Preseason coaches' poll released

Coaches vote Tide overwhelming No. 1

Associated Press

TYSONS CORNER, Va. -- Defending national champion Alabama is No. 1 atop the USA Today preseason coaches' poll.

Boise State will begin the season ranked No. 5. The Broncos, like Alabama, finished last season 14-0. They beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Crimson Tide got 55 of 59 possible first place votes. The other four went to Ohio State, which is No. 2 in the newspaper's ranking.

Florida is third, followed by Texas, which lost to Alabama in the BCS title game in January.

Virginia Tech was sixth, followed by TCU, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa to round out the top 10. (continued at link)

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5442120

Normally I could care less about preseason rankings but in college football they play a far more important role than other sports. The way I look at it is college football's regular season is they're playoff and its easier to remain near the top than to have to fight up the polls.