NCAA: Ohio State opens No.1 in preseason coaches poll

The defending champ doesn’t get top billing

Indiana ran the table last year. Perfect season, national title, the lot. Didn’t matter.

The coaches left the Hoosiers off the top of their preseason poll. They went with another Big Ten side instead. Ohio State.

The Buckeyes landed No. 1 in Tuesday’s USA Today ranking, ahead of Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame. Indiana came in sixth.

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Closer than the top spot suggests

Count the votes and the picture shifts. Ohio State pulled 38 first-place nods. Indiana still grabbed 14, second-most in the poll. Six different teams collected at least one top vote, something that hadn’t happened since 2008.

Alabama tells its own story here. The Crimson Tide start at No. 11, their first season opening outside the top 10 since 2008.

The SEC packs nine teams into this top 25. The Big Ten has eight. You can already see where the weight sits.

Week 2 brings the first real fight

Ohio State opens September 5 at home against Ball State. Then comes the trip to Austin, a rematch with the Texas side the Buckeyes beat a year ago.

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