Longhorns Ranked 15th In Pre-Season Coaches Poll
The USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll has officially been released for the college football season. Yes, another great season of college football is just weeks away from finally taking place.
One of the biggest winners of today's poll is without question the Texas Longhorns. This is a team that has won just 13 games in the last two years combined. Last season, the Longhorns were destroyed by Oklahoma, lost to an unranked Missouri team, lost at home to Kansas State and lost to Baylor despite producing more than 550 yards on offense.
The Longhorns do return 17 starters, including eight from a top-15 defense, but heading into the year, is this truly a Top 15 team? Texas wasn't even ranked for the final four weeks of the season, and the quarterback position is still a humongous question mark heading into fall camp.
It is really only a matter of time before Mack Brown turns this program around, but it is about time teams begin earning their rank instead of having it given to them for past success.
Aug. 2, 2012 — preseason poll | |||||
Rank | Team (first-place votes) | Record | Points | Final 2011 rank | |
1. | LSU (18) | 13-1 | 1,403 | 2 | |
2. | Alabama (20) | 12-1 | 1,399 | 1 | |
3. | Southern California (19) | 10-2 | 1,388 | NR | |
4. | Oklahoma (1) | 10-3 | 1,276 | 15 | |
5. | Oregon | 12-2 | 1,258 | 4 | |
6. | Georgia | 10-4 | 1,061 | 20 | |
7. | Florida State (1) | 9-4 | 1,055 | 23 | |
8. | Michigan | 11-2 | 1,023 | 9 | |
9. | South Carolina | 11-2 | 981 | 8 | |
10. | Arkansas | 11-2 | 948 | 5 | |
11. | West Virginia | 10-3 | 833 | 18 | |
12. | Wisconsin | 11-3 | 743 | 11 | |
13. | Michigan State | 11-3 | 717 | 10 | |
14. | Clemson | 10-4 | 598 | 22 | |
15. | Texas | 8-5 | 549 | NR | |
16. | Nebraska | 9-4 | 501 | 24 | |
17. | TCU | 11-2 | 499 | 13 | |
18. | Stanford | 11-2 | 497 | 7 | |
19. | Oklahoma State | 12-1 | 476 | 3 | |
20. | Virginia Tech | 11-3 | 461 | 17 | |
21. | Kansas State | 10-3 | 398 | 16 | |
22. | Boise State | 12-1 | 271 | 6 | |
23. | Florida | 7-6 | 250 | NR | |
24. | Notre Dame | 8-5 | 166 | NR | |
25. | Auburn | 8-5 | 66 | NR | |
Others receiving votes (with 2011 records) | |||||
Washington (7-6) 64; Louisville (7-6) 46; Georgia Tech (8-5) 35; Cincinnati (10-3) 32; Texas A&M (7-6) 28; Baylor (10-3) 23; Utah (8-5) 22; Mississippi State (7-6) 21; South Florida (5-7) 12; N.C. State (8-5) 11; BYU (10-3) 10; Louisiana Tech (8-5) 10; Virginia (8-5) 9; Houston (13-1) 7; Southern Mississippi (12-2) 6; Central Florida (5-7) 5; Rutgers (9-4) 5; Florida International (8-5) 3; Missouri (8-5) 3; Tennessee (5-7) 3; Northern Illinois (11-3) 2; Texas Tech (5-7) 1. |