AP poll: USC No. 1, five SEC teams in top 10, UGA No. 6
The SEC has five teams in the top 10 of the Associated Press preseason college football poll -– but not the No. 1 team.
USC, entering its third season under coach Lane Kiffin and its first back from an NCAA-imposed two-year postseason ban, got the top ranking in the media vote released Saturday.
Alabama and LSU, the SEC teams that met in last season’s BCS title game, were ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Other SEC teams in the top 10 were No. 6 Georgia, No. 9 South Carolina and No. 10 Arkansas. Georgia’s ranking is the highest for the Bulldogs since September 2008.
Georgia Tech received poll votes but was not ranked in the top 25.
LSU’s dismissal of star cornerback/punt returner Tyrann Mathieu from the team on Aug. 10 –- reportedly for failed drug tests -– enabled USC to move to the top of the poll. Because of Mathieu’s impact, the AP extended the voting deadline and allowed voters to amend their ballots.
Before Mathieu was kicked off the team, LSU had received 28 first-place votes, USC 22 and Alabama nine, AP reported. But in the poll released Saturday, USC had 25 first-place votes, Alabama 17 and LSU 16.
One AP voter who changed his ballot was Seth Emerson of The Macon Telegraph. Emerson said Saturday that he originally had LSU No. 1 but dropped the Tigers to No. 3, putting Alabama No. 1 and USC No. 2.
“I was in the Georgia Dome,” Emerson said, pointing to Mathieu’s two long punt returns in last season’s SEC Championship game victory over Georgia. “I saw the effect that had.
“Even without Mathieu,” Emerson added, “there is a clear separation between the top three teams and the rest.”
LSU was ranked No. 1 in the USA Today coaches’ preseason poll, which was announced before Mathieu’s dismissal. Alabama was No. 2 and USC No. 3 in that poll.
In the AP poll, USC totaled 1,445 points, Alabama 1,411 and LSU 1,402. Oklahoma and Oregon completed the top five, in that order. Oklahoma and No. 8 Michigan received one first-place vote apiece.
The AP poll, unlike the coaches’, is not part of the BCS formula that determines who plays in the national title game.
Georgia’s No. 6 ranking was the same in both polls.
“I would’ve predicted us not to be quite as high in [the AP] poll, but it’s good that people feel that way about us,” coach Mark Richt said Saturday. “We all know it doesn’t mean a lot other than you’re starting in a spot where, if you take care of business, you have a chance to stay up there. . . . We know we’ve got a long way to go and a lot to prove.
“… We want to be well thought of,” Richt added. “Have we earned it this year? No. But I guess from everybody’s evaluation of who’s returning and all that type of thing they feel like we’ve got a chance.”
Said UGA tailback-fullback Richard Samuel: “We don’t feel any pressure from [the high ranking]. In the long run, [the coaches' poll] helps us at the end of the season when it comes time to decide who gets to go to the national championship. So we just look at it like that, but we also know that we’ve got to take it game by game to get there. … I really do believe in our guys. We have a really wonderful, amazing team. We had some victories last year and a couple of games we have to learn how to finish.”
Georgia Tech was sixth in the others-receiving-votes category.
Asked if he would use being unranked as motivation, Tech coach Paul Johnson said: “No. Probably won’t talk about it.”
Said Tech center Jay Finch: “I think that’s right where we should be, because, to be honest, I like starting outside where nobody’s suspecting anything. But if you keep winning, you keep going up.”
In all, the SEC placed six teams in the AP’s top 25 –- the five in the top 10 plus Florida, which was ranked No. 23 despite a 7-6 (3-5 SEC) record last season.
The Big 12 also put six teams in the top 25 but only one in the top 10. The Big Ten had five teams ranked, one in the top 10. The Pac-12 and ACC had three teams apiece in the poll — two and one, respectively, in the top 10.
The ranked ACC teams included No. 7 Florida State, No. 14 Clemson (which opens the season against Auburn in a Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome on Sept. 1) and No. 16 Virginia Tech.
– Tim Tucker of the AJC, with contributions from Chip Towers at Georgia and Ken Sugiura at Georgia Tech.
ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL
Team(first place votes) 2011 record Points Pv
1.Southern Cal(25) 10-2 1,445 6
2.Alabama(17) 12-1 1,411 1
3. LSU (16) 13-1 1,402 2
4.Oklahoma(1) 10-3 1,286 16
5.Oregon 12-2 1,274 4
6.Georgia 10-4 1,107 19
7. Florida St. 9-4 1,093 23
8.Michigan(1) 11-2 1,000 12
9.South Carolina 11-2 994 9
10.Arkansas 11-2 963 5
11.West Virginia 10-3 856 17
12.Wisconsin 11-3 838 10
13. Michigan St. 11-3 742 11
14. Clemson 10-4 615 22
15.Texas 8-5 569 NR
16. Virginia Tech 11-3 548 21
17.Nebraska 9-4 485 24
18. Ohio St. 6-7 474 NR
19. Oklahoma St. 12-1 430 3
20. TCU 11-2 397 14
21. Stanford 11-2 383 7
22. Kansas St. 10-3 300 15
23.Florida 7-6 214 NR
24. Boise St. 12-1 212 8
25.Louisville 7-6 105 NR
Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 83, Washington 55, Auburn 53, North Carolina 32, Utah 30, Georgia Tech 25, BYU 22, Tennessee 15, South Florida 11, Baylor 9, Texas A&M 5, UCF 4, Cincinnati 3, Missouri 3, N.C. State 3, Houston 1, Louisiana Tech 1, Mississippi St. 1, N. Illinois 1.
