USA Today Coaches Poll Released

August 1st and the time has officially began for college football, at least for the casual fan. The top 25 coaches poll was released, and there are a few surprises Steve Spurrier did not give his obligatory vote for Duke, Michigan is ranked 24th, and Kansas is ranked 13th and living off of last years success.

1. Georgia (22) 1,438
2. Southern California (14) 1,430
3. Ohio State (14) 1,392
4. Oklahoma (3) 1,329
5. Florida (5) 1,293
6. LSU (3) 1,163
7. Missouri 1,143
8. West Virginia 1,008
9. Clemson 999
10. Texas 979
11. Auburn 888
12. Wisconsin 747
13. Kansas 714
14. Texas Tech 644
15. Virginia Tech 568
16. Arizona State 560
17. Brigham Young 547
18. Tennessee 506
19. Illinois 422
20. Oregon 399
21. South Florida 350
22. Penn State 313
23. Wake Forest 203
24. Michigan 112
25. Fresno State 91

Others receiving votes

Alabama (7-6) 83; South Carolina (6-6) 64; Utah (9-4) 60; Florida State (7-6) 53; Rutgers (8-5) 53; Boston College (11-3) 47; California (7-6) 41; Pittsburgh (5-7) 34; Boise State (10-3) 25; Oregon State (9-4) 23; Nebraska (5-7) 17; Cincinnati (10-3) 13; Virginia (9-4) 12; Connecticut (9-4) 9; Michigan State (7-6) 9; Mississippi State (8-5) 6; Kentucky (8-5) 5; Notre Dame (3-9) 5; TCU (8-5) 5; Maryland (6-7) 4; North Carolina (4-8) 3; Texas A&M (7-6) 3; UCLA (6-7) 3; Central Florida (10-4) 2; Georgia Tech (7-6) 2; Louisville (6-6) 2; Arizona (5-7) 1; Colorado (6-7) 1; Oklahoma State (7-6) 1; Tulsa (10-4) 1.

BYU is the highest ranked Non-BCS and Mountain West team at 17 which sounds about right, Utah received votes and is at 28, and then TCU came in tied for 42 with 5 votes.

As for opponents the league plays this year there are many that received votes or are ranked starting with #3 Oklahoma, #24 Michigan, #18 Tennessee, Cal, Oregon State, UCLA, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Colorado, Arizona, and Tulsa.

The Michigan placement is odd, yes they always have talent and compete for a top 3 spot, within the 4th best conference this year, the Big 10. Even in saying that they get a new coach who will be attempting run a completely different system, they lose starting players in QB Chad Henne, RB Mike Hart, WR Mario Manningham, and their top offensive line Chris Long all who were drafted in the NFL.

Respect is deserved but that many variables are hard to come by and to be ranked is questionable, it is too bad these polls decide so much in determining BCS games, but it is still very fun to speculate, so enjoy!