USA Today Poll Released: ACC Well Represented
On Thursday, the USA Today Coaches Poll was released. According to the men that roam the sidelines on Saturday, three Atlantic Coast Conference teams are among the best in college football today.
Florida State, Clemson, and Virginia Tech were the ACC teams ranked in the Top 25. Among the three, Florida State received top billing — 7th in the nation. Clemson and Virginia Tech ranked 14th and 20th, respectively.
In the eyes of the coaches, both Florida State and Clemson improved from the final poll last season. When the bowls were completed, FSU ranked 23rd and Clemson 22nd. The feeling is that through recruiting, spring practice, and roster health, both schools are poised to make the jump from the bottom of the Top 25 to somewhere much closer to the top. On the other hand, Virginia Tech dropped from 17th in the final rankings last season to 20th in this preseason list. While that move is more lateral than precipitous, it does lend to the belief that VT isn’t a National Title contender in 2012.
Interestingly, one coach voted Florida State as the top team in the entire country. The breakdown of overall first place votes: LSU (18), Alabama (20), Southern California (19), Oklahoma (1), and Florida State (1). While the other four schools with top overall votes tallied enough total votes to be ranked in the overall top four, two schools — Oregon and Georgia– were ahead of Florida State despite not garnering a single top selection.
Here is the complete USA Today Poll:
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. USC
4. Oklahoma
5. Oregon
6. Georgia
7. FSU
8. Michigan
9. South Carolina
10. Arkansas
11. West Virginia
12. Wisconsin
13. Michigan State
14. Clemson
15. Texas
16. Nebraska
17. TCU
18. Stanford
19. Oklahoma State
20. Virginia Tech
21. Kansas State
22. Boise State
23. Florida
24. Notre Dame
25. Auburn
Georgia Tech, NC State, and Virginia were listed as teams “receiving” votes.
As ACC camps get underway, it’s refreshing for fans of the league to know that the league houses a legitimate Top 10 team. In addition, coaches around the country believe that as many as six ACC squads are Top 25 worthy.
That should make for some great Saturday afternoons in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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Joe Giglio is the ACC and Big East football writer for Rant Sports. You can follow him on Twitter or check out his Facebook page.
Joe is also the host of Charm City Sports Talk on WNST.net in Baltimore and member of the Society of American Baseball Research.
