football Playoff as the highest-ranked team from Texas in The Associated Press’ preseason poll, released today.

The Horned Frogs opened at No. 2, two spots ahead of No. 4 Baylor. That positions both teams within striking distance of earning berths in the four-team playoff bracket heading into their respective season openers.

It also gives both schools their highest-ever starting points in any set of AP preseason football rankings. The AP poll has crowned a champion at the end of each season since 1936 and published its first set of preseason rankings in 1950.

Ohio State, the defending national champion, opened at No. 1 and received all 61 first-place votes from pollsters. TCU edged No. 3 Alabama for the second spot. The AP vote matched both schools’ lofty spots in the preseason coaches poll, released last month, when TCU opened at No. 2 and Baylor checked in at No. 4.

Behind top-ranked Ohio State, the rest of the Top 10 teams in the preseason poll, in order, included TCU, Alabama, Baylor, Michigan State, Auburn, Oregon, Southern California, Georgia and Florida State.

No Texas schools other than TCU and Baylor cracked the initial AP poll. Other Big 12 and regional schools that landed berths included No. 19 Oklahoma, No. 14 LSU and No. 18 Arkansas. Oklahoma State and Texas A&M were unranked.

TCU (12-1) and Baylor (11-2) shared last season’s Big 12 championship and narrowly missed being part of the inaugural four-team CFP bracket. Baylor finished fifth, and TCU was sixth, in the final CFP rankings that set last year’s playoff field. Ohio State (14-1) won the national title after entering the playoff as the No. 4 seed, a decision by the CFP selection committee that denied the Big 12 a representative in the playoffs.

TCU returns 15 starters from last season, including 10 on a prolific offense led by quarterback Trevone Boykin, a Heisman Trophy candidate. Baylor returns 17 starters (eight on offense, nine on defense), including all five of its starting offensive linemen and two All-America candidates on the defensive line (DE Shawn Oakman, DT Andrew Billings).

A look at the full poll:

1. Ohio State (61 first-place votes)

2. TCU

3. Alabama

4. Baylor

5. Michigan State

6. Auburn

7. Oregon

8. Southern California

9. Georgia

10. Florida State

11. Notre Dame

12. Clemson

13. UCLA

14. LSU

15. Arizona State

16. Georgia Tech

17. Ole Miss

18. Arkansas

19. Oklahoma

20. Wisconsin

21. Stanford

22. Arizona

23. Boise State

24. Missouri

25. Tennessee

This story was originally published August 23, 2015 at 1:23 PM with the headline "TCU opens at No. 2 in AP poll, with Baylor at No. 4."