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The preseason Amway top 25 Coaches Poll was released this afternoon. Last year, the Gamecocks found themselves receiving votes as some thought that they would bounce back from their just-barely-over-.500 season in 2014, but it turned out that the team would be even worse than projected.
As expected, the public institution of higher learning located in South Carolina's upstate is the highest-ranked opponent on the Gamecocks' schedule (#2) following their CFP runner-up appearance in 2016. Also, as expected, the defending national champion, Alabama, is #1. Three other Gamecocks opponents cracked the top 25: Tennessee (#10), Georgia (#16) and Florida (#25). Two others received votes: Texas A&M (37) and Dak Prescott-less Mississippi State (19). Apparently there's still a subset of coaches that think the Bulldogs will be at least halfway decent, even after losing one of the greatest players in their program's history.
Florida State and Tennessee received one first-place vote each, which I'm sure has no connection whatsoever to the fact that coaches can vote for their own teams.*
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 0-0 | 1585 | 55 | NR |
| 2 | Clemson Tigers | 0-0 | 1524 | 7 | NR |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners | 0-0 | 1398 | 0 | NR |
| 4 | Florida State Seminoles | 0-0 | 1351 | 1 | NR |
| 5 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 0-0 | 1321 | 0 | NR |
| 6 | LSU Tigers | 0-0 | 1241 | 0 | NR |
| 7 | Stanford Cardinal | 0-0 | 1149 | 0 | NR |
| 8 | Michigan Wolverines | 0-0 | 1062 | 0 | NR |
| 9 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 0-0 | 1034 | 0 | NR |
| 10 | Tennessee Volunteers | 0-0 | 960 | 1 | NR |
| 11 | Michigan State Spartans | 0-0 | 901 | 0 | NR |
| 12 | Ole Miss Rebels | 0-0 | 792 | 0 | NR |
| 13 | Houston Cougars | 0-0 | 668 | 0 | NR |
| 14 | TCU Horned Frogs | 0-0 | 649 | 0 | NR |
| 15 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 0-0 | 579 | 0 | NR |
| 16 | Georgia Bulldogs | 0-0 | 525 | 0 | NR |
| 17 | USC Trojans | 0-0 | 468 | 0 | NR |
| 18 | Washington Huskies | 0-0 | 454 | 0 | NR |
| 19 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 0-0 | 426 | 0 | NR |
| 20 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 0-0 | 422 | 0 | NR |
| 21 | Baylor Bears | 0-0 | 383 | 0 | NR |
| 22 | Oregon Ducks | 0-0 | 361 | 0 | NR |
| 23 | Louisville Cardinals | 0-0 | 331 | 0 | NR |
| 24 | UCLA Bruins | 0-0 | 296 | 0 | NR |
| 25 | Florida Gators | 0-0 | 245 | 0 | NR |
| Others Receiving Votes: Miami (Fla.) 120; Wisconsin 82; Utah 73; Boise State 73; Washington State 47; Texas A&M 37; Texas 34; Arkansas 34; Northwestern 31; Navy 30; Mississippi State 19; San Diego State 18; Nebraska 17; Auburn 17; Western Kentucky 11; Pittsburgh 8; Brigham Young 6; Appalachian State 4; Duke 3; Arizona 2; Marshall 2; Toledo 2; South Florida 2; Memphis 1; Indiana 1; Northern Illinois 1. | |||||
*--Yes, I'm strongly suggesting that Jimbo and Butch voted for their own teams. Yes, I know Saban and Dabo did too, but if you're getting one first-place vote, it makes it very obvious.