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476 comments Add your comment
Coastal Dog SSI
August 19th, 2012
9:39 am
It’s going to be a great season; we’re all ready. Not quite ready, though, are sports writers and the TV guys who evidently weren’t required to take English grammer in journalism school. ‘Between’ is used when speaking of a comparison involving two schools. ‘Among’ is used when speaking of three or more, fellas. You want perfection from these young twenty years olds; let’s expect a higher level of performance from you guys. “Even without Mathieu,” Emerson added, “there is a clear separation between the top three teams and the rest.” The word is ‘among’ the top three teams and the rest.
Coastal Dog SSI
August 19th, 2012
9:42 am
Oops; I spoke too soon; my apologies, Emerson. I didn’t get the context. You did use two entities, the top three and the rest. My bad. But I’m still watching you guys. I stand corrected. Blame it on having too much of that great tartar sauce at McKinney’s Pond last night before heading back to the coast.
Fair n Balanced
August 19th, 2012
9:46 am
And we all know how reliable preseason polls are.
Envy is Ugly
August 19th, 2012
9:48 am
We run the East…. Who won the East last year? You have a short memory to go along with you inferiority complex
Mark Richt
August 19th, 2012
9:48 am
Kiss my ass Joey
I dropped my fried twinkie
August 19th, 2012
10:01 am
Joey……and UGa should be on probation.
Old Big Dawg
August 19th, 2012
10:09 am
Twinkie fellar…..Richt runs a clean program….a good respected program…btw…nice name for a tech fellar
Game Changer
August 19th, 2012
10:12 am
2010 / 2011 SEC EAST Defenses:
UGA never ranks higher than 3rd in east division only matchups points allowed ( 3 out of 6 — avg )
Any so many honk the horn of Grantham — we will see just what he can deliver in 2012 with what everyone calls great players??
Game Changer
August 19th, 2012
10:14 am
South Carolina won the EAST / went 5 wins and 0 loses in the division
UGA has never gone undefeated against the east division teams since the forming of two divisions, over 20 years.
Mr.Coffee
August 19th, 2012
10:15 am
The Dawgs should win the east easily. SC is overrated and fla will be way down again with a bad offense. This time, Ga can win the SEC and will beat alabama in the title game. The Dogs are back!
Gamechanger is clueless
August 19th, 2012
10:31 am
Gamechanger, Georgia won the East last season, unfortunately for SC they couldn’t beat teams from the west. Is John Jenkins still going to be ineligible and will georgia be facing major sanctions for playing him? Is 6′9″ 350 lb lineman can’t compete in the SEC, did you see former Dog Dennis Roland 6′9″ 345 lbs playing for the Bengals Thursday? Jarvis Jones can’t tackle SEC running backs but he is a 1st team all american.Another clueless idiotic post.Just so you know everyone knows Georgia had a bad season in 2010, and really didn’t have the personnel to play the 3-4 , but it did pay dividends in 2011. NFL scouts seem to see the quality of the players on Georgias defense , not surprised a clueless wonder like you wouldn’t.
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
10:34 am
Game changer….working hard this morning huh? Lol…dislike your teams accomplishments that much…what a loser
I dropped my fried twinkie
August 19th, 2012
10:40 am
Ole Bitter dWag…………define CLEAN please!
Arrests for CRIMES against the Public is Clean?
I dropped my fried twinkie
August 19th, 2012
10:42 am
Ole bitter dWag….I guess you OVERLOOK all the secondary violations UGa commits in your definition of CLEAN too.
George Stein
August 19th, 2012
10:44 am
The rankings are probably appropriate places to start, but I don’t think that’s where either will finish.
12 days, boys.
Old Big Dawg
August 19th, 2012
10:44 am
Twinkie fellar…Richt follows the NCAA rules. I am not bitter fellar..I am a Dawg fan. Ole Big Dawg dont mean no harm but it looks like you may be the one who is bitter…Gooo Dawgs…Like they say if you cant run with the Big Dawgs…get off my porch!
D from Charleston, SC
August 19th, 2012
10:49 am
AWESOME position by position breakdown of the Nationals vs Braves! Who would you rather have at 1B, LaRoche or Freeman? At 3B, Chipper or Zimmerman? LF, Prado or Morse? Which team has the better everyday 1-8 in their lineup? Find out here at http://bravesbanter.com/?p=114. Don’t Stop the Chop!!!
Old Big Dawg
August 19th, 2012
10:50 am
Charleston…we Dawg fans love the Braves too….bit u are on the wrong topic…..this is all about our Dawgs!
