College Football: USA Today releases preseason Coaches Poll
College football continues to creep ever so closer. The preseason rankings of the Amway Coaches Poll has been announced. Where did your favorite team end up?
Throw all the preseason predictions and speculation out the door. USA Today has announced their preseason/week one top 25 rankings, making one of the two major college football polls official leading up to the season.
The defending runner-up Alabama Crimson Tide comes in at No. 1 after receiving 49 of 65 possible first place votes. They finished nearly 100 overall points better than the No. 2 team, Ohio State. This is the third straight season the Tide have entered the college football season ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll.
Coming in at No. 2 is the likely Big Ten favorite, the Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State is the first of four Big Ten team in the top ten, and three alone from the Big Ten East division. The Buckeyes are looking to make it back to the College Football Playoff after getting blanked 31-0 by the eventual national champion Clemson in the semifinals.
Florida State, USC, and Clemson round out the top five – making week one’s matchup between Alabama and Florida State all the more enticing. Plus, College GameDay will be in attendance.
Full Preseason Rankings
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Florida State Seminoles
- USC Trojans
- Clemson Tigers
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Washington Huskies
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Michigan Wolverines
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- LSU Tigers
- Auburn Tigers
- Stanford Cardinal
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Florida Gators
- Louisville Cardinals
- Miami Hurricanes
- Kansas State Wildcats
- West Virginia Mountaineers
- South Florida Bulls
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Texas Longhorns
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Utah Utes
Next: Top 50 breakout candidates for 2017
The first team out was the Washington State Cougars. The SEC led the way with most top 25 participants with six teams, despite having just one (Alabama) in the top ten. The ACC and Big 12 each had five a piece. The AP poll has yet to be announced, but should be done so in the near future.