Florida State received one of two expected preseason No. 1 rankings on Thursday.
The Seminoles topped the first Amway Coaches Poll, which until this season was a portion of the Bowl Championship Series. The new College Football Playoff will determine the national champion going forward and longtime polls sponsored by Amway, formerly USA Today, and The Associated Press will give out additional trophies.
FSU seeks a repeat of its third national crown, but history in the coaches poll doesn’t support the quest. Only three preseason No. 1 teams have went on to win the national championship since 1991. If there’s any positive in that figure it is the fact two of those teams were FSU in 1993 and 1999.
FSU received 56 first-place votes and had 1,543 points. Alabama, which finished eighth in last year’s final coaches’ poll, was second with 1,455 points and no first-place votes. Oklahoma (3) and Oregon (1) were Nos. 3 and 4 and also received first-place votes and 2013 BCS runner-up Auburn was fifth.
Ohio State, the favorite to win the Big Ten, UCLA, Michigan State, South Carolina and Baylor rounded out the Top 10. The Atlantic Coast Conference had three teams ranked, FSU at 1, Clemson at 16 and North Carolina at 23. The Southeastern Conference had four more representatives aside from Alabama, Auburn and South Carolina with Georgia (12), LSU (13), Mississippi (19) and Texas A&M (20) also in the Top 20.
The AP will release its preseason poll Aug. 17 and FSU is likely to be atop it as well. The College Football Playoff will release its first poll in October. A committee will choose the four teams in the College Football Playoff as well as slot opponents in the Rose, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton and Peach bowls.
Strength of schedule is expected to be one of the determining factors in playoff seeding. FSU plays two of the current Top 25 in the coaches poll with home games against Clemson (Sept. 20) and No. 17 Notre Dame (Oct. 18). Four other FSU opponents, Florida, Oklahoma State, Miami and Louisville, also received votes in the poll.
FSU opens the season against Oklahoma State in Dallas on Aug. 30. The Seminoles’ first of seven home games comes Sept. 6 against The Citadel.
FSU picks up QB commits: Two of the nation’s top quarterback recruits, Deondre Francois and Kai Locksley, verbally committed to play for FSU on Thursday, adding to the potential replacement for Jameis Winston. FSU also has a verbal commitment from Jacksonville quarterback De’Andre Johnson.
Francois, the eighth-ranked dual-threat QB by rivals.com, is a 6-foot-1, 195-pound recruit from IMG Academy in Bradenton and chose FSU over Auburn. Locksley, ranked 12th at QB by rivals.com, is a Maryland native and the son of Terrapins’ offensive coordinator Mike Locksley. The 6-3, 188-pound scrambler picked FSU among finalists including Texas and Maryland.
Recruits will cement their choices with National Signing Day on Feb. 4.
The preseason Top 25 football coaches poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2013 record, total points based on 25 points for first place through one point for 25th, and last year's final ranking:
| Record | Pts | Pvs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Florida State (56) | 14-0 | 1543 | 1 |
| 2. Alabama | 11-2 | 1455 | 8 |
| 3. Oklahoma (3) | 11-2 | 1382 | 6 |
| 4. Oregon (1) | 11-2 | 1314 | 9 |
| 5. Auburn | 12-2 | 1271 | 2 |
| 6. Ohio State (1) | 12-2 | 1267 | 10 |
| 7. UCLA | 10-3 | 1085 | 16 |
| 8. Michigan State | 13-1 | 1050 | 3 |
| 9. South Carolina (1) | 11-2 | 1009 | 4 |
| 10. Baylor | 11-2 | 965 | 13 |
| 11. Stanford | 11-3 | 955 | 10 |
| 12. Georgia | 8-5 | 905 | — |
| 13. LSU | 10-3 | 833 | 14 |
| 14. Wisconsin | 9-4 | 654 | 21 |
| 15. Southern Cal | 10-4 | 627 | 19 |
| 16. Clemson | 11-2 | 535 | 7 |
| 17. Notre Dame | 9-4 | 509 | 24 |
| 18. Arizona State | 10-4 | 358 | 20 |
| 19. Mississippi | 8-5 | 346 | — |
| 20. Texas A&M | 9-4 | 266 | 18 |
| 21. Kansas State | 8-5 | 257 | — |
| 22. Nebraska | 9-4 | 228 | 25 |
| 23. North Carolina | 7-6 | 175 | — |
| 24. Texas | 8-5 | 143 | — |
| 25. Washington | 9-4 | 142 | — |
Others receiving votes: Missouri 126, Florida 122, UCF 102, Mississippi State 74, Oklahoma State 56, TCU 54, Michigan 53, Iowa 49, Miami 45, Duke 41, Louisville 32, Marshall 27, BYU 18, Boise State 13, Louisiana 12, Virginia Tech 12, Texas Tech 8, Cincinnati 6, Minnesota 6, Northwestern 5, Fresno State 4, Oregon State 4, Georgia Tech 2, Houston 2, Arizona 1, Arkansas 1, Northern Illinois 1.