Steve Spurrier remembers vividly the last time Florida was the
preseason No. 1 team -- his Gators lost twice, tied once and barely
won the SEC title.
Seven years later, Florida is again No. 1 in The Associated
Press preseason Top 25, edging No. 2 Miami by 16 points, with
national champion Oklahoma at No. 3, Nebraska ranked No. 4 and
Texas at No. 5.
"We all know when it's all over with, the action speaks, and
we'll really know who No. 1 is," Spurrier said. "It's good
publicity. Our fans will be very, very excited."
In the USA Today/ESPN coaches' preseason poll released Aug. 3,
the top 5 were Florida, Miami, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Florida
State.
Thanks to a quirk in the voting, the Hurricanes actually
received more first-place votes than the Gators. In balloting by
the 72 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel, Miami had
33 first-place votes and 1,700 points; Florida had 20 first-place
votes and 1,716 points.
Voting in the AP poll awards teams 25 points for first place, 24
for second, 23 for third and down to 1 point for 25th place.
Florida had 29 second-place votes to Miami's 12.
"Getting that many first-place votes says a lot about the
respect we're getting with so many players coming back," said
Miami coach Larry Coker, who replaces Butch Davis. "But not being
No. 1 isn't too surprising because of two things: Butch leaving and
the tough road schedule."
This is the fifth time -- the second for Florida -- a team without the
most first-place votes is No. 1 in the preseason poll, which
started in 1950. The others were Notre Dame in 1971 and 1954 and
Michigan State in 1952.
In '94, Nebraska had the most first-place votes, but was ranked
No. 4 behind Florida, Notre Dame and Florida State. That year, the
Gators lost to Auburn 36-33, tied Florida State 31-31 and lost a
Sugar Bowl rematch with the Seminoles 23-17 to finish No. 7 in the
final AP poll.
"That was a heck of a team," Spurrier, the nation's top-paid
coach at $2.1 million per year, said of his '94 squad. "Florida
State and Auburn both made fourth-and-10s. But we were fortunate to
beat Alabama (24-23) in the SEC championship game that year."
Florida and Miami, which do not play each other this season, are
the first teams from the same state to be ranked 1-2 since 1996,
when the Gators were No. 1 and Florida State was No. 2 in the Nov.
24 poll.
Oklahoma, coming off a 13-0 season and its seventh national
title, has 10 first-place votes, while Big 12 Conference rivals
Nebraska (4 firsts) and Texas (5 firsts) are the other schools with
first-place votes.
Florida State is No. 6 -- only the second time since 1987 the
Seminoles are not in the preseason top five -- followed by No. 7
Oregon, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 10 Georgia
Tech.
Oregon State is No. 11, followed by No. 12 Michigan, No. 13
Kansas State, No. 14 LSU, No. 15 Washington, No. 16 Northwestern,
No. 17 UCLA, No. 18 Notre Dame, No. 19 Clemson and No. 20
Mississippi State.
Rounding out the preseason poll, South Carolina is No. 21,
followed by No. 22 Wisconsin, No. 23 Ohio State, No. 24 Colorado
State and No. 25 Alabama.
Once again, the state of Florida dominates with three teams in
the top 6. The SEC has the most schools in the preseason poll with
six, but the Big 12's big four are a strong 3-4-5-13 (Oklahoma,
Nebraska, Texas, Kansas State). After Florida and Tennessee, the
other four SEC schools are ranked 14th or lower.
Florida, 10-3 last season after a Sugar Bowl loss to Miami,
returns eight starters on offense, nine on defense plus kicker Jeff
Chandler, the Gators' all-time leading scorer. Spurrier may rotate
quarterbacks Rex Grossman and Brock Berlin, who will be throwing to
star receiver Jabar Gaffney. The defense is led by end Alex Brown
and cornerback Lito Sheppard. Back are 35 of the top 44 players on
last year's two-deep chart.
"I just think as coaches it's our job to convince our players
they're not near as good as a lot of people think," Spurrier said.
"We appreciate voters voting for us. But at the same time, we know
that we really have not earned No. 1."
Florida's schedule is a tough one -- eight bowl teams including
home games at The Swamp against Tennessee, Mississippi State and
Florida State. Miami's schedule, meanwhile, includes games at Penn
State, Florida State and Virginia Tech.
Spurrier hopes his players have what it takes to stay on top.
"We had a good season last year and returned a lot of players,
but we've not beaten teams at the top in order to earn it,"
Spurrier said. "Last year, after Oklahoma beat Nebraska, they
started getting voted No. 1 because they earned it."
The last time a team was No. 1 in the AP poll without receiving
the most first-place votes was Oct. 29, 1995 -- Nebraska was No. 1
despite losing the first-place count 31-23.
With the addition of new teams to Division I-A, the AP voting
panel increases by one to 72 this season.
The first regular-season poll is Monday, Aug. 27; the final AP
poll will be released after the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3.
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