The 2016 Preseason Coaches Poll has been released and the Alabama Crimson Tide top the rankings. Alabama received 55 first place votes and 1,585 total points.
Clemson comes in at number two. The Tigers received one seven first-place vote and 1,524 points overall. Oklahoma follows in third place with no first place vote and 1,398 points.
The SEC leads all conferences with six teams in the Top 25 poll, including three in the Top 10. The Pac-12 is second with five teams, followed by the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, AAC, and Independents. Listed below is the full conference breakdown:
- SEC – 6
- Pac-12 – 5
- ACC – 4
- Big 12 – 4
- Big Ten – 4
- AAC – 1
- Indep – 1 (Notre Dame)
The complete 2016 Preseason Coaches Poll is listed below:
1. Alabama (55)
2. Clemson (7)
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida State (1)
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Stanford
8. Michigan
9. Notre Dame
10. Tennessee (1)
11. Michigan State
12. Ole Miss
13. Houston
14. TCU
15. Iowa
16. Georgia
17. USC
18. Washington
19. Oklahoma State
20. North Carolina
21. Baylor
22. Oregon
23. Louisville
24. UCLA
25. Florida
Others Receiving Votes
Miami (Fla.) 120; Wisconsin 82; Utah 73; Boise State 73; Washington State 47; Texas A&M 37; Texas 34; Arkansas 34; Northwestern 31; Navy 30; Mississippi State 19; San Diego State 18; Nebraska 17; Auburn 17; Western Kentucky 11; Pittsburgh 8; Brigham Young 6; Appalachian State 4; Duke 3; Arizona 2; Marshall 2; Toledo 2; South Florida 2; Memphis 1; Indiana 1; Northern Illinois 1.
What do you think of the poll? Is your team ranked? Let us know in the comments below.
Stanford? USC? (why? because they are ALWAYS there?) Washington? UCLA? (see USC) Oregon? Notre Dame? (YUCK ! See USC)
Michigan, Iowa, Washington and Notre Dame dont belong anywhere near that high
I have a feeling this season is going to be a disaster for Baylor. I like Butch from his days at CMU but Tennessee is way overranked.
They have been expecting great things of Tennessee the last couple of years & the Vols ended on a good note last year, we shall see.
Baylor will finish with 10 or 11 wins again and when they get to TCU, Herbstriet will once again be lamenting of how undeserving of their ranking. Baylor returns a lot of talent and probably one of the better QB’s in college. The big drop off is about two years down the road depending upon the Head Coach at that time. Don’t underestimate a team that has circled the wagons
CLEMSON TIGERS
washington a sleeping giant
There is now way that 2 teams from the ACC will be in the 4 team playoff.
I love my Sooners, but I cannot stand Bob Stoops. Oklahoma will not make the playoffs, because of him. They will choke at least two games away. I do not expect them to even win the conference, because of him. Do not be surprised if they lose to Houston in their opener. Big game Bob is actually Big choke Bob. They will not beat Ohio State. They are not the third best team in America. Sorry Oklahoma, but until you wise up and get rid of Bob Stoops, you will never ever win another National Championship. Whoopi dag gum do if we win the conference. Heck Oklahoma, you have 45 of those. We fans want more National Championships. We need a Switzer, not a belly itcher. Remember they are preseason number 3. Number 3 has been the jinx in the preseason poll for years. It usually means disaster. Remember 2014, the Sooners were rank preseason number 3 in that poll too and they wound up losing five games. No, Bob Stoops has to go or it will continue to be wait till next year every year.
Bob Stoops is one of the best coaches out there, you should be happy with what you have. Not sure who you would replace him with, Switzer? How many NC does Switzer have? My point is Stoops is one of the many successful coaches out there, you should be happy to have him but I do understand the frustration behind not competing for a national championship lately, I would’ve thought Texas & Oklahoma would be owning the BIG-12 now, I was wrong. Sad when Baylor & TCU are the best two teams in the conference.
^you’re high guy!!!! Oklahoma will be in the playoff’s. I guess you haven’t been around Norman the last few days. Get ready!
“Oklahoma will lose to Houston in their opener”, are you frickin serious!!?? You sound like some stupid bandwagon fan. Why don’t you go find another team… actually another sport to make lame comments about. Sooner Nation sure as hell doesn’t want you!
The Pirates of ECU will soon be there arrrgh!
