Ohio State Opens 2018 At No. 3 In Coaches Poll

Without head coach Urban Meyer after the university placed him on paid administrative leave Wednesday and opened an investigation into allegations that he knew of a 2015 domestic abuse incident with former assistant coach Zach Smith, the Buckeyes begin fall camp Friday ranked high in one preseason poll.

OSU enters the 2018 campaign at No. 3 in the preseason Coaches Poll, which was released Thursday afternoon and included four other Big Ten teams. Ohio State opens in third behind No. 2 Clemson and No. 1 Alabama, while No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Oklahoma round out the top five.

No. 7 Wisconsin, No. 9 Penn State, No. 12 Michigan State and No. 14 Michigan join the Buckeyes among the five teams from the conference. Outside of the top 25, No. 30 Northwestern (67) and No. 41 Iowa (8) comprised the two Big Ten programs receiving votes.

The vote, which comes from 65 head coaches at the Football Bowl Subdivision level who are also members of the American Football Coaches Association, took place prior to Meyer’s paid administrative leave and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ryan Day’s assumption of acting head coach.

Among the 65 first-place votes, the Crimson Tide collected 61 while the Tigers (3) and Buckeyes (1) made up the last four.

With results from the 2017 season included, as well as point totals and first-place tallies from the vote, the entire preseason Coaches Poll is listed below.

1. Alabama (13-1) Points: 1,621 (61 first-place votes)

2. Clemson (12-2) Points: 1,547 (3)

3. Ohio State (12-2) Points: 1,458 (1)

4. Georgia (13-2) Points: 1,452

5. Oklahoma (12-2) Points: 1,288

6. Washington (10-3) Points: 1,245

7. Wisconsin (13-1) Points: 1,243

8. Miami (Fla.) (10-3) Points: 1,091

9. Penn State (11-2) Points: 1,050

10. Auburn (10-4) Points: 1,004

11. Notre Dame (10-3) Points: 892

12. Michigan State (10-3) Points: 870

13. Stanford (9-5) Points: 768

14. Michigan (8-5) Points: 752

15. Southern California (11-3) Points: 691

16. TCU (11-3) Points: 530

17. Virginia Tech (9-4) Points: 524

18. Mississippi State (9-4) Points: 407

19. Florida State (7-6) Points: 328

20. West Virginia (7-6) Points: 310

21. Texas (7-6) Points: 265

22. Boise State (11-3) Points: 261

23. Central Florida (13-0) Points: 259

24. LSU (9-4) Points: 254

25. Oklahoma State (10-3) Points: 168

Other receiving votes: South Carolina (9-4) 138; 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.

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