Not surprisingly, some very familiar faces reside at the top of the first major poll of the 2018 season.
Early Thursday afternoon, USA Today released its preseason coaches’ poll, with reigning national champion Alabama sitting comfortably at No. 1. Not only that, but the Crimson Tide garnered 61 of the 65 first-place votes.
The only others to receive first-place votes are 2017 College Football Playoff semifinalist Clemson (three) and Ohio State (one), although the Buckeyes have a little more to worry about than their placement in a meaningless preseason poll. The Top Five is rounded out by No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Oklahoma, while Nos. 6-10 are Washington, Wisconsin, Miami, Penn State and Auburn, respectively.
Below is the remainder of the first coaches’ poll of the 2018 season:
11. Notre Dame
12. Michigan State
13. Stanford
14. Michigan
15. USC
16. TCU
17. Virginia Tech
18. Mississippi State
19. Florida State
20. West Virginia
21. Texas
22. Boise State
23. UCF
24. LSU
25. Oklahoma State
For those who keep score of such things, the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC have the most teams in the Top 25 with five each, followed by the ACC’s four and the Pac-12’s three. Just two Group of Five squads made the initial cut, one apiece from the AAC and Mountain West.