Seminoles are #Tampabound
Chubb’s, Godwin and Michelle will be healthy in time! Why are the Dawgs ranked with the low ballers? No top 15 bid! Oh no! Folks pay close attention to the first week of action! 35+ points a game this year? And quarterback will be no problem as long as first year coach really looks at who really needs to start! BTW Dawgs win 38-24 fist week of action:)
This is the coaches poll people. The poll you should take the least seriously….
AP comes out in a few weeks and that’s a more legitimate poll. Although everything preseason isn’t anything more than a guess…
when dealing with kids its always hard to make predictions…luck and injuries usually determine wins….yeppers
This is in response to Day. Switzer won 3 National Championships in a span of 13 seasons. He had 8 consecutive Big 8 Titles either won outright or shared. His teams never finished lower than 2nd in the Big 8. He went his first 30 games without a loss to start his career. That’s 29-0-1. He won 2 National Titles in his first 3 years of coaching. He had a 8-5 bowl record and he never lost more than 2 bowl games in a roll. He coached 16 seasons and went 157-29-4 for a .837 winning percentage. Bob stoops is not that good. He has 2 losses or more in all of his seasons except 2. He has 46 losses in 17 seasons. They play more games now so he has won 179 games. Some of those wins are because of overtime games. 1 or 2 losses were because of overtime losses. He is 179-46 for a .796 winning percentage. He has won 3 Big 12 conference Championships in a roll with the benefit of a championship game. His team was lucky to win last years title. If TCU would have kicked the extra point they would have gone into overtime and they probably would have won the game because the Sooner defense was gassed. He runs the wrong kind of offense to be consistently successful. He wears his own team out by trying to be to fast in the hurry up offense. Because he is trying to run the score up on teams. Because of that he is to stupid to realize that he is tiring his own defense out too. By the 4th quarter his team is exhausted and they tend to give up to many points per game. They are trying to play basketball on the football field. Switzer is to old now to coach, but what I am saying is we need to get somebody that can coach as good as Switzer or Wilkinson. We should have gone after somebody like Saban or Myers at the time. There are a lot of coaches out their who can coach better than Stoops. Some coach in the NFL as head coaches or assistants. Some coach in college. We just need to search hard enough to find them. Bob Stoops will choke this season away and I will be the one to say I told you so. Do not cry baby Sooner fans whenever that happens. Baker Mayfield is not that good a quarterback, the offensive line cannot run block that good, especially in the red zone. The linebackers are being replaced and the secondary cannot cover very well. Even if they were going to win over Houston and Ohio State, they will find some way to lose a game or two to somebody they should win against. Their defense is not that good. They will give up a lot of points against good teams and will have to out point the opponent. Oklahoma will be lucky to finish in the top 25.
I understand where you are coming from but I think your living in the past, times have changed & most certainly so has the Big-12 that will be adding on more teams in the future with a Championship title as well. I would just say to you, be careful what you wish for, what happens when Oklahoma fires Stoops then the Sooners start going through coaches because none of them are working out. Stoops is the face of the Sooners, he has been there 17 years with 179-46 like you said, has won one national championship & 9 conference titles. Oklahoma is averaging 10-11 wins a year & every team out there loses close games plus they win close games as well, luck does play a big part of it. May be you’re right, Oklahoma is in need of a change but mind you that Stoops has never had a losing record, not even close to one, I feel the same way about Mark Rick at Georgia, now he is at The U & will probably turn that university to power house again. Good luck with your Sooners, just saying. You better have a winner picked out before you get rid of Stoops, it won’t be easy.
