Clemson ranked No. 1 preseason for first time in Coaches Poll |
History continues to be made in the
Dabo Swinney era and the next stop on that road is Thursday’s preseason No. 1 ranking by the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, a school-first.
The previous bests were No. 2 rankings in 2016 and 2018, which the Tigers improved on with national championship seasons in each. Clemson earned 59 of the 65 first-place votes. Alabama checked in at No. 2, followed by Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State. Among ACC reps, Syracuse rounds out the group at No. 22. Clemson has been ranked in the top-5 preseason each of the last three seasons and bettered that ranking every time with the final poll (2016 - No. 2 to No. 1; 2017 - No. 5 to No. 4; 2018 - No. 2 to No. 1). This is an eighth-straight Coaches Poll where Swinney’s Tigers have been ranked preseason. It is a ninth-time in school history that Clemson has been in the Coaches’ top-10 preseason. USA TODAY Top 25 Preseason Rnk Team Record Points 1st votes 1 Clemson 0-0 1619 59 2 Alabama 0-0 1566 6 3 Georgia 0-0 1447 4 Oklahoma 0-0 1415 5 Ohio St. 0-0 1368 6 LSU 0-0 1218 7 Michigan 0-0 1155 8 Florida 0-0 1103 9 Notre Dame 0-0 1100 10 Texas 0-0 1038 11 Texas A&M 0-0 893 12 Washington 0-0 834 13 Oregon 0-0 787 14 Penn St. 0-0 699 15 Utah 0-0 642 16 Auburn 0-0 606 17 Wisconsin 0-0 436 17 UCF 0-0 436 19 Iowa 0-0 343 20 Michigan St. 0-0 313 21 Wash St. 0-0 274 22 Syracuse 0-0 227 23 Stanford 0-0 200 24 Iowa St. 0-0 169 25 Northwestern 0-0 161 Other receiving votes: Nebraska 152; Boise State 118; Mississippi State 111; Miami 94; Army 91; Kentucky 79; Virginia Tech 64; Texas Christian 63; Southern California 47; Utah State 32; Fresno State 32; Virginia 30; Cincinnati 25; West Virginia 24; Memphis 24; Oklahoma State 20; South Carolina 15; NC State 12; Duke 10; Boston College 5; Florida State 4; Baylor 4; Appalachian State 4; North Texas 3; Houston 3; UCLA 2; Temple 2; Arizona State 2; Troy 1; Tennessee 1; Mississippi 1; Minnesota 1.
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