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The 2001 ESPN/USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll contains all the usual suspects. The Big Three from the state of Florida. Lots of teams from the always-stacked SEC. The cream of the Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-10 crops.
But that's not to say this year's poll lacks intrigue or surprises. The national chmpionship race is considered wide open in 2001, so expect a few changes to this list during the season. For now, here's a sampling of the facts, figures and oddities from the coaches picks.
The SEC leads all conferences with six teams in the top 25: No. 1 Florida, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 17 LSU, No. 19 Mississippi State, No. 22 South Carolina and No. 25 Alabama.
Here's a rundown of the rest of the conferences in the top 25:
Big Ten (4): No. 10 Michigan, No. 20 Northwestern, No. 21 Ohio State, No. 23 Wisconsin
Big 12 (4): No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 6 Texas, No. 11 Kansas State
Pac-10 (4): No. 8 Oregon, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 14 Washington, No. 15 UCLA
ACC (3): No. 5 Florida State, No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 18 Clemson
Big East (2): No. 2 Miami, No. 9 Virginia Tech
Mountain West (1): No. 24 Colorado State
Independent (1): No. 16 Notre Dame
Division I conferences not represented: Conference USA, Mid-American, Sun Belt, WAC
Florida is the preseason No. 1 after finishing last season ranked No. 11, the lowest previous ranking for a preseason No. 1 since Ohio State topped the preseason poll in 1998 after finishing No. 12 in 1997.
The Gators may wish they could have avoided the No. 1 ranking, though, as the preseason No. 1 has ended the year there just twice in the last 10 seasons. Florida State turned the trick in both 1993 and 1999.
The SEC has now had at least five teams ranked in the preseason top 25 every year since 1996.
Defending national champion Oklahoma opens the season at No. 3, the first time a defending champ has been left out of the top two since Nebraska was ranked No. 3 to start the 1998 season.
Florida State's No. 5 ranking marks the first time in the 11 years of the USA Today poll that the Seminoles have been out of the top four in the preseason.
The Big East has two teams in the top 10 for the second straight year and just the second time in the 10-year history of the conference.
The Big Ten has just one team in the top 10 for the first time since 1993, and has four teams in the top 25 after placing seven in the poll last season.
Michigan's No. 10 ranking is the highest among Big Ten schools, marking the first time in the last 11 coaches polls that that conference's highest-rated team has been ranked lower than eighth.
Washington appears to be the team that suffered the most losses during the off-season in the eyes of the coaches, as their drop from No. 3 at the end of last season to No. 14 this preseason is the biggest of any team in the poll.
Five teams (UCLA, LSU, Northwestern, Ohio State, Alabama) are among the top 25 after ending last season unranked.
Northwestern, considered by some the Big Ten favorite, is making it's first appearance in the preseason rankings since the Wildcats followed up their Rose Bowl season of 1995 with a No. 19 preseason ranking in 1996.
No. 24 Colorado State is the first Mountain West team to be ranked in the preseason poll since the conference began play in 1999.
The following teams are unranked after finishing last season in the top 25 (number in parentheses indicates final 2000 ranking): Purdue (13), Georgia (17), TCU (18), Auburn (20), Iowa St. (23).
Southern Mississippi is absent from the poll this season after having been the lone Conference USA team to gain preseason top 25 mention in any of the previous three seasons.
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