Alabama, Clemson, leaders of coaches poll

Defending national champion Alabama is No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll, with Clemson at No. 2 and Ohio State at No. 3.

The powerhouse Crimson Tide received 61 first-place votes from a panel of major-college coaches in the poll released Thursday. The Associated Press media poll will be released Aug. 20.

Alabama won its fifth national championship under coach Nick Saban last season, beating Georgia in overtime of the College Football Playoff national title game. The Bulldogs are ranked fourth by the coaches this week and Oklahoma is fifth.

Preseason coaches poll

Team 2017 Points Pvs 1. Alabama (61) 13-1 1,621 1 2. Clemson (3) 12-2 1,547 4 3. Ohio State (1) 12-2 1,458 5 4. Georgia 13-2 1,452 2 5. Oklahoma 12-2 1,288 3 6. Washington 10-3 1,245 15 7. Wisconsin 13-1 1,243 6 8. Miami 10-3 1,091 13 9. Penn State 11-2 1,050 8 10. Auburn 10-4 1,004 12 11. Notre Dame 10-3 892 11 12. Michigan St. 10-3 870 16 13. Stanford 9-5 768 19 14. Michigan 8-5 752 — 15. USC 11-3 691 10 16. TCU 11-3 530 9 17. Virginia Tech 9-4 524 25 18. Mississippi St. 9-4 407 20 19. Florida State 7-6 328 — 20. West Virginia 7-6 310 — 21. Texas 7-6 265 — 22. Boise State 11-3 261 22 23. Central Florida 13-0 259 7 24. LSU 9-4 254 18 25. Oklahoma St. 10-3 168 14 Others receiving votes: South Carolina (9-4 last year) 138 points; Florida (4-7) 135; Oregon (7-6) 105; Utah (7-6) 81; Northwestern (10-3) 67; Texas A&M (7-6) 67; Kansas State (8-5) 35; Florida Atlantic (11-3) 27; Boston College (7-6) 23; Memphis (10-3) 23; North Carolina State (9-4) 22; Arkansas State (7-5) 19; Troy (11-2) 19; Appalachian State (9-4) 16; San Diego State (10-3) 15; Iowa (8-5) 8; Iowa State (8-5) 8; Kentucky (7-6) 8; Washington State (9-4) 7; South Florida (10-2) 6; Duke (7-6) 5; Fresno State (10-4) 4; Louisville (8-5) 3; Arizona (7-6) 2; Houston (7-5) 2; Army (10-3) 1; Northern Illinois (8-5) 1.