The coaches have weighed in on “who should start where” as the college football season opens, with Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia and Notre Dame filling the top five spots in the coaches’ preseason top 25 poll released Monday.
It likely will not stay that way for long, as the No. 1 Longhorns will visit the No. 2 Buckeyes in both teams’ season opener on Aug. 30 at Ohio Stadium.
It is the first time in the history of the coaches poll that Texas will open the season at No. 1. The Longhorns were picked to finish first by 28 of the 67 panelists, who are chosen by random draw from a pool of applicants to the American Football Coaches Association showing a willingness to participate.
Ohio State received 20 first-place votes, with Penn State (14), Georgia (3) and No. 6 Clemson (2) also being picked as the preseason No. 1.
Oregon, Alabama, LSU and Miami round out the top 10.
The SEC, with four teams ranked inside the top nine, leads all conference with nine teams in the poll – No. 12 South Carolina, No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 17 Florida, No. 18 Tennessee and No. 21 Texas A&M are also ranked.
The Big Ten placed six teams (No. 12 Illinois, No. 14 Michigan, No. 19 Indiana), while the Big 12 has five representatives (No. 11 Arizona State, No. 20 Kansas State, No. 21 Iowa State, No. 23 BYU and No. 24 Texas Tech).
No. 16 SMU was the only other team from the ACC to join Clemson and Miami.
The only Group of Five team to be ranked to start the season is No. 25 Boise State.
The Associated Press Top 25 will release its preseason rankings on Aug. 11.
