Preseason 2018 Coaches Poll offers few surprises in Top 25
By Zach Bigalke
The usual suspects populate the preseason Coaches Poll released in early August. Here is a look at the coaches’ top 25 teams entering the 2018 season.
With the release of the preseason Coaches Poll on August 2, there were few surprises among the top 25 teams listed. Out of the 65 coaches on the 2018 panel of voters, 61 selected defending College Football Playoff national champion Alabama as their No. 1 overall team.
ACC champion and perennial Playoff contender Clemson is right behind the Crimson Tide at No. 2 in the country. And even with the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Urban Meyer and his future at Ohio State the defending Big Ten champions were placed No. 3 on the list.
SEC champion Georgia and Big 12 kings Oklahoma are sitting at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Among the top five on the list, the Buckeyes and the Sooners look like the teams with the greatest potential to fall down the rankings this year if Meyer remains sidelined and Oklahoma fails to find a successor to 2017 Heisman winner Baker Mayfield.
The Big Ten led the way with five teams in the top 15 of the Coaches Poll. Ohio State was joined by Wisconsin at No. 7, Penn State at No. 9, Michigan State at No. 12, and Michigan at No. 14. The Wolverines appear to be the biggest reach of the group, perennially positioned higher on the list thanks to the Harbaugh factor.
Among the six SEC schools that made the cut in the preseason Coaches Poll, Mississippi State is the one that raises eyebrows the most. The Bulldogs are rated at No. 18 despite the departure of head coach Dan Mullen to take over at Florida. Alabama, Georgia, and the Bulldogs were joined by Auburn at No. 10 and LSU at No. 24. The balance of power, once again, remains solidly skewed toward the West this season.
An interesting aside to keep an eye on is the presence of both Boise State and UCF in the preseason Coaches Poll. The Broncos were slotted just ahead of the Knights, at No. 22 and No. 23 respectively. Boise State enters the year as the favorite to repeat as Mountain West champions, and UCF will try to remain a New Year’s Six contender after Scott Frost left to take over his alma mater.
Both teams have a shot at going undefeated in the regular season, putting them potentially on a collision course for Group of Five supremacy. The coaches recognized that fact by putting both mid-major programs into the preseason top 25.
Full Preseason Coaches Poll (August 2, 2018)
- Alabama (61)
- Clemson (3)
- Ohio State (1)
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Miami
- Penn State
- Auburn
- Notre Dame
- Michigan State
- Stanford
- Michigan
- USC
- TCU
- Virginia Tech
- Mississippi State
- Florida State
- West Virginia
- Texas
- Boise State
- UCF
- LSU
- Oklahoma State
In general, as you can see above, there were few surprises to be found in this preseason release. The bluebloods of the sport are by and large given the benefit of the doubt by the coaches (or the staff member that ultimately ghost-writes each coach’s selections) as per usual.
Next. Top 25 projections after spring practices. dark
As more top 25 lists are released in the run-up to the regular season, we will continue to assess relative position and who might be overrated and underrated.