Florida is No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 released Saturday, followed by Texas, Oklahoma, Southern California and Alabama. But the Gators are in a class by themselves, the most overwhelming preseason No. 1 in the history of the media poll.

Florida received 58 of the 60 first-place votes, or 96.7 percent. Texas got the other first-place votes.

The previous highest percentage of first-place votes for the AP preseason poll, which started in 1950, was 95.4 percent for USC in 2007. Those Trojans got 62 of 65 first-place votes, and didn't play for the national title.

The rest of the top ten includes two Big Ten powerhouses (No. 6 Ohio State and No. 9 Penn State) and the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion (No. 7 Virginia Tech).

No. 8 Mississippi is in the preseason top ten for the first time since 1970, when the Rebels were ranked fifth.

Oklahoma State is tied with Penn State for No. 9, the Cowboys' highest preseason ranking since No. 16 in 1985, when Thurman Thomas was in the backfield.

Florida is preseason No. 1 for the third time (1994 and 2001), and the Gators are the 20th defending national champ to start the season on top.