Oklahoma can find a good coach if they offer enough money and interview coaches with the intent that they tell them what to expect. Oklahoma’s tradition is a lot like Alabama’s. Even more so when you break it down into other categories, such as winning streaks, conference championships, Heisman trophies, and other individual awards, All-Americans, and yes even National Championships when you include other polls like they do. Stoops is not a great coach. He is only above average. The Big 12 is not any tougher than when it was the Big 8. They have always played Texas even back then. They dominated Oklahoma State even when they had good teams. Remember Oklahoma State never beat Oklahoma except in 1976. Barry Sanders couldn’t even beat Oklahoma. Nebraska was glad to see Switzer leave, because Oklahoma would usually beat them even when they thought they had the better team. Switzer’s teams were always ready to play. They lost usually, because of turnovers or a penalty. Even then they usually won. They would beat themselves, not because the other team was necessarily better than they. Bob Stoops’ teams most of the time get beat, because they are not necessarily ready to play. It’s not about living in the past. It’s about doing your job as a coach. Bob Stoops is not doing his job. He isn’t even getting any good players to come there anymore. When he does get the players they are not starting or they are not giving their all. They even decide to either leave early for the pro’s or they transfer. Why didn’t Alex Ross stay another year? I tell you why, because he did not want to sit on the bench. He was used mostly for special teams play. Why did Trevor Knight leave? He wanted to play, but he also was not as good as everybody thought. You watch, if Baker Mayfield goes down with an injury, Oklahoma has no back up quarterback with any game experience. Besides, you will never know if Oklahoma will fall or rise even higher with a new head coach until you try. Do not be afraid of trying to find somebody who can coach. There is one thing certain however, Bob Stoops cannot get us there. He hasn’t done it in now going on 16 years. The one he has was because of Josh Hieple, not because of Bob Stoops’ coaching ability. They were also lucky to beat Florida State back then, because Snoop Minnis did not get to play. Oklahoma was not that impressive on offense in that game and Florida State’s offense was sputtering because the other receivers were not catching the ball. Oklahoma can do better than what they show, but they don’t, because Bob Stoops is not that good a motivator. He will be a disappointment this year and we will have to wait till next year.
I’m still so surprised the PAC-12 gets zero respect. They have top-to-bottom the hardest schedule. My points:
1.) Each team plays 9 conference games, which puts them at a disadvantage in terms of final record as the conference automatically will have 6 more losses than if they played a weak Group of 5 or FCS team.
2.) Their OUT OF CONFERENCE schedule is RIDICULOUS. Every team basically plays at least 1 Power-5 team. Half of them play 2 Power 5 teams.
3.) They travel. All of them play at least 5 true away road games. That doesn’t include a “neutral” site game.
I would love to see the Committee recognize how the ACC and SEC are clearly at an advantage by only playing 8 conference games and a weak out of conference schedule (1 “neutral” power 5 game, 2 scrub Group of 5 teams, and an FCS team). ***Note: some SEC teams (aka the SEC East play a decent out of conference schedule. I.e. teams with built in state rivalries such as Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Florida).
So, here’s hoping that we can get a more honest (less ESPN statistics skewed) portrayal of the real NCAA rankings. Go Football! I think we’ll see some great play this year (i.e. Bama, Tennessee, USC, Stanford, Clemson, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State).
And they have 6 more wins to go along with those 6 loses. Because every game has a winner and a loser.
When conferences like the ACC and SEC replace a 9th conference game with an FCS or lowly group of 5 team, that’s basically guaranteeing another 7 wins. Conferences are mathematically disadvantaged by playing an extra conference game. It’s not rocket science, it’s basic math.
Maverick,
There are no guarantees in anything, many FCS & G5 teams have upset P5 conference teams & not all conferences are created equal. Auburn barely won against J’vill St last year & Wash St lost to Portland St & they’re in a 9 game conference, poor Cougars.
I think the big 10 and big 12 are underrated in this coaches poll. Oh well hope LSU wins it all
This is for dksmccall. I am not high, because I do not take drugs. I speak from observational experience. Oklahoma will not get to the playoffs, because they talk to much rather than play. This has been going on since Bob Stoops has been there. They need to learn to shut up and do their talking on the field. They were lucky to get there last year, because the committee felt sorry for the Big 12. Don’t you all see. Baylor should have been in the playoffs the year before. Maybe even TCU. But because they do not have a big name, they did not make it. Oklahoma has the big name, so they made it last year. They really wasn’t that good, because they lost to a Texas team that was blown out by Notre Dame. They were lucky to beat TCU, because of TCU’s stupidity to go for two rather than one. The extra point would have sent the game into overtime. Oklahoma was tired and they would not have stopped TCU from scoring touchdowns. Bob the choker has been choking little games and some big games for years. If he was at Auburn, LSU, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, USC, Ohio State, or even Alabama, he would have been fired years ago. Oklahoma’s tradition is better than all of those teams if you were to look at all of the different categories such as conference championships, winning streaks, consecutive conference championships, Heisman trophy winners, 10 game seasons, other award winning trophies, and even national championships when you include other polls like Alabama does. So why are we hanging onto a lame duck coach, who all he can do is win games, but without any rewards to go with it except every other year he might win the conference. No national championships except in 2000. That is now 16 years and counting. Yes I said 16 years and counting, because he will not win it this year either. We have no backup quarterback, our running backs can not run well in the red zone, because the offensive line cannot run block very well. The defense cannot stop anybody, especially if they are a good team. Bob Stoops gets out coached to easily. His game plans are always predictable. He doesn’t let the other players play when they blow someone out, so the younger players do not gain experience for the future. His recruiting has fallen off also. He made promises when he was hired and he has not kept them. He said he was going to recruit the fastest, strongest, and quickest players every year. His teams really do not have any team speed. Watch them this year when they have a break away play. When they play good teams, those teams will usually catch them from behind. When the other team has a break away play, Oklahoma cannot catch them. When Switzer was there, Oklahoma had the fastest teams in America. Alabama is the one with all the speed now, because Bob Stoops is to afraid to go after any five star athletes. Do not cry baby when I can tell you at the end of this season that I said I told you so.
