The preseason USA Today College Football Top-25 Coaches' Poll was released on Thursday, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish clock in at No. 24 overall in the initial rankings. Notre Dame received a total of 166 points in the voting -- well behind the No. 1 LSU Tigers (1,403 points) and No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (1,399 points) -- but they did move back into the top-25 after finishing the 2011 season outside that grouping. The Northern Illinois Huskies received two votes in the "other receiving votes" category.
Here is a look at the complete Coaches' Poll Top 25 heading into the 2012 season:
Rank | Team (first-place votes) | Record | Points | Final 2011 rank | |
1. | LSU (18) | 13-1 | 1,403 | 2 | |
2. | Alabama (20) | 12-1 | 1,399 | 1 | |
3. | Southern California (19) | 10-2 | 1,388 | NR | |
4. | Oklahoma | 10-3 | 1,276 | 15 | |
5. | Oregon | 12-2 | 1,258 | 4 | |
6. | Georgia | 10-4 | 1,061 | 20 | |
7. | Florida State | 9-4 | 1,055 | 23 | |
8. | Michigan | 11-2 | 1,023 | 9 | |
9. | South Carolina | 11-2 | 981 | 8 | |
10. | Arkansas | 11-2 | 948 | 5 | |
11. | West Virginia | 10-3 | 833 | 18 | |
12. | Wisconsin | 11-3 | 743 | 11 | |
13. | Michigan State | 11-3 | 717 | 10 | |
14. | Clemson | 10-4 | 598 | 22 | |
15. | Texas | 8-5 | 549 | NR | |
16. | Nebraska | 9-4 | 501 | 24 | |
17. | TCU | 11-2 | 499 | 13 | |
18. | Stanford | 11-2 | 497 | 7 | |
19. | Oklahoma State | 12-1 | 476 | 3 | |
20. | Virginia Tech | 11-3 | 461 | 17 | |
21. | Kansas State | 10-3 | 398 | 16 | |
22. | Boise State | 12-1 | 271 | 6 | |
23. | Florida | 7-6 | 250 | NR | |
24. | Notre Dame | 8-5 | 166 | NR | |
25. | Auburn | 8-5 | 66 | NR | |
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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. |
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