The status of the 2020 college football season has been in question since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports in mid-March. Thursday brought some normalcy to the college football world as the preseason coaches poll was released.
To the surprise of nobody, the two teams with top-tier quarterbacks found themselves at the top. Clemson racked up 38 first-place votes and leads the way at No. 1. Ohio State, which lost to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal last season, grabbed the No. 2 spot with 17 first-place votes. Alabama followed at No. 3 with four first-place votes.
Defending national champion LSU chimed in at No. 5, and was the only other team in the poll with first-place votes (6). Five SEC teams are in the top 12, including Georgia at No. 4, Florida at No. 8 and Auburn at No. 11.
UCF (No. 21) and Cincinnati (No. 22) are the only two Group of Five teams included in the poll.
Here's a look at the full poll (first-place votes in parenthesis):
- Clemson (38)
- Ohio State (17)
- Alabama (4)
- Georgia
- LSU (6)
- Oklahoma
- Penn State
- Florida
- Oregon
- Notre Dame
- Auburn
- Wisconsin
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Michigan
- Oklahoma State
- USC
- Minnesota
- North Carolina
- Utah
- UCF
- Cincinnati
- Iowa
- Virginia Tech
- Iowa State
Others receiving votes: Tennessee; Boise State; Arizona State; Kentucky; Memphis; Baylor; Washington; Louisville; Miami (FL); Appalachian State; Navy; Virginia; Air Force; Mississippi State; TCU; Washington State; Tulane; California; UL Lafayette; SMU; Nebraska; Stanford; Pittsburgh; Kansas State; Indiana; Duke
