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Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates beating the Georgia Bulldogs in overtime to win the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Jan. 8, 2018 in Atlanta. Alabama won 26-23. Getting your player ready...
Defending national champion Alabama is No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll, with Clemson No. 2 and Ohio State No. 3.
The Crimson Tide received 61 first-place votes from a panel of major-college coaches in the poll released Thursday. The Associated Press media poll will be released Aug. 20.
Alabama won its fifth national championship under coach Nick Saban last season, beating Georgia in overtime of the College Football Playoff national title game. The Bulldogs were ranked fourth by the coaches and Oklahoma was fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 were Washington, Wisconsin, Miami, Penn State and Auburn.
Preseason coaches’ poll
| Team | 2017 record | Points | Pvs |
| 1. Alabama (61) | 13-1 | 1,621 | 1 |
| 2. Clemson (3) | 12-2 | 1,547 | 4 |
| 3. Ohio State (1) | 12-2 | 1,458 | 5 |
| 4. Georgia | 13-2 | 1,452 | 2 |
| 5. Oklahoma | 12-2 | 1,288 | 3 |
| 6. Washington | 10-3 | 1,245 | 15 |
| 7. Wisconsin | 13-1 | 1,243 | 6 |
| 8. Miami (Fla.) | 10-3 | 1,091 | 13 |
| 9. Penn State | 11-2 | 1,050 | 8 |
| 10. Auburn | 10-4 | 1,004 | 12 |
| 11. Notre Dame | 10-3 | 892 | 11 |
| 12. Michigan State | 10-3 | 870 | 16 |
| 13. Stanford | 9-5 | 768 | 19 |
| 14. Michigan | 8-5 | 752 | – |
| 15. USC | 11-3 | 691 | 10 |
| 16. TCU | 11-3 | 530 | 9 |
| 17. Virginia Tech | 9-4 | 524 | 25 |
| 18. Mississippi State | 9-4 | 407 | 20 |
| 19. Florida State | 7-6 | 328 | – |
| 20. West Virginia | 7-6 | 310 | – |
| 21. Texas | 7-6 | 265 | – |
| 22. Boise State | 11-3 | 261 | 22 |
| 23. Central Florida | 13-0 | 259 | 7 |
| 24. LSU | 9-4 | 254 | 18 |
| 25. Oklahoma State | 10-3 | 168 | 14 |
| Dropped out: Northwestern (17), South Florida (21), North Carolina State (23), Memphis (24). | |||
| Other receiving votes: South Carolina (9-4) 138; Florida (4-7) 135; Oregon (7-6) 105; Utah (7-6) 81; Northwestern (10-3) 67; Texas A&M (7-6) 67; Kansas State (8-5) 35; Florida Atlantic (11-3) 27; Boston College (7-6) 23; Memphis (10-3) 23; North Carolina State (9-4) 22; Arkansas State (7-5) 19; Troy (11-2) 19; Appalachian State (9-4) 16; San Diego State (10-3) 15; Iowa (8-5) 8; Iowa State (8-5) 8; Kentucky (7-6) 8; (9-4) 7; South Florida (10-2) 6; Duke (7-6) 5; Fresno State (10-4) 4; Louisville (8-5) 3; Arizona (7-6) 2; Houston (7-5) 2; Army (10-3) 1; Northern Illinois (8-5) 1. | |||
