Current:Home > InvestGeorgia repeats at No. 1 as SEC, Big Ten dominate preseason US LBM Coaches Poll -WealthRise Academy
Georgia repeats at No. 1 as SEC, Big Ten dominate preseason US LBM Coaches Poll
View
Date:2025-04-17 02:42:33
Amid major conference realignment, a bigger playoff field and a whole lot of movement on the coaching carousel, the 2024 football season is going to reflect a lot of change. One thing, however, will be the same as last season: Georgia will enter the campaign with the No. 1 ranking in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll.
The Bulldogs, though not defending a national championship this time, were voted first by 46 of the 55 coaches on this season’s panel. They finished third in the final rankings last season after coming up short in the SEC championship game and missing the four-team College Football Playoff field.
Ohio State will open at No. 2. The Buckeyes, favored to return to the top of the expanded Big Ten, picked up seven of the remaining nine first-place nods to land a spot ahead of new fellow conference member Oregon. Texas, a semifinalist last year now representing the SEC, will open at No. 4, picking up a No. 1 vote. It's the highest starting spot for the Longhorns since 2010. Alabama rounds out the top five, still a lofty position but still the lowest position in the preseason poll for the Crimson Tide since 2009.
TOP 25 RANKING: See the complete preseason US LBM Coaches Poll
WHAT TO KNOW:Preseason outlooks for every team in preseason poll
Mississippi earns the No. 6 ranking, its highest preseason start since USA TODAY began administering the coaches poll in 1991. Their previous high was in 1970. Notre Dame, the lone independent in the Top 25, begins at No. 7. Defending national champion Michigan received the last No. 1 vote but lands at No. 8 overall, the lowest preseason ranking for the previous year’s champ since 2011 when Auburn opened at No. 19. Penn State and Florida State round out the top 10.
With the exception of the aforementioned Fighting Irish, the four so-called power conferences comprise the entire top 25. The SEC has the most with nine, all in the top 20. That record-tying haul, a first for any conference in the preseason poll, is in part a function of league expansion as the list includes the fourth-ranked Longhorns and fellow newcomer Oklahoma at No. 16. The poll of Sept. 8, 2015, also had nine SEC teams ranked.
LEFT OUT:Five teams snubbed in the preseason Top 25 ranking
The similarly enlarged Big Ten has six ranked squads, with the four in the top 10 joined by No. 23 Southern California and No. 25 Iowa. The Big 12 is next with five teams, but newcomer Utah is the highest of the group at No. 13. The ACC holds down the other four slots in the Top 25.
Washington, the national runner-up from a season ago, is first among other schools receiving votes but becomes the first team since the beginning of the Bowl Championship Series in 1998 to start the season unranked after appearing in the national championship game. Also of note, No member of a Group of Five league cracked the Top 25 for the first time since 2014. Memphis, a projected favorite in the American Athletic Conference, came the closest with 44 poll points.
veryGood! (14)
Related
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Tesla faces strikes in Sweden unless it signs a collective bargaining agreement
- Jezebel, the sharp-edged feminist website, is shutting down after 16 years
- Israeli strikes hit near several hospitals as the military pushes deeper into Gaza City
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Former Indiana sheriff accused of having employees perform personal chores charged with theft
- Escapee captured after 9 days when dog bark alerted couple pleads guilty in Pennsylvania
- Arkansas man receives the world's first whole eye transplant plus a new face
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- Manchin decision hurts Democrats’ Senate hopes and sparks new speculation about a presidential bid
Ranking
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- The 2024 Grammy Award nominations are about to arrive. Here’s what to know
- Formatting citations? Here's how to create a hanging indent, normal indent on Google Docs
- Class-action lawsuit alleges unsafe conditions at migrant detention facility in New Mexico
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Taylor Swift’s Argentina concert takes political turn as presidential election nears
- Mississippi attorney general asks state Supreme Court to set execution dates for 2 prisoners
- Demonstrators brawl outside LA’s Museum of Tolerance after screening of Hamas attack video
Recommendation
A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
How to avoid Veterans Day scams: Tips so your donations reach people who need help
Jury awards $1.2 million to Robert De Niro’s former assistant in gender discrimination lawsuit
Erdogan backtracks after siding with court that defied top court’s ruling on lawmaker’s release
Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
Hear Dua Lipa's flirty, ridiculously catchy new song 'Houdini' from upcoming third album
96-year-old Korean War veteran still attempting to get Purple Heart medal after 7 decades
Former Indiana sheriff accused of having employees perform personal chores charged with theft