Texas A&M starts 2014 at No. 20 in Coaches Poll
Jul 31, 2014 | Football
The Texas A&M football team was ranked No. 20 in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll that was released on Thursday.
The Aggies will open the 2014 season against No. 9 South Carolina in the debut college football game on the new SEC Network, and will face four other teams listed in the preseason Top 25: No. 2 Alabama, No. 5 Auburn, No. 13 LSU and No. 19 Ole Miss. The Aggies and Gamecocks will kickoff at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28 in Columbia, S.C.
Texas A&M returns 11 starters (five on offense and six on defense) and 51 total letterwinners from last year's squad that posted a 9-4 record and finished the year ranked No. 18 in the Coaches and Associated Press polls. The Aggies' 51 returning lettermen (22 offense/22 defense/7 special teams) are the second-most in school history.
Returning starters on offense include seniors Jarvis Harrison (OG), Cedric Ogbuehi (OT) and Malcome Kennedy (WR) and junior Mike Matthews (OC) and Germain Ifedi (OG). 2013 starters returning on defense are seniors Deshazor Everett (CB), Howard Matthews (BS) and Floyd Raven (FS) and juniors Julien Obioha (DE), Alonzo Williams (DT) and De'Vante Harris (CB). The Aggie specialists return virtually intact with senior Josh Lambo (PK) and senior Alex Freeman (SNP), juniors Taylor Bertolet (KO), Drew Kaser (P), Trey Williams (KOR) and Harris (PR), and sophomore Conner McQueen (HLD).
2014 Amway Coaches Poll (preseason)
|
Rank |
Team |
2013 Record |
Pts. |
1st Place |
|
1 |
Florida State |
14-0 |
1543 |
56 |
|
2 |
Alabama |
11-2 |
1455 |
0 |
|
3 |
Oklahoma |
11-2 |
1382 |
3 |
|
4 |
Oregon |
11-2 |
1314 |
1 |
|
5 |
Auburn |
12-2 |
1271 |
0 |
|
6 |
Ohio State |
12-2 |
1267 |
1 |
|
7 |
UCLA |
10-3 |
1085 |
0 |
|
8 |
Michigan State |
13-1 |
1050 |
0 |
|
9 |
South Carolina |
11-2 |
1009 |
1 |
|
10 |
Baylor |
11-2 |
965 |
0 |
|
11 |
Stanford |
11-3 |
955 |
0 |
|
12 |
Georgia |
8-5 |
905 |
0 |
|
13 |
LSU |
10-3 |
833 |
0 |
|
14 |
Wisconsin |
9-4 |
654 |
0 |
|
15 |
USC |
10-4 |
627 |
0 |
|
16 |
Clemson |
11-2 |
535 |
0 |
|
17 |
Notre Dame |
9-4 |
509 |
0 |
|
18 |
Arizona State |
10-4 |
358 |
0 |
|
19 |
Mississippi |
8-5 |
346 |
0 |
|
20 |
Texas A&M |
9-4 |
266 |
0 |
|
21 |
Kansas State |
8-5 |
257 |
0 |
|
22 |
Nebraska |
9-4 |
228 |
0 |
|
23 |
North Carolina |
7-6 |
175 |
0 |
|
24 |
Texas |
8-5 |
143 |
0 |
|
25 |
Washington |
9-4 |
142 |
0 |
Others Receiving Votes
Missouri 126; Florida 122; Central Florida 102; Mississippi State 74; Oklahoma State 56; TCU 54; Michigan 53; Iowa 49; Miami (Fla.) 45; Duke 41; Louisville 32; Marshall 27; Brigham Young 18; Boise State 13; Louisiana-Lafayette 12; Virginia Tech 12; Texas Tech 8; Minnesota 6; Cincinnati 6; Northwestern 5; Oregon State 4; Fresno State 4; Georgia Tech 2; Houston 2; Arkansas 1; Arizona 1; Northern Illinois 1.
List of Voters
The Amway Board of Coaches is made up of 62 head coaches at Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2014 season: Blake Anderson, Arkansas State; Dino Babers, Bowling Green; David Bailiff, Rice; Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe; Bret Bielema, Arkansas; Larry Blakeney, Troy; Bill Blankenship, Tulsa; Craig Bohl, Wyoming; Terry Bowden, Akron; Art Briles, Baylor; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Matt Campbell, Toledo; Rod Carey, Northern Illinois; Norm Chow, Hawaii; Larry Coker, Texas-San Antonio; David Cutcliffe, Duke; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State; Bob Diaco, Connecticut; Larry Fedora, North Carolina; Jimbo Fisher, Florida State; Dennis Franchione, Texas State; Justin Fuente, Memphis; Al Golden, Miami (Fla.); Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State; Bobby Hauck, UNLV; Brady Hoke, Michigan; Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech; Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Jerry Kill, Minnesota; Mike Leach, Washington State; Rocky Long, San Diego State; Mike MacIntyre, Colorado; Dan McCarney, North Texas; Bronco Mendenhall, Brigham Young; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Les Miles, LSU; Todd Monken, Southern Mississippi; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; George O'Leary, Central Florida; Gary Patterson, TCU; Bo Pelini, Nebraska; Chris Petersen, Washington; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Jeff Quinn, Buffalo; Matt Rhule, Temple; Mark Richt, Georgia; Mike Riley, Oregon State; Rich Rodriguez, Arizona; Nick Saban, Alabama; Steve Sarkisian, USC; Frank Solich, Ohio; Steve Spurrier, South Carolina; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Bob Stoops, Oklahoma; Charlie Strong, Texas; Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M; Dabo Swinney, Clemson; Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati; Ron Turner, Florida International; Kevin Wilson, Indiana. AFCA policy bars schools under major NCAA or conference sanctions from receiving votes.
