The ESPN/USA Today coaches preseason poll has been released, and Oklahoma is where most expected them to be: at No. 1.
The Sooners received 42 of 59 first-place votes, leading No. 2 Alabama, who received 13 first-place votes. No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 LSU, who meet in Cowboys Stadium for their season opener, both received two first-place votes.
Here's the full poll.
And the Big 12 teams:
1. Oklahoma
8. Oklahoma State
9. Texas A&M
21. Missouri
24. Texas
First things first: As Oklahoma's somewhat imminent spot at No. 1 came to fruition, as did Texas' spot in the top 25. I've argued all offseason that it doesn't make sense, but I honestly expected it to happen. We'll see if the media follows suit. That poll will be released on Aug. 20.
Texas A&M is a few spots higher than I thought it would be. A&M is a borderline top 10 team to begin the season in my book, but I thought they'd be more around the 12-15 range. Aggies fans have to be happy about slipping inside the preseason top 10.
The Big 12's five teams were the second most among conferences, behind the SEC's eight teams. The Big Ten also had five teams.
No other Big 12 teams were among the 20+ that received votes in the poll, but Big 12 nonconference opponents Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Miami (Fla.) and Georgia Tech all were just outside the poll.
Every other team was about where I thought they would be. What about you? Any teams too high or too low?