Florida Ranked No. 23 in Preseason USA Today/ESPN Top 25
Thursday, August 2, 2012 | Football
The Florida football team will open the season ranked No. 23 in the preseason USA Today/ESPN Top 25 football coaches' poll. The Gators ended the 2011 season unranked after defeating Ohio State in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl. UF ended the season with a 7-6 record, but returns 19 starters for 2012, including 10 of 11 starters on the defensive side of the ball.
| Final 2011 | First-place | |||
| Rank | School (2011 record) | Points | rank | votes |
| 1 | LSU (13-1) | 1403 | 2 | 18 |
| 2 | Alabama (12-1) | 1399 | 1 | 20 |
| 3 | Southern California (10-2) | 1388 | not ranked | 19 |
| 4 | Oklahoma (10-3) | 1276 | 15 | 1 |
| 5 | Oregon (12-2) | 1258 | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | Georgia (10-4) | 1061 | 20 | 0 |
| 7 | Florida State (9-4) | 1055 | 23 | 1 |
| 8 | Michigan (11-2) | 1023 | 9 | 0 |
| 9 | South Carolina (11-2) | 981 | 8 | 0 |
| 10 | Arkansas (11-2) | 948 | 5 | 0 |
| 11 | West Virginia (10-3) | 833 | 18 | 0 |
| 12 | Wisconsin (11-3) | 743 | 11 | 0 |
| 13 | Michigan State (11-3) | 717 | 10 | 0 |
| 14 | Clemson (10-4) | 598 | 22 | 0 |
| 15 | Texas (8-5) | 549 | not ranked | 0 |
| 16 | Nebraska (9-4) | 501 | 24 | 0 |
| 17 | TCU (11-2) | 499 | 13 | 0 |
| 18 | Stanford (11-2) | 497 | 7 | 0 |
| 19 | Oklahoma State (12-1) | 476 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | Virginia Tech (11-3) | 461 | 17 | 0 |
| 21 | Kansas State (10-3) | 398 | 16 | 0 |
| 22 | Boise State (12-1) | 271 | 6 | 0 |
| 23 | Florida (7-6) | 250 | not ranked | 0 |
| 24 | Notre Dame (8-5) | 166 | not ranked | 0 |
| 25 | Auburn (8-5) | 66 | not ranked | 0 |
Others receiving votes (with 2011 records): Washington (7-6) 64; Louisville (7-6) 46; Georgia Tech (8-5) 35; Cincinnati (10-3) 32; Texas A&M (7-6) 28; Baylor (10-3) 23; Utah (8-5) 22; Mississippi State (7-6) 21; South Florida (5-7) 12; N.C. State (8-5) 11; BYU (10-3) 10; Louisiana Tech (8-5) 10; Virginia (8-5) 9; Houston (13-1) 7; Southern Mississippi (12-2) 6; Central Florida (5-7) 5; Rutgers (9-4) 5; Florida International (8-5) 3; Missouri (8-5) 3; Tennessee (5-7) 3; Northern Illinois (11-3) 2; Texas Tech (5-7) 1.
The USA TODAY Board of Coaches is made up of 59 head coaches at Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2012 season: David Bailiff, Rice; Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Tim Beckman, Illinois; Bret Bielema, Wisconsin; Terry Bowden, Akron; Art Briles, Baylor; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Matt Campbell, Toledo; Gene Chizik, Auburn; Dave Christensen, Wyoming; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State; Dave Doeren, Northern Illinois; Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech; Jimbo Fisher, Florida State; Kyle Flood, Rutgers; James Franklin, Vanderbilt; Al Golden, Miami (Fla.); Jim Grobe, Wake Forest; Darrell Hazell, Kent State; Brady Hoke, Michigan; Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia; Skip Holtz, South Florida; Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette; Curtis Johnson, Tulane; Ellis Johnson, Southern Miss; Butch Jones, Cincinnati; Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Lane Kiffin, Southern California; Mike Leach, Washington State; Pete Lembo, Ball State; Tony Levine, Houston; Mike London, Virginia; Rocky Long, San Diego State; Dan McCarney, North Texas; Mike MacIntyre, San Jose State; Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina; Gus Malzahn, Arkansas State; Bronco Mendenhall, BYU; Les Miles, LSU; George O'Leary, Central Florida; Paul Pasqualoni, Connecticut; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Chris Petersen, Boise State; Joker Phillips, Kentucky; Paul Rhoads, Iowa State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Mike Riley, Oregon State; Rich Rodriguez, Arizona; Nick Saban, Alabama; Steve Sarkisian, Washington; Frank Solich, Ohio; Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Bob Stoops, Oklahoma; Dabo Swinney, Clemson; Jeff Tedford, California; Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech; Kevin Wilson, Indiana.
AFCA policy bars schools under major NCAA or conference sanctions from receiving votes. Schools affected this season are North Carolina, Ohio State and Penn State. Central Florida will remain eligible until the NCAA rules on the school's appeal.
