The Scarlet Knights open the 2007 season at #16 in the AP Poll

The AP poll is the poll that counts when people (ok, USC fans) start shouting WE'RE NUMBER ONE. It's out this afternoon, and as the following excerpt from an MSNBC article points out, this is the first time that the football team representing our Alma Mater -- a team with a longer history in college football than anyone -- has been on the list to start the season:

Ohio State, last year’s preseason No. 1 and the loser of the national title game to Florida, is No. 11 to start the 2007 season. No. 12 is California, followed by Georgia, UCLA and Tennessee.

No. 16 Rutgers is ranked in the preseason for the first time, as is No. 23 Hawaii.

Penn State is No. 17 and Auburn, Florida State and Nebraska round out the top 20. Arkansas, TCU, Hawaii, Boise State and Texas A&M are the final five.

The Southeastern Conference has six ranked teams, most of any league. The Big Ten and Big 12 are next with four and the Pac-10 and Big East have three each.

In other news, a magazine published by a little television station in Connecticut called "ESPN The Magazine" prints something they call a College Football issue this week; it fails to mention the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in their "power rankings" or treat our team with anywhere near the adulation that Sports Illustrated (an actual magazine) does in their current issue. (We think they're all secretly Connecticut Husky fans and simply jealous of the team located just to their southwest in New Jersey).