Roger,
You keep praising Barry Switzer like he was the in-all-be-all but you are not mentioning one BIG thing behind him leaving Oklahoma, Switzer left the Sooners on probation! That’s like me saying USC needs another coach like Pete Carroll. There is a cost to getting five star recruits, some don’t even make it & most are divas that find themselves in trouble a lot. The reason I back Stoops is there is a limited amount of problems at Oklahoma, he made it to 3 BCS championship games & yes lost them but one thing about him is he seems to keep Oklahoma in the mix. You are complaining about not winning a championship in 16yrs, fair enough. Neither has Michigan but has finally landed a great coach in Harbaugh (will see if he can get the Wolverines back to the playoffs). Tennessee, USC, Texas & The Ohio State has only won one, Bama is the only team that has won 4 in the last 7 years, LSU has not won one since Magic Nick left & look at fiasco that has happened at all these schools you mentioned. Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, Florida & USC, coaching changing galore! Georgia just got rid of Mark after 16yrs of basically going through the same thing, lets see how that works out for them, they too got tried of the close wins & choking loses. You make a lot of valid points & if I was a Sooner fan, I would probably agree with you but being someone on the outside looking in, try not to get happier then happy.
Day, The point I am trying to make is this. Oklahoma is better than those teams I mentioned when it comes to tradition. I know, because I have studied all of their histories. The top traditional powers that had consistency in winning and playing for national championships are Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame, and USC. They have the most national titles and most consistent programs usually. Notre Dame has fallen off some, because they no longer get the best recruits. Alabama has found their coach. USC fell after Pete Carroll left and probation. Bob Stoops is simply not getting it done. Switzers teams had some problems, but so does everyone else. Oklahoma was in the papers more, because the press does not like them when they are winning. The Dallas Morning News was always trying to find fault, because Switzer was beating Texas most of the time and everyone else. Bob Stoops’ team has been investigated and was found with some wrong doing. They had to forfeit their games back in 2005. They appealed the decision and got their wins back. One of the players that got money for not working at a car dealership was Rhett Bomar. Remember him? As for the lack of discipline off the field, Bob has had several players in trouble with the law. More so than Switzer’s teams. They just sweep it under the rug now, because the press likes Stoops. The press is always jealous of Oklahoma when they have dominated the game. The NCAA has always changed the rules or the BCS would change the rules when Oklahoma was in the mix. The reason you seem to like Bob is, because you are not a fan of Oklahoma. True Oklahoma fans want a change, because Bob has not come through on his promises. Their is somebody out there who can coach better than he can and will take the job more seriously. Oklahoma just has to look for him. There are NFL and college coaches out there that would love to have the job. Bob Stoops’ team this year is the same as all the others he has had. Their all talk and no do. You will see when they fail to make the playoffs. This team will under achieve. Last year they over achieved. That is what I have been trying to say about his inconsistency as a coach. He just does not have it to be big time college coach. He belongs at a lower divisional school or lesser power house, not Oklahoma. One other thing, Switzer left, because he was forced out by people who did not want him there. He probably would have stayed if they would have left him alone and let him handle the situation he had to deal with. He took over Oklahoma when they were on probation back in 1973-75. He went 32-1-1 during those three years. Bob Stoops will never be able to coach that good if his life depended on it.
