USA Today unveils preseason Coaches Poll for 2024 campaign

The preseason USA Today coaches poll was released on Monday, and it came as no surprise to see the Georgia Bulldogs take the top spot.

On the heels of a 13-1 season and a 63-3 beatdown of Florida State in the Orange Bowl, Georgia is looking to get back into the College Football Playoff in 2024. The Bulldogs were denied a chance to 3-peat last season, losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. The CFP selection committee dropped them to sixth in the final rankings, and Georgia took all its frustrations out on a skeleton crew Florida State team. The message was loud and clear: Georgia has newfound motivation.

Quarterback Carson Beck leads the group once again in 2024. He’s a Heisman Trophy favorite, and Georgia is the national championship favorite. That strength was reflected in the preseason Coaches Poll, where Georgia took 46 first-place votes.

Ohio State (7), Texas (1), and Michigan (1) were the only other teams to receive a first-place vote. (Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is not voting in the Coaches Poll this season, so Michigan’s lone first-place vote came from a peer. The full list of voting coaches can be found here.)

Overall, the SEC took 9 spots in the poll, including 4 of the first 6 and 8 of the first 16. The Big Ten had 4 teams inside the top 10 and 6 total teams in the ranking. The Big 12 had 5 teams while the ACC had 4 teams ranked. No school from a Group of 5 conference landed a spot in the preseason poll.

The Buckeyes will open the season at No. 2, followed by Oregon, Texas, and Alabama. The full ranking is below, with first-place votes in parentheses:

Georgia (46)
Ohio State (7)
Oregon
Texas (1)
Alabama
Ole Miss
Notre Dame
Michigan (1)
Penn State
Florida State
Missouri
LSU
Utah
Clemson
Tennessee
Oklahoma
Kansas State
Oklahoma State
Miami (FL)
Texas A&M
Arizona
NC State
USC
Kansas
Iowa

Others receiving votes: Washington 123; Louisville 95; Virginia Tech 64; SMU 47; Memphis 44; Boise State 30; Auburn 25; West Virginia 22; Wisconsin 17; Liberty 15; Iowa State 15; Kentucky 12; Florida 11; South Carolina 10; North Carolina 6; UNLV 5; Maryland 5; UCF 4; Texas Tech 4; UTSA 3; Tulane 2; Texas State 2; Nebraska 2; Colorado 2; Appalachian State 2; Troy 1; Syracuse 1; Miami (OH) 1; James Madison 1; Air Force 1

Funny enough, the top 6 in the preseason coaches poll line up exactly with the championship odds posted at ESPN Bet. Georgia (+325), Ohio State (+325), Oregon (+800), Texas (+850), Alabama (+1500), and Ole Miss (+1600) are the top options on the board.

Where the 2 lists diverge is at No. 7. ESPN’s book gives the LSU Tigers the seventh-best odds of any team (+1800) to win the national championship. Coaches have Brian Kelly’s group slotted 12th to open the season. Louisiana betting apps have the win total at 9.5 — a sign of respect for an LSU squad that has to replace a Heisman winner at quarterback and 2 first-round wide receivers. But the Tigers have some work to be done on the defensive side of the ball and a quarterback with 1 career start under his belt.

Michigan, off its title-winning campaign in 2023, will look drastically different in 2024. The Wolverines are +3500 (ESPN Bet) to repeat as national champions.