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The first Coaches Poll for the 2015 season came out yesterday and it's probably not too surprising...
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | 1ST PLACE VOTES | PREV | CHANGE | HI/LOW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | 14-1 | 1598 | 62 | NR | – | |
| 2 | TCU | 12-1 | 1487 | 1 | NR | – | |
| 3 | Alabama | 12-2 | 1452 | 1 | NR | – | |
| 4 | Baylor | 11-2 | 1365 | NR | – | ||
| 5 | Oregon | 13-2 | 1260 | NR | – | ||
| 6 | Michigan State | 11-2 | 1230 | NR | – | ||
| 7 | Auburn | 8-5 | 1103 | NR | – | ||
| 8 | Florida State | 13-1 | 1057 | NR | – | ||
| 9 | Georgia | 10-3 | 1026 | NR | – | ||
| 10 | USC | 9-4 | 1014 | NR | – | ||
| 11 | Notre Dame | 8-5 | 883 | NR | – | ||
| 12 | Clemson | 10-3 | 838 | NR | – | ||
| 13 | LSU | 8-5 | 727 | NR | – | ||
| 14 | UCLA | 10-3 | 697 | NR | – | ||
| 15 | Ole Miss | 9-4 | 668 | NR | – | ||
| 16 | Arizona State | 10-3 | 577 | NR | – | ||
| 17 | Georgia Tech | 11-3 | 573 | NR | – | ||
| 18 | Wisconsin | 11-3 | 470 | NR | – | ||
| 19 | Oklahoma | 8-5 | 407 | NR | – | ||
| 20 | Arkansas | 7-6 | 377 | NR | – | ||
| 21 | Stanford | 8-5 | 365 | NR | – | ||
| 22 | Arizona | 10-4 | 299 | NR | – | ||
| 23 | Missouri | 11-3 | 229 | NR | – | ||
| 24 | Boise State | 12-2 | 190 | NR | – | ||
| 25 | Tennessee | 7-6 | 166 | NR | – |
Ohio State at #1? Sure -- they won the national championship and return basically everyone of significance. TCU and Baylor return several key players, so plugging them in at #2 and #4 is not too shocking. Bama is at #3 because pollsters are contractually obligated to rank at least one SEC team in the top-3 and, hell, it might as well be Nick Saban's latest Death Star of a team.
Iowa is not ranked in the preseason top 25 -- nor is this any sort of surprise. Iowa ended the season on a three-game losing streak and their very last impression was getting turned into a skid mark by Tennessee at the Gator Bowl. They probably wouldn't get ranked in a preseason top 50.
The preseason top 25 contains further confirmation that Iowa's schedule in 2015 is expensive toilet paper-soft: just one team on their regular season slate is ranked in the top 25, Wisconsin at #18. A few more teams on the schedule are lurking in the "Others Receiving Votes" category, including Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, and Maryland.
Wait, what? Illinois? Yes, Illinois. Illinois didn't just show up with a goof vote, either -- they got 7 votes! Illinois ended the year 6-7 after a decisive 35-18 loss to Louisiana Tech in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl... and yet there's more optimism about the prospects for Tim Beckman's merry band of malcontents than there is for Iowa. Welp. Hopefully in a few months this preseason tidbit proves to be thoroughly ridiculous in reality as it seems now, but in the meantime it's another reminder of how low things have sunk right now.