It’s not hard to figure out why Oklahoma is the preseason No. 1 team in the Associated Press college football poll.

All-American defensive tackle Tommie Harris leads a dominating defense that features four of the 36 players on the preseason watch list for top defensive player in the nation.

The key for the Sooners will be getting enough offense to support all those hard hitters.

“If you do not score, then you know the defense will get the ball back,” said quarterback Jason White, who has started only four games because of injuries to both knees the past two seasons. “There is a little pressure, but the way our offense has been working out this offseason, I think we will be just fine.”

The Sooners open the college football season atop the AP poll for a record ninth time, beating out defending national champion Ohio State in voting released Saturday.

“I appreciate the fact that people view us that way,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. “I don’t want to undervalue that. We appreciate that people view us as one of those teams that can win it all. But in the end, they don’t hand out any trophies in August.”

Oklahoma got 32 first-place votes and 1,573 points to Ohio State’s 27 firsts and 1,532 points from the 65 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel.

It’s the widest margin in the preseason Top 25 since 1999, when Florida State had 77 more points than Tennessee.

“We really don’t take pride in something we haven’t earned,” White said. “It’s a fresh start for us and everyone else in the country. We’ve lost some people and so have some other teams. We’re starting over. Preseason rankings don’t mean anything. You’ve got to play the games.”

Rounding out the Top 10 are Miami (two first-place votes), Michigan (two), Texas, Auburn (one), Kansas State (one), Southern California, Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh.

Nebraska is one of the notable omissions this year after being ranked in the preseason the last 33 years.

Oklahoma State, last ranked in the preseason in 1985, was No. 24.