Football: Buckeyes Tabbed No. 3 in USA Today Preseason Poll – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Georgia heads rankings, Ohio State and USC tie with 14 first-place votes
USA Today released its first national ranking for the upcoming 2008 season Friday and Ohio State opened at No. 3. Georgia was tabbed No. 1 and received 22 first-place votes. Ohio State and USC tied with 14 first-place tallies, with the Trojans landing the No. 2 spot. Ohio State and USC meet in week No. 3 of the season Sept. 13 in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Ohio State is one of five Big Ten teams in the Top 25. Wisconsin (12), Illinois (19), Penn State (22) and Michigan (24) also made the preseason poll.
For more on the poll, visit www.usatoday.com, where you also can read yesterday’s feature on James Laurinaitis:Ties that bind drive Ohio State’s Laurinaitis to delay life in NFL by Kelly Whiteside.
| USA Today Preseason poll |
||||
| Rank | Team (first-place votes) | Record | Points | Final 2007 rankings |
| 1. | Georgia (22) | 11-2 | 1,438 | 3 |
| 2. | Southern California (14) | 11-2 | 1,430 | 2 |
| 3. |
Ohio State (14) |
11-2 | 1,392 | 4 |
| 4. | Oklahoma (3) | 11-3 | 1,329 | 8 |
| 5. | Florida (5) | 9-4 | 1,293 | 16 |
| 6. | LSU (3) | 12-2 | 1,163 | 1 |
| 7. |
Missouri |
12-2 | 1,143 | 5 |
| 8. | West Virginia | 11-2 | 1,008 | 6 |
| 9. | Clemson | 9-4 | 999 | 22 |
| 10. | Texas | 10-3 | 979 | 10 |
| 11. | Auburn | 9-4 | 888 | 14t |
| 12. | Wisconsin | 9-4 | 747 | 21 |
| 13. | Kansas | 12-1 | 714 | 7 |
| 14. | Texas Tech | 9-4 | 644 | 23 |
| 15. | Virginia Tech | 11-3 | 568 | 9 |
| 16. | Arizona State | 10-3 | 560 | 13 |
| 17. | Brigham Young | 11-2 | 547 | 14t |
| 18. | Tennessee | 10-4 | 506 | 12 |
| 19. | Illinois | 9-4 | 422 | 18 |
| 20. | Oregon | 9-4 | 399 | 24 |
| 21. | South Florida | 9-4 | 350 | NR |
| 22. |
Penn State |
9-4 | 313 | 25 |
| 23. |
Wake Forest |
9-4 | 203 | NR |
| 24. |
Michigan |
9-4 | 112 | 19 |
| 25. | Fresno State | 9-4 | 91 | NR |
