The initial 2024 college football Coaches Poll is now out and the Buckeyes will open the season as the No. 2 team in the country behind No. 1 Georgia. The Bulldogs received 46 first-place votes. Ohio State received seven first-place votes.
The Michigan Wolverines, who are currently the defending national champions, open at No. 8 with one first-place vote.
The Big Ten has four teams in the Top 10, with OSU at No. 2, Oregon at No. 3, Michigan at No. 8, and Penn State at No. 9. The Buckeyes play Oregon and Penn State on the road this year and host Michigan.
At Nos. 23 and 25, respectively, USC and Iowa are the only other Big Ten teams in the rankings.
The Buckeyes opened up at No. 4 in last year’s preseason Coaches Poll. You can see the entire rundown of this year’s initial poll below.
Rank | School (record) | Points | Last season’s final rank | First-place votes |
1 | Georgia (13-1) | 1,364 | 3 | 46 |
2 | Ohio State (11-2) | 1,302 | 10 | 7 |
3 | Oregon (12-2) | 1,228 | 7 | 0 |
4 | Texas (12-2) | 1,223 | 4 | 1 |
5 | Alabama (12-2) | 1,077 | 5 | 0 |
6 | Mississippi (11-2) | 1,019 | 9 | 0 |
7 | Notre Dame (10-3) | 969 | 14 | 0 |
8 | Michigan (15-0) | 944 | 1 | 1 |
9 | Penn State (10-3) | 889 | 13 | 0 |
10 | Florida State (13-1) | 867 | 6 | 0 |
11 | Missouri (11-2) | 808 | 8 | 0 |
12 | LSU (10-3) | 742 | 12 | 0 |
13 | Utah (8-5) | 665 | NR | 0 |
14 | Clemson (9-4) | 657 | 20 | 0 |
15 | Tennessee (9-4) | 621 | 17 | 0 |
16 | Oklahoma (10-3) | 609 | 15 | 0 |
17 | Kansas State (9-4) | 416 | 19 | 0 |
18 | Oklahoma State (10-4) | 359 | 16 | 0 |
19 | Miami (Fla.) (7-6) | 292 | NR | 0 |
20 | Texas A&M (7-6) | 273 | NR | 0 |
21 | Arizona (10-3) | 230 | 11 | 0 |
22 | North Carolina State (9-4) | 216 | 21 | 0 |
23 | Southern California (8-5) | 199 | NR | 0 |
24 | Kansas (9-4) | 186 | 23 | 0 |
25 | Iowa (10-4) | 148 | 21 | 0 |
Dropped out: No. 2 Washington (14-1);No. 18 Louisville (10-4);No. 24 SMU (11-3); No. 25 West Virginia (9-4).
Others receiving votes: Washington (14-1) 123; Louisville (10-4) 95; Virginia Tech (7-6) 64; SMU (11-3) 47; Memphis (10-3) 44; Boise State (8-6) 30; Auburn (6-7) 25; West Virginia (9-4) 22; Wisconsin (7-6) 17; Iowa State (7-6) 15; Liberty (13-1) 15; Kentucky (7-6) 12; Florida (5-7) 11; South Carolina (5-7) 10; North Carolina (8-5) 6; Maryland (8-5) 5; UNLV (9-5) 5; Central Florida (6-7) 4; Texas Tech (7-6) 4; Texas-San Antonio (9-4) 3; Appalachian State (9-5) 2; Colorado (4-8) 2; Nebraska (5-7) 2; Texas State (8-5) 2; Tulane (11-3) 2; Air Force (9-4) 1; James Madison (11-2) 1; Miami (Ohio) (11-3) 1; Syracuse (6-7) 1; Troy (11-3) 1.
The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2024 season: Tim Albin, Ohio; Major Applewhite, South Alabama; Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina; Mike Bloomgren, Rice; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, West Virginia; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Bob Chesney, James Madison; Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Penn State; Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame; Willie Fritz, Houston; Alex Golesh, South Florida; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Mike Houston, East Carolina; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; GJ Kinne, Texas State; Chris Klieman, Kansas State; Dan Lanning, Oregon; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Mike Locksley, Maryland; Mike MacIntyre, Florida International; Gus Malzahn, Central Florida; Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio); Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico; Jeff Monken, Army; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, UNLV; Gerad Parker, Troy; Brent Pry, Virginia Tech; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Tulane; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio.
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