Michigan State Ranked Eighth in Preseason Associated Press Poll

The AP poll: it doesn't matter anymore, but we're still days out from actual football. So here we are, discussing MSU's highest placement in decades in the minds of college football voters.

Concluding the 2013 season at No. 3 in both major polls for the program's highest finish since its glory days of the 1960s, Michigan State begins the 2014 season perched in the top 10 of both major polls.

Ranked 8th in the Preseason Associated Press Poll released Sunday, Michigan State received 1,080 points and is sandwiched between UCLA and South Carolina.

"Our focus remains on winning championships," eighth-year Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio told MSUSpartans.com. "We have proven that we can compete consistently with the top teams in the country and will continue to dream big. We need embrace our preseason ranking and display the maturity it takes to manage that success.

"Ultimately, we will be measured at the end of the season, so we will again strive to be playing our best football in November, December and on into January."

Sitting in the top 10 of the Preseason AP Poll for the 14th time in program history, the No. 8 ranking marks the Spartans' best position in the poll since they were ranked third heading into the 1967 season.

Two Michigan State opponents in 2014 reside in the top 10 of the AP poll, Oregon (No. 3) and Ohio State (No. 5) while its opponent on Oct. 4, Nebraska, enters the season at No. 22.

The entire Preseason AP Poll can be found below: