Ohio State Ranks No. 5 In Preseason Coaches Poll

The preseason Amway Coaches Poll came out and ranked Ohio State as the fifth-best team in the nation and the No. 1 team in the Big Ten.

The Coaches Poll is constructed by a randomly selected panel of 65 FBS coaches, who were selected from a pool featuring those who had indicated their willingness to participate to the American Football Coaches Association.

Each coach submitted a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second-place vote for 24, and it continues down to one point for the No. 25 spot.

Ahead of the Buckeyes were Clemson, Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma. The reigning national-champion Tigers received 59 of a possible 65 first-place votes, while the Crimson Tide picked up the other six.

It is not unexpected to see Clemson atop the rankings after its 44-16 dismantling of Alabama in the CFP National Championship Game. The Tigers returned quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and dynamic receiving duo Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross, who all thrived as underclassmen, from the national title team.

Six other Big Ten programs other than Ohio State cracked the Coach’s Poll Top 25, giving the conference the most members in the Top 25 with seven schools. Michigan (7), Penn State (14), Wisconsin (17), Iowa (19), Michigan State (20) and Northwestern (25) also represented the Big Ten in addition to the Scarlet and Gray.

Finishing just nine points behind Northwestern for the final spot, Nebraska (26) represented the top team excluded from the list.

Second to the Big Ten was the SEC, with six programs representing the conference: Alabama (2), Georgia (3), LSU (5), Florida (8), Texas A&M (11) and Auburn (16).

The Pac-12 also received substantial recognition with five schools making the cut, despite traditional power USC (34) on the outside with only 47 points. The following Pac-12 programs made it: No. 12 Washington, No. 13 Oregon, No. 15 Utah, No. 21 Washington State and No. 23 Stanford.

The other schools who were ranked in the Top 25 were Notre Dame (9), Texas (10), UCF (17), Syracuse (22) and Iowa State (24).

For reference, Ohio State ranked No. 3 in the country in the preseason coaches poll in 2018, behind Alabama and Clemson.

With results from the 2018 season included, as well as point totals and first-place tallies from the vote, the entire preseason Coaches Poll Top 25 is listed below.

 

No. 1 Clemson (15-0)

Points: 1,619 (59 first-place votes). Previous ranking: 1. Opens: Aug. 29 vs. Georgia Tech (ACC, 8).

No. 2 Alabama (14-1)

Points: 1,566 (6 first-place votes). Previous ranking: 2. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Duke in Atlanta (ABC, 8).

No. 3 Georgia (11-3)

Points: 1,447. Previous ranking: 8. Opens: Aug. 31 at Vanderbilt (SEC, 7:30).

No. 4 Oklahoma (12-2)

Points: 1,415. Previous ranking: 4. Opens: Sept. 1 vs. Houston (ABC, 8).

No. 5 Ohio State (13-1)

Points: 1,368. Previous ranking: 3. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Florida Atlantic (Fox, noon)

No. 6 LSU (10-3)

Points: 1,218. Previous ranking: 7. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Georgia Southern (ESPNU, 7:30).

No. 7 Michigan (10-3)

Points: 1,155. Previous ranking: 14. Opens: Aug. 31 (ESPN, 7).

No. 8 Florida (10-3)

Points: 1,103. Previous ranking: 6. Opens: Aug. 24 vs. Miami (Fla.), Orlando (ESPN, 7).

No. 9 Notre Dame (12-1)

Points: 1,100. Previous ranking: 5. Opens: Sept. 2 at Louisville (ESPN, 8).

No. 10 Texas (10-4)

Points: 1,038. Previous ranking: 9. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Louisiana Tech.

No. 11 Texas A&M (9-4)

Points: 893. Previous ranking: 16. Opens: Aug. 29 vs. Texas State (SEC, 8:30).

No. 12 Washington (10-4)

Points: 834. Previous ranking: 13. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Eastern Washington (Pac-12, 3).

No. 13 Oregon (9-4)

Points: 787. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Auburn, Arlington, Texas (ABC, 7:30).

No. 14 Penn State (9-4)

Points: 699. Previous ranking: 17. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Idaho (BTN, 3:30).

No. 15 Utah (9-5)

Points: 642. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 29 at BYU (ESPN, 10:15).

No. 16 Auburn (8-5)

Points: 606. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Oregon, Arlington, Texas (ABC, 7:30).

No. 17 Central Florida (12-1)

Points: 436. Previous ranking: 12. Opens: Aug. 29 vs. Florida A&M (CBSSN, 7:30).

No. 17 Wisconsin (8-5)

Points: 436. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 30 at South Florida (ESPN, 7).

No. 19 Iowa (9-4)

Points: 343. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Miami (Ohio) (FS1, 7:30).

No. 20 Michigan State (7-6)

Points: 313. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 30 vs. Tulsa (FS1, 7).

No. 21 Washington State (11-2)

Points: 274. Previous ranking: 10. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. New Mexico State (Pac-12, 10).

No. 22 Syracuse (10-3)

Points: 227. Previous ranking: 15. Opens: Aug. 31 at Liberty.

No. 23 Stanford (9-4)

Points: 200. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Northwestern (Fox, 4).

No. 24 Iowa State (8-5)

Points: 169. Previous ranking: Not ranked. Opens: Aug. 31 vs. Northern Iowa.

No. 25 Northwestern (9-5)

Points: 161. Previous ranking: 19. Opens: Aug. 31 at Stanford (Fox, 4).

[divider line_type=”Full Width Line” line_thickness=”2″ divider_color=”default”][nectar_btn size=”jumbo” button_style=”regular” button_color_2=”Accent-Color” icon_family=”none” url=”http://www.buckeyesports.com/boards/” text=”Join The Conversation”]