Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
The first USA Today Amway Coaches poll is out for the 2016 season and Clemson will remain where they ended the 2015 season, in 2nd place. The voters put Clemson in 2nd, behind national champion Alabama. Seven coaches voted Clemson the #1 team in the country, and even Tennessee got a first place vote. Nice to finally see them finish first against us in something.
Atlantic Division rival Florida State is in 4th and also received a first place vote. The only other team on Clemson’s schedule to be ranked is Louisville at 23rd. UNC was also ranked 20th as the 4th team from the ACC to be ranked.
I’ll be honest, Clemson being ranked 2nd seems too high for me. Given the losses on defense and the uncertainty in the secondary, Clemson seems to be more of a 6-10 type of team. Yes, the offense is stacked, but without quality on defense Clemson will be more likely to replicate the 2012 or 2013 season, not the 2015 one.
The full poll is below.
1. Alabama (55 first place votes)
2. Clemson (7)
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida State (1)
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Stanford
8. Michigan
9. Notre Dame
10. Tennessee (1)
11. Michigan State
12. Ole Miss
13. Houston
14. TCU
15. Iowa
16. Georgia
17. USC
18. Washington
19. Oklahoma State
20. North Carolina
21. Baylor
22. Oregon
23. Louisville
24. UCLA
25. Florida
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.