Badgers to start season at No. 18 in AP poll

Wisconsin will be one of four Big Ten teams to start the season inside the Associated Press Top 25.

The poll was released Monday morning and featured the Badgers at No. 18. It’s the sixth season in a row that Wisconsin has been ranked in the preseason and the 12th time in the last 13 years. UW was slotted at No. 12 the last two seasons and finished unranked in both.

The other Big Ten teams in the poll include Ohio State at No. 2, Michigan at No. 8 and Michigan State at No. 15. Wisconsin will travel to face the Buckeyes on Sept. 24 and the Spartans on Oct. 15. Four other opponents — Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska — were among the teams outside the top 25 receiving votes.

Alabama is the No. 1 team in the poll for a ninth time. After Ohio State, the rest of the top 5 was Georgia, Clemson and Notre Dame.

The full poll can be found here.