Coaches Poll releases preseason top-25 ranking for Clemson

Uiagalelei leads a national title contender in his first season as a starter.

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Aug 10 12:03:12 GMT-04:00 2021

We have reached one of the traditional markers for a college football season with the release of the preseason Coaches Poll -- Clemson again regarded as one of the main National Championship contenders.

Clemson checked in at No. 2 on Tuesday, with Alabama on top of the poll with 63 first-place votes, Oklahoma ranked No. 3 with two first-place votes and Ohio State and Georgia rounding out the top-5.

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers started the season No. 1 in the previous two preseason polls.

Clemson finished No. 3 in the poll last year.

The Tigers have both been ranked in the Coaches preseason top-5 and finished in the top-5 each season since 2016, which no other team in college football accomplished.

Elsewhere in the ACC, North Carolina was ranked No. 9 and Miami was No. 16.

In a change from his head coaching career to this point, Swinney is not listed on the panel for the Coaches Poll voters this year. Swinney of course raised the ire of Ohio State fans with his final regular-season poll last season by ranking his Sugar Bowl opponent outside the top-10.

Coaches Poll - Preseason

Rank Team Record Points (1st votes)

1 Alabama 0-0 1621 (63)

2 Clemson 0-0 1508

3 Oklahoma 0-0 1481 (2)

4 Ohio State 0-0 1435

5 Georgia 0-0 1386

6 Texas A&M 0-0 1286

7 Notre Dame 0-0 1139

8 Iowa State 0-0 1131

9 North Carolina 0-0 999

10 Cincinnati 0-0 979

11 Florida 0-0 870

12 Oregon 0-0 842

13 Louisiana State 0-0 664

14 Southern California 0-0 655

15 Wisconsin 0-0 654

16 Miami 0-0 575

17 Indiana 0-0 573

18 Iowa 0-0 554

19 Texas 0-0 427

20 Penn State 0-0 422

21 Washington 0-0 404

22 Oklahoma State 0-0 216

23 UL Lafayette 0-0 153

24 Coastal Carolina 0-0 150

25 Mississippi 0-0 149

Others rec. votes: Utah 145; Northwestern 120; Arizona State 90; Auburn 84; Liberty 68; Brigham Young 53; Texas Christian 48; Michigan 30; Central Florida 29; NC State 27; Boise State 27; Kentucky 20; San Jose State 18; Army 13; Virginia Tech 9; Missouri 8; UCLA 7; Tulsa 6; Pittsburgh 6; Boston College 6; Houston 5; Ball State 5; West Virginia 4; Southern Methodist 4; Appalachian State 4; UAB 3; Arkansas 3; Nevada 2; Mississippi State 2; Air Force 2; Stanford 1; Marshall 1; Florida State 1; California 1.

The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Board of Coaches is made up of 65 head coaches at Football Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2021 season: Tom Allen, Indiana; Blake Anderson, Utah State; DinoBabers, Syracuse; Walt Bell, Massachusetts; Mike Bloomgren, Rice; Craig Bohl, Wyoming; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Matt Campbell, Iowa State; Jason Candle, Toledo; Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina; Paul Chryst, Wisconsin; Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech; David Cutcliffe, Duke; Butch Davis, Florida International; Manny Diaz, Miami (Florida); Dave Doeren, North Carolina State; Karl Dorrell, Colorado; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, Southern Methodist; Luke Fickell, Cincinnati; Jedd Fisch, Arizona; Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern; James Franklin, Penn State; Willie Fritz, Tulane; Danny Gonzales, New Mexico; Todd Graham, Hawaii; Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State; Will Hall, Southern Mississippi; Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois; Bryan Harsin, Auburn; Clay Helton, Southern California; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Brady Hoke, San Diego State; Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Jimmy Lake, Washington; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Tim Lester, Western Michigan; Sean Lewis, Kent State; Maurice Linguist, Buffalo; Seth Littrell, North Texas; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern; Gus Malzahn, Central Florida; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Doug Martin, New Mexico State; Phillip Montgomery, Tulsa; Dan Mullen, Florida; Billy Napier, Louisiana-Lafayette; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Gary Patterson, TCU; Sam Pittman, Arkansas; NIck Rolovich, Washington State; Nick Saban, Alabama; Steve Sarkisian, Texas; Scott Satterfield, Louisville; Greg Schiano, Rutgers; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Jake Spavital, Texas State; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Mel Tucker, Michigan State; Kyle Whittingham, Utah.