Gators are preseason No. 1 in coaches' poll; FSU No. 19

No surprise here: The Florida Gators are No. 1 in the preseason USA Today coaches' poll.

The defending champion Gators received 53 of 59 first-place votes in the poll, released Friday morning. UF, which returns Heisman-Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow along with 21 other starters, has been the heavy favorite to repeat as national champion since last season ended.

Florida State, an early favorite to win the ACC, starts the season ranked No. 19.

“It was kind of expected," UF offensive lineman Carl Johnson said. "We had some key players return, Brandon Spikes, Tim Tebow. The O-line came back, the D-line. We kind of expected it, but we’re not too much thinking about the hype we’re getting. Our goal is to get to Atlanta, stay close as a team, achieve goals together as a team, that’s all we think about.”

Texas is ranked No. 2, receiving four first-place votes. Oklahoma, which lost to the Gators in the BCS national title game last season, is ranked No. 3.

The Longhorns return QB Colt McCoy, who finished second in the Heisman voting last year, while the Sooners return the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford.

USC is No. 4. Both Oklahoma and USC each received one first-place vote. Alabama rounds out the top 5.

The SEC has four teams ranked in the top 10: No. 9 LSU and No. 10 Ole Miss join the Gators and Crimson Tide. Georgia is ranked No. 13, giving the SEC five teams ranked in the top 25, the most of any conference.

The Big 12, ACC and Pac-10 each have four ranked teams. Four non-BCS teams are ranked in the top 25: No. 16 Boise St., No. 17 TCU, No. 18 Utah and No. 24 Brigham Young.

Notre Dame is ranked No. 23. The Big East has no one ranked, the first time in history a team with an automatic BCS berth gets shut out of the Top 25.

The Associated Press will release its poll Aug. 22. The Gators started the season as AP preseason No. 1 in 1994 and 2001. FSU is the only team to go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the AP poll.

"We know the target's on our back and we're ready," UF linebacker Brandon Spikes said. "My job is to make sure the guys don't get satisfied. We've got to keep striving and push that rock back to the top of the hill."


Here is the complete Top 25 (with first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Florida (53)
2. Texas (4)
3. Oklahoma (1)
4. USC (1)
5. Alabama
6. Ohio State
7. Virginia Tech
8. Penn State
9. LSU
10. Ole Miss
11. Oklahoma State
12. California
13. Georgia
14. Oregon
15. Georgia Tech
16. Boise State
17. TCU
18. Utah
19. Florida State
20. North Carolina
21. Iowa
22. Nebraska
23. Notre Dame
24. Brigham Young
25. Oregon State