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Ohio State opens up the season No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll

Keeping in mind that none of this really matters anymore in the playoff era, the Coaches Poll is still a strong snapshot of the general feeling and pulse of the college football season. You still have to win your conference championship, and you still have to do it with one loss or fewer, but this, along with the AP poll coming out in late August, is going to be the jumping off point.

Ohio State, to absolutely no one’s surprise, starts off No. 1, and then it gets interesting with TCU checking in at No. 2 – with QB Trevone Boykin and almost all the key parts back – Alabama third, Baylor fourth and Oregon fifth.

The biggest overall storyline is Auburn checking in at No. 7, with new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp stepping in and with the excitement building over the offense getting back to the 2013 level. With Georgia ninth, LSU 13th and Ole Miss 15th, the SEC put five teams in the top 15 and six in the top 20 – Arkansas is ranked 20th. Throw in No. 23 Missouri and No. 25 Tennessee, and the SEC owns the top 25.

The Pac-12 got its share of respect with Oregon starting out fifth and USC tenth, and then the conference dominated the midsection with UCLA 14th, Arizona State 16th, Stanford 21st and Arizona 22nd.

Boise State starts out No. 24, setting the tone as the highest Group of Five program.

Preseason USA Today Amway Coaches Poll

1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Alabama
4. Baylor
5. Oregon
6. Michigan State
7. Auburn
8. Florida State
9. Georgia
10. USC
11. Notre Dame
12. Clemson
13. LSU
14. UCLA
15. Ole Miss
16. Arizona State
17. Georgia Tech
18. Wisconsin
19. Oklahoma
20. Arkansas
21. Stanford
22. Arizona
23. Missouri
24. Boise State
25. Tennessee