This is to Boomer, Do not be surprised when Oklahoma does not make the playoffs. I am the biggest Oklahoma fan in America, but I do not like Bob Stoops. He is the biggest choking coach in America. He is an embarrassment to the program, because of all his empty promises. Oklahoma has the team to be one of the best in the nation, however Bob Stoops will be the reason they will not show it. You remind me of the fans I was reading trash talk when Oklahoma played LSU for the national championship back in 2003. They said how we had the best coach, how the SEC was weak, how bad Saban was as a coach, and how we were so dominate. All Oklahoma did then was embarrass themselves and lost 21-14. Everybody in the nation started to say how we did not belong, because we had lost to Kansas State by 35-7 in the Big 12 Championship game. The next season the team printed up t-shirts which said Finish on them. What does the team do, they go 12-0 with a Big 12 championship banner, but they turn around and get the hell beat out of them against USC 55-19. Then the nation, especially Auburn fans say that Oklahoma did not belong in the game to begin with. So Boomer you need to wake up and see what really is going on at O.U. Bob Stoops cannot get it done. I no longer expect Oklahoma to do anything in football, because all they do is fall short of their goals. They talk to much and they do not play hard enough from game to game to reach their goal. Oklahoma could and should beat Houston and maybe Ohio State. Let’s say that they do start 3-0 like they did in 2014. Bob Stoops will just turn around and lose to teams that they ought to beat. If you have a press guide look at the scores of the games that his teams have lost to and who they lost to. Oklahoma State was 3-7 back in 2001 and Oklahoma lost to them. Guess who the coach for Oklahoma State was. It was Les Miles, that’s who. LSU wants to get rid of him, because he cannot get LSU another national championship. He has one for them (2007). We on the other hand are suppose to be happy with Mr. Lame Duck Bob. I am tired of waiting for next year to come. It is time for a change. You are the one that is not a true fan if you continue to put up with all the empty promises Bob Stoops puts out.
In their 37-17 loss to Clemson in last year’s Orange Bowl, rather than being victimized by the Tigers’ team speed OU was consistently beaten between the tackles on both sides of the ball. In fact, on occasion they were simply manhandled. This is a glaring weakness that will have to be corrected if the Sooners expect to regain the top spot on the totem pole. Maybe a new defensive can solve half this problem. Regardless, with what is now ranked as the #5 recruiting class coming in 2017, perhaps help is on the way. But the OU defense of recent years bears little resemblance to the Selmon-Bosworth wrecking crews that used to distinguish the Sooners’ defensive play, and on offense I can’t believe OU’ s backs aren’t talented enough to be more effective against the better teams IF they have more consistent play up front. If I were Coach Stoops, I’d look there to begin making changes/improvements. I’m an SEC fan, but I grew up watching Bud Wilkinson, Switzer, and now Stoops develop and sustain consistently superior football teams, year after year, and hope they fare well this year.
John, You seem to understand what I have been trying to say. The others do not. Oklahoma’s defense does not know how to play with the intensity level required to win big games or sometimes even average games. They are always running around like their heads are chopped off. They are usually out of position or to slow to react to what is going on. I think the reason is, because they do not huddle or get to huddle, because of the style of play they or the opponent is running. The running backs are great backs, but the offensive line is never physical enough to be good at run blocking or they are tired by the 4th quarter. This is do to Bob Stoops’ style of play which is to hurry up all the time. The players cannot catch their breath long enough before they are back out on the field. Why does Bob think Oklahoma has to score on every play. Learn how to drive the ball down field and quit worrying about how fast you are trying to score. Football is about strategy and Bob Stoops is not strategizing his team into position to win the games at the end, but rather he is trying to win the game with fast starts. This philosophy can back fire on you and cost you your goals. Unless he changes and realizes his way does not have any consistency from game to game, then Oklahoma needs to make a change by finding someone else who can do the job. He cannot and will not win the national title if he continues down the road he is on.
With no proven quarterback and several running backs who’ve yet to establish themselves, the prospect of a team remaining dominant in the SEC and possibly repeating as national champions seems beyond the bounds of possibility — unless, of course, it’s that Big Red Machine in Tuscaloosa. Indeed, when you look at two- and sometimes three-deep 4- and 5-star depth at virtually every position on both sides of the ball, the possibility becomes more imaginable. Still, am I nuts, or do others of you also believe Saban can work his magic again this year? Look forward to reading your thoughts…