Clemson ranked #7 in Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll

by TigerNet Staff - Mon Aug 26 16:27:33 GMT-04:00 2013

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Alabama Crimson Tide is the favorite to win an unprecedented third straight FWAA national championship – and a fourth in five years – following a preseason vote by selected FWAA members in the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll.

Alabama successfully defended its national title last season and won its seventh Grantland Rice Trophy – the most of any team in college football. Alabama has won FWAA titles in 1965, 1978, 1979, 1992, 2009, 2011 and 2012. The Tide return a strong nucleus of players and are the favorites to win the rugged Southeastern Conference.

In the preseason poll, the Crimson Tide is followed by Ohio State, the only other team to receive first-place votes. Oregon, Stanford and Georgia round out the Top 5.

Half of the Top 12 teams in the poll are from the Southeastern Conference, starting with the top-ranked Crimson Tide and followed by No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 South Carolina, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 10 Florida and No. 12 LSU. An SEC team has claimed the last seven Grantland Rice Trophies since Texas won in 2005.

2013 PRESEASON GRANTLAND RICE POLL

Rank School [1st] Conference Pts. W-L Opening Game

1. Alabama [18] SEC 317 13-1 Aug. 31 vs. Virginia Tech (Atlanta)

2. Ohio State [2] Big Ten 287 12-0 Aug. 31 vs. Buffalo

3. Oregon Pac-12 252 12-1 Aug. 31 vs. Nicholls

4. Stanford Pac-12 247 12-2 Sept. 7 vs. San Jose State

5. Georgia SEC 231 12-2 Aug. 31 vs. at Clemson

6. South Carolina SEC 209 11-2 Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina

7. Clemson ACC 174 11-2 Aug. 31 vs. Georgia

8. Texas A&M SEC 167 11-2 Aug. 31 vs. Rice

9. Louisville American 156 11-2 Sept. 1 vs. Ohio

10. Florida SEC 127 11-2 Aug. 31 vs. Toledo

11. Florida State ACC 94 12-2 Sept. 2 at Pittsburgh

12. LSU SEC 93 10-3 Aug. 31 vs. TCU (Arlington)

13. Oklahoma State Big 12 90 8-5 Aug. 31 vs. Miss. St. (Houston)

14. Notre Dame Independent 87 12-1 Aug. 31 vs. Temple

15. Texas Big 12 68 9-4 Aug. 31 vs. New Mexico State

16. Michigan Big Ten 24 8-5 Aug. 31 vs. Central Michigan

Records are from the 2012 season

The 2013 Grantland Rice Trophy will be awarded by a vote of selected board members and past presidents of the association after the Vizio BCS National Championship. It will be presented to the FWAA's national champion the morning after the BCS title game in Pasadena.

The Grantland Rice Trophy, given to college football's national champion since 1954, is named in memory of the legendary sportswriter. It was the first national championship award presented after college football's postseason.

While the FWAA will not conduct a weekly poll this season, it will present the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week each Monday, as selected by a panel of FWAA members. This marks the 12th season the FWAA will present a national team of the week. Each week, the winner will be announced exclusively on SiriusXM Radio's "College Sports Nation."