USA TODAY/AMWAY COACHES’ POLL
1. Ohio State (62) 1,598
2. TCU (1) 1,487
3. Alabama (1) 1,452
4. Baylor 1,365
5. Oregon 1,260
6. Michigan State 1,230
7. Auburn 1,103
8. Florida State 1,057
9. Georgia 1,026
10. USC 1,014
11. Notre Dame 883
12. Clemson 838
13. LSU 727
14. UCLA 697
15. Ole Miss 668
16. Arizona State 577
17. Georgia Tech 573
18. Wisconsin 470
19. Oklahoma 407
20. Arkansas 377
21. Stanford 365
22. Arizona 299
23. Missouri 229
24. Boise State 190
25. Tennessee 166
Also receiving votes: Mississippi State 164; Texas A&M 149; Oklahoma State 89; Virginia Tech 70; Utah 40; Kansas State 37; Louisville 27; Nebraska 27; Minnesota 25; Penn State 20; South Carolina 18; Miami (Fla.) 16; Texas 8; Illinois 7; Duke 6; Air Force 5; Louisiana Tech 5; Marshall 4; Utah State 4; West Virginia 3; North Carolina State 3; Brigham Young 3; Florida 2; Georgia Southern 2; North Carolina 2; Maryland 1; Michigan 1; Kentucky 1; Central Florida 1; Cincinnati 1; Washington 1.
Georgia, which finished last season ranked No. 9, will open this season in the same spot.
That’s according to the USA Today/Amway preseason coaches’ poll, which was released Thursday morning. The Bulldogs were one of eight SEC teams represented in the initial poll, including three from the Eastern Division. Defending East champion Missouri is 23rd and Tennessee came in at 25.
Alabama received the league’s highest ranking at 3. The SEC’s other ranked teams were Auburn (7), LSU (13), Ole Miss (15) and Arkansas (20). Defending national champion Ohio State opens at No. 1 and Georgia Tech is 17th.
The Bulldogs return 14 starters and four specialists from last year’s 10-3 team, which finished ninth in both the coaches’ and writers’ polls after defeating No. 20 Louisville 34-17 in the Belk Bowl. Most notably, Georgia will be deciding on a new starting quarterback in preseason camp, which opens Tuesday.
Georgia opened last season ranked No. 12 in both polls. It is the third time in the past four seasons the Bulldogs will open the year in the top 10. They were sixth in 2012 and fifth in 2013. In three of the past four seasons, Georgia finished with a better ranking at the end of the season than in the preseason.
