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The 2011 NCAA football season is a month away with the first games scheduled for September 1, 2, 3 and 5. Naturally that means it's time to start the preseason hype train for a few lucky teams. We've seen preseason award lists released, but now the big boys are getting in on the action.
USA Today released their preseason coaches' poll and have voted Oklahoma the overwhelming number one team in all the land. Alabama, Oregon and LSU are all getting first place votes as well, but Oklahoma is leading the way with 42 of a possible 59 first place votes.
The Stanford Cardinal find themselves ranked sixth, which says a lot about the respect for the new coaching staff and quarterback/preseason Heisman favorite Andrew Luck. The Cardinal face a tough task even with a potential Heisman trophy winner. The loss of Jim Harbaugh and much of his coaching staff is the big question mark. However, the Cardinal also lost FB Owen Marecic, DT Sione Fua, WR Ryan Whalen, and CB Richard Sherman. They'll need to get some quality competition at those positions if they're going to represent this high ranking well.
1. Oklahoma (42)
2. Alabama (13)
3. Oregon (2)
4. LSU (2)
5. Florida State
6. Stanford
7. Boise State
8. Oklahoma State
9. Texas A&M
10. Wisconsin
11. Nebraska
12. South Carolina
13. Virginia Tech
14. Arkansas
15. TCU
16. Ohio State
17. Michigan State
18. Notre Dame
19. Auburn
20. Mississippi State
21. Missouri
22. Georgia
23. Florida
24. Texas
25. Penn State