CANES NO. 8 IN COACHES’ PRESEASON POLL
UM earns its highest position before season since 2005.
MIAMI — The preseason hype is real for the Hurricanes.
Miami is coming off its first 10-win season since 2003, and the expectations are high entering 2018. How high?
The Hurricanes are ranked No. 8 in the Amway preseason coaches poll, which was released Thursday. It marks Miami’s highest ranking in a preseason poll since 2005, when it was also No. 8 in the coaches’ rankings.
The Hurricanes finished last season ranked 13th in the coaches poll after dropping their final three games, but climbed to as high as No. 2 in the poll last season after blowing out Notre Dame 41-8 on Nov. 11.
Alabama, the defending national champion, is ranked No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll. The Crimson Tide are followed by No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 Washington and No. 7 Wisconsin. The SEC and Big Ten both placed five teams in the poll.
The opponents on Miami’s schedule that also make an appearance in the preseason coaches poll are No. 17 Virginia Tech, No. 19 Florida State and No. 24 LSU.
UCF, the lone unbeaten team last season on the Football Bowl Subdivision level, is ranked No. 23 in the poll. Florida received the most voting points among state schools that did not make the Top 25, receiving 135, which was good for 27th most.
Florida Atlantic is still waiting to be ranked at the FBS level.
After going 11-3 in Lane Kiffin’s first season as head coach, FAU enters the 2018 season unranked in the coaches poll, only receiving 27 votes, the 33rd most. USF received six votes.
The voting panel consists of 65 active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches including Alabama’s Nick Saban, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher with participants chosen randomly from members of the American Football Coaches Association.
Florida’s Dan Mullen, FIU’s Butch Davis and South Florida’s Charlie Strong are the only participants from teams in the state of Florida.
The AP Top 25 poll is scheduled to be released on Aug. 20.
Florida: Wide receiver transfers Van Jefferson and Trevon Grimes have been ruled eligible by the NCAA, the school announced Thursday.
“I’m excited for Trevon and Van,” UF Mullen said. “We appreciate the NCAA’s understanding in both situations, and are thankful to the UAA’s administration and compliance staff for their role in helping guide Trevon, Van, their families and our coaching staff through this.”
Grimes, a sophomore transfer from Ohio State, is immediately eligible and will compete for a starting role this fall.
Jefferson, a transfer from Ole Miss, still needs to be cleared by the SEC before he’s ruled eligible for this season, but that seems a mere formality now that the league has changed its transfer rule.
Jefferson and Grimes were two of UF’s best receivers in the spring and should be a huge addition to the offense in Mullen’s first year.
Jefferson, a junior, is a proven playmaker in the SEC. In two seasons with the Rebels, he combined to catch 91 passes for 999 yards and four touchdowns.
Grimes, a five-star prospect from Fort Lauderdale, played in two games for the Buckeyes as a true freshman last season, catching two passes for 20 yards.