Athlon Sports Names Ohio State No. 2 in Preseason Top-25 Poll

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Athlon Sports, publisher of the No. 1-selling college football magazine, continues the release of its preseason Top-25 poll at www.athlonsports.com. No. 2 is being released today.

Jim Tressel's Ohio State Buckeyes hold the No. 2 position with 11 players selected as All-Big Ten performers. Athlon Sports predicts Ohio State to win the Big Ten Conference. In 2007, Athlon Sports led all other preseason football magazines in prediction accuracy.*

"This could be Jim Tressel's most talented Ohio State team," says Athlon Sports Senior Editor Mitch Light. "There isn't an apparent weakness on this team. The schedule has a few hurdles, notably at USC, at Wisconsin and at Illinois, but we'd be very surprised if the Buckeyes aren't in the national title hunt very late in the season."

Running back Chris Wells and linebacker James Laurinaitis are named First-Team All-America and First-Team All-Big Ten.

Cornerback Malcolm Jenkins is named Second-Team All-America and First-Team All-Big Ten.

Offensive lineman Alex Boone is named Third-Team All-America and First-Team All-Big Ten.

Quarterback Todd Boeckman, wide receiver Brian Robiskie, linebacker Marcus Freeman and safety Anderson Russell are named First-Team All-Big Ten.

Wide receiver and punt returner Brian Hartline and cornerback Kurt Coleman are named Second-Team All-Big Ten.

Punter A.J. Trapasso joins the All-Big Ten Third Team.

The Athlon Sports Ohio State Big Ten regional edition cover features Chris Wells. Athlon's entire selection of regional editions and team-specific covers are available at www.athlonsports.com/store.

Nashville-based Athlon Sports is a 41-year-old integrated media company. It remains a leader in sports prediction accuracy and creating the most sought-after preseason content online and in magazines at newsstand. The company serves business-to-business and business-to-consumer clients as a publisher, content provider, and Sports Marketer through its portfolio of websites, sports magazines covering eight different sports and seven college football conferences, direct marketing, and events. Athlon Sports exports its brands internationally in 33 countries.

* Stassen.com analysis of 2007 college football preseason predictions

Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25

1. FLORIDA
2. OHIO STATE
3. OKLAHOMA
4. USC
5. GEORGIA
6. MISSOURI
7. WEST VIRGINIA
8. AUBURN
9. LSU
10. CLEMSON
11. TEXAS
12. WISCONSIN
13. KANSAS
14. BYU
15. ARIZONA STATE
16. ILLINOIS
17. TENNESSEE
18. TEXAS TECH
19. OREGON
20. SOUTH FLORIDA
21. VIRGINIA TECH
22. RUTGERS
23. PENN STATE
24. WAKE FOREST
25. FRESNO STATE