Steelers Ranked 13th Overall In AP Preseason Power Rankings

On Tuesday, the Associated Press released their preseason NFL power rankings for the upcoming 2014 season and the Pittsburgh Steelers are ranked 13th overall and behind both the Cincinnati Bengals (9th) and Baltimore Ravens (12th).

While there aren’t any blurbs listed for each team, the AP does reveal the methodology used to determine their rankings.

The AP Pro32 is determined by a simple points system based on how each voter ranks the NFL’s 32 teams. A team receives 32 points for each first place vote, 31 for second place and so on through to the 32nd team, which receives one point. The rankings are set by listing the teams’ point totals from highest to lowest. The mathematical formula is the same as the one used for the AP Top 25 rankings for college football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.

Also according to AP, a national panel of 11 voters will participate in the selection process this year. Each voter is among the 50 sports writers and broadcasters who choose the NFL’s individual awards at the end of the season. All of the voters have an extensive background in covering the NFL.

So which voters were responsible for the preseason rankings? According to the report, that panel of 11 consisted of Jenny Vrentas, Jim Miller, John Czarnecki, Tony Dungy, Rick Gosselin, Pat Kirwan, Charean Williams, Bob Glauber, Herm Edwards, Jeff Legwold, Ira Kaufman and Alex Marvez.

It should be noted that Edwards, who is currently an analyst for ESPN, predicted back in May that the Steelers would face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl this year.

2014 AP Preseason Power Rankings