Florida ranked No. 10 in preseason Coaches Poll

Following an 11-2 season, the Florida Gators are ranked No. 10 in the country in the first 2013 USA Today Coaches Poll released on Thursday. It is the same spot that Florida finished in 2012 after starting the season ranked No. 23 – where they also started the 2011 season ranked.

The last time Florida came into a season ranked in the top 10 of the Coaches Poll was 2010 – they were ranked number three. Florida certainly didn’t look like the third best team in the country that season. The Gators finished the season unranked.

The USA Today Coaches Poll consists of a board of coaches that includes 62 coaches at BCS schools. Seven coaches from the SEC are on the voting board (James Franklin, Mark Richt, Nick Saban, Les Miles, Bret Bielema, Kevin Sumlin and Steve Spurrier.)

The top 10 consisted of five SEC teams with Alabama holding a sizeable lead (118 points) over No. 2 Ohio State.

Coaches Poll

  1. Alabama (1545)
  2. Ohio State (1427)
  3. Oregon (1397)
  4. Stanford (1262)
  5. Georgia (1250)
  6. Texas A&M (1215)
  7. South Carolina (1136)
  8. Clemson (1047)
  9. Louisville (1010)
  10. Florida (930)
  11. Notre Dame (872)
  12. Florida State (844)
  13. LSU (797)
  14. Oklahoma State (726)
  15. Texas (622)
  16. Oklahoma (620)
  17. Michigan (589)
  18. Nebraska (426)
  19. Boise State (420)
  20. TCU (400)
  21. UCLA (202)
  22. Northwestern (186)
  23. Wisconsin (172)
  24. USC (165)
  25. Oregon State (135)

 

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC