How they voted: Badgers in 2016 AP football poll (Preseason)

The 2016 college football kickoff is closing in and quite frankly, this year's batch of voters in the Associated Press top 25 poll don't think too much of the Wisconsin Badgers right off the bat.

Perhaps it is because of their tough schedule, including an opener against LSU, which is ranked at No. 5 in the preseason poll. Or maybe it is the uncertainty around a team which is searching for a new starting quarterback, lost its top wide receiver and is looking to replace three-quarters of its secondary (among other things).

Whatever the reason -- or reasons -- only seven voters had the Badgers on their preseason ballot. And, amazingly, three of those have UW in the top 20 with a vote as high as No. 14.

Key word here, of course, is preseason. A win over LSU and it is guaranteed Wisconsin will be on every ballot following the Week 1 games. A loss, and, well, who knows when the Badgers will garner votes again.

With that in mind, here's a look at the preseason votes. As usual, we'll run this feature every week, as long as it has merit.

Dave Heller is the author of the upcoming book Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow as well as Facing Ted Williams Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns