LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Alabama Crimson Tide will start the 2013 campaign in the exact same position as it finished last season as the No. 1 team in the nation, according to the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll that was released by the Association on Tuesday.
The defending national champion Crimson Tide (60-8) received 25 of 31 possible first-place votes to lead the way in the top spot, while the remainder of the top five remained unchanged from last year’s final ranking. National runner-up Oklahoma reaped five first-place tallies to sit second, California (58-7) was third after garnering a single first-place nod, Arizona State (53-11) rated fourth and Oregon (45-18) rounded out the top five squads.
Tennessee (52-14), Texas (47-13), Missouri (47-14), Georgia (45-17) and LSU (40-25) made up positions 6-10, respectively.
Syracuse (43-16) and Oregon State (36-23) were the only two teams to drop out of the poll from 2012 to 2013, but each were included among the squads listed among the receiving votes column.
The Pacific-12 and Southeastern Conference led the way with seven selections each, while the Big 12 Conference boasted three teams in the ratings. Other leagues placing teams in the listing were the BIG EAST and ACC (two each) as well as the Big Ten, Colonial Athletic Association, Big West and Sun Belt (one each).
The USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll is voted on by 31 NCAA Division I head coaches, one representing each conference. Final 2012 records are shown, first-place votes are in parentheses.
Rank
1 Alabama (25)
2 Oklahoma (5)
3 California (1)
4 Arizona State
5 Oregon
6 Tennessee
7 Texas
8 Missouri
9 Georgia
10 LSU
11 Louisiana Lafayette
12 USF
13 Arizona
14 Florida
15 Michigan
16 Washington
17 Texas A&M
18 Louisville
19 UCLA
20 Hofstra
21 Stanford
22 North Carolina
23 Hawai'i
24 Baylor
25 Florida State
Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame (43), Georgia Tech (29), Syracuse (27), Kentucky (23), Oregon State (22), Texas Tech (12), Virginia Tech (11), DePaul (10), Northwestern (5), BYU (4), Houston (3), Tulsa (2), Mississippi State (2), Illinois State (2), South Alabama (2).