As the Associated Press released its preseason Top 25, yet another August landmark has been reached.

Georgia officially will begin the 2024 college football season as the nation's No. 1 team. Kirby Smart's program tops a ranking dominated by the SEC, which featured four of the AP poll's six highest-ranked teams.

Reigning-champion Michigan, on the other hand, begins its title defense barely inside the Top 10.

The reality, though? Generally speaking, it was all expected.

Few surprises made their way around the initial AP Top 25, which we've dissected into a handful of main takeaways. I do apologize in advance that the voters hate your team. I don't have control of that.

Predictable at the Top

In late July, I predicted the AP Top 5 would be Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and Alabama.

Do a quick search, and I'm certain you could find a similar opinion at multiple outlets in recent days. At the very minimum, plenty of writers would have that quintet with Oregon and Texas flipped in order.

The point: We figured it was coming.

Georgia is a safe preseason bet, considering the program hasn't dropped a regular-season game since the 2020 campaign. Ohio State is an annual power and brings back a veteran roster. Oregon has surged lately and added transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel, while Texas and Alabama return their QBs after reaching the College Football Playoff last season.

Over the last decade, we'd have to narrow that field to four contenders in CFP projections. But under the 12-team format, they're instead all viewed as legitimate championship hopefuls in 2024.

Michigan Dips a Bit

It seemed safe to anticipate Michigan holding a top-10 ranking, potentially landing as high as seventh after Ole Miss.

The voters had a slightly lower view of that upside.

For their opener against Fresno State, the Wolverines will be ninth in the nation. That's the lowest preseason AP ranking for a defending champion since Auburn began the 2010 campaign at 23rd. No other team ranked lower than sixth in the next season's initial AP poll.

Look, it ultimately does not matter.

Every program has a retooled roster, and nearly a quarter of the Football Bowl Subdivision has a new head coach—including Michigan, of course, as Sherrone Moore replaces JIm Harbaugh. What happened in 2023 will influence our perceptions but does not determine results in 2024, no matter whether those are positive, negative or relatively static.

Still, it's fair to suggest that the rebuilt Maize and Blue have an extra chip on their shoulder as they sit behind No. 8 Penn State, let alone Big Ten counterparts Ohio State and Oregon.

Utah Leads Intriguing Big 12

The headline of the Big 12 is undeniable: Oklahoma and Texas left for the SEC, and nobody can replace their collective brand power.

Don't confuse this for a dying league, however.

Oklahoma State (16th), Kansas State (18th) and Kansas (23rd) finished in the AP Top 25 last season. Additionally, newcomer Arizona (11th) had a breakout year as fellow Pac-12 departure Utah still managed eight wins despite not having quarterback Cam Rising all season.

All five of those programs landed an initial AP spot, highlighted by Utah checking in 12th. The surge is largely because Rising has recovered from injury and will be ready to play in 2024.

Remember: Thanks to CFP expansion, the winner of this conference race is guaranteed a CFP berth, too.

Texas A&M Hype Is Persistent

Out went Jimbo Fisher, in comes Mike Elko. Texas A&M watched dozens of players hit the transfer portal and replaced them in the same way. It's been an adventurous offseason for a reeling yet energized program.

Despite all of that transition after two disappointing years, the Aggies are still planted in the voting body's good graces.

Texas A&M is set to open the campaign as the No. 20 team.

Sure, finding optimism is easy. When healthy, quarterback Conner Weigman has played well. The defense in particular is plenty talented, and Elko—who quickly built up Duke in his two seasons there—brings a respected background to that side of the ball. While the schedule isn't easy, Texas A&M hosts all four matchups (Notre Dame, Missouri, LSU and Texas) against other preseason Top 25 teams.

Whether expectations are too high for Elko in Year 1 is a legitimate question, given A&M's recent struggles.

But a pair of preseason rankings in the Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 certainly aren't quieting the noise around the Aggies.

No Love for Group of Five

As always, power-conference teams are heavily featured in the preseason poll. Group of Five programs never have a massive presence as the first rankings of the year are released.

But they're typically not shut out, either.

Last year, Tulane arrived in 24th. Cincinnati and Houston were 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in 2022. Coastal Carolina and Louisiana kicked off the 2021 season in 22nd and 23rd, as well. You get the point.

The streak has ended in 2024, making the G5's unofficial leader a team in the "others receiving votes" category. That honor, so to speak, falls to Boise State. The blue-turfed Broncos landed 47 points, effectively ranking 28th with Conference USA front-runner Liberty (31st) and AAC favorite Memphis (34th) in the neighborhood.

On the bright side, the highest-ranked G5 school will be headed to the College Football Playoff this season. As with any conference, where they finish in the CFP selection committee's mind matters most.

Nevertheless, the G5 won't be represented in the AP Top 25 until after the season has formally begun.