BILLY JACK
August 19th, 2012
10:54 am
Game Changer-if you wanted to win the east last year all you had to do was beat a mediocre Auburn team at home and you failed.You also got blown out by Arkansas and if UGA hadnt given you 3 gift turnovers that went back for touchdowns you would have been beaten badly in Athens last year.Stop whining -the old ballcoach is constanly complaining about Georgias confrence scheldue which Georgia has nothing to do with.
I dropped my fried twinkie
August 19th, 2012
10:55 am
CLEAN?
THE FULMER CUP SEASON CLOSES, AND GEORGIA IS YOUR CHAMPION
by Spencer Hall on Sep 1, 2010 12:01 PM PDT
FULMER CUP Ranking
2006 Tied #8
2007 NR
2008 Tied #3
2009 NR
2010 #1
2011 NR
UGa has been in the top 10 3 out of the 6 years since the Fulmer Cup was started…………..CLEAN PROGRAM under Richt for sure……………LMMFAO.
Old Big Dawg
August 19th, 2012
11:00 am
Twinkie…..you have to get use to it little fellar….you will continue to lose to, our Dawgs and that is that. We totally embarassed your team last yr on your home field without any backs.
DAWG FAN FROM DOUGLISVILLE
August 19th, 2012
11:13 am
U HATERS NEED 2 GO A WAY. U NO THE DAWGS WIL FINNISH NUMER 1!
g
August 19th, 2012
11:18 am
haha clemson? really? most of there season is made up of playing near high school teams how hard is it to beat them. every time they play a good team they get stomped.
whitx2
August 19th, 2012
11:31 am
Good luck witch ye foosball, bulldogs. Almost time to strap’em on.
Game Changer
August 19th, 2012
11:47 am
UGA 2011 vs SEC EAST TEAMS
gave up 115 total points in 5 games / 23 point average against the likes of vandy, kentucky, south carolina, tennessee and florida.
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
11:52 am
Game Changer….what are greatest UGA wins over your team that you personally have enjoyed the most?
BrandonLee49
August 19th, 2012
12:18 pm
Let’s Remember Who Whoopped UGA’s Butt in their Bowl Game ???
And now Lunatics in the AP thinks UGA is No. 6… BS, They aren’t even no. 6 in the SEC !!!
kingdaddy
August 19th, 2012
12:20 pm
Football envy…A fan from another team always on the other teams blog. There’s more Tech fans and Chickens in here, than there is on the Tech/Chicken blogs. Both programs want to be UGA, but they can’t. So they hang out on Dawg blogs hopeing a little Bulldog tradition will rub off on them. Total pathetic losers, lmaoff…
BrandonLee49
August 19th, 2012
12:27 pm
UGA Won the EAST.. Whoopty S____ The East gets Trounced by the West Every Year…. East is Lame… Weak Sister to the Real Deal WEST… It all Pans out when UGA goes to a Bowl Game and Gets Embarraassed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LHarding Dawg
August 19th, 2012
12:27 pm
My two favorite SC games were the David Pollack “GAME CHANGER” fumble recovery in the endzone and last years beat down by a very sorry Auburn team.
kingdaddy
August 19th, 2012
12:35 pm
Bugooooockkkk, we’re the best they ever was! Bugooooooooockkk, UGA only scored 42 points on us! Bugooooockkk, we can’t beat no team from the west! Bugoooooockkkk, we hates them Bulldawgs…Whiney, crybabies…
kingdaddy
August 19th, 2012
12:39 pm
Trolls
I know I’m a pain in your butts, but it’s the shortest route to your brains…
Pitbull
August 19th, 2012
12:42 pm
Georgia could increase its strength of schedule by dropping Tech and picking up Clemson or North Carolina or even Duke.
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
12:43 pm
Brandon….woke up with a bad case of Bulldawg envy? Lot of that around here. Maybe receiving another beatdown from the Dawgs this year will help your condition….oh wait lol…that is the cause of your symptoms….lol..Sic’em…Brandon!
The Factor
August 19th, 2012
12:51 pm
@Melanie…
“playing nothing teams this year except the one’s they have to play”….hhummm….
Congratulations Melanie, you have just won the “Pinhead of the Day” comment. We exclude no one because of gender bias.
St Richt
August 19th, 2012
12:55 pm
Yes, pitbull, all those teams you listed that GT beat would improve strength of schedule for Georgia. You can’t hide stupid.
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
1:20 pm
St. techie….those schools in particular Clemson and NC tend to hold more clout…if you knew this you would not have posted this downright foolish remark!
I dropped my fried twinkie
August 19th, 2012
1:25 pm
Pitbull……….explain your statement.
GT v Clem&sons 50-23-2 and 7-3 last 10 gms
UGa v Clem&sons 38-15-4 and 5-1 since 1990
GT v UNC 26-18-3 and 8-2 last 10 gms
UGa v UNC 15-6-2 and have not played since 71
GT v Duke 48-30-1 and 9-1 last 10 gms
UGa v Duke 1-0 1986
Another brilliant dWag fan that is better at sniffing butts than actually making an intelligent fact based post.
I dropped my fried twinkie
August 19th, 2012
1:27 pm
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
1:20 pm
St. techie….those schools in particular Clemson and NC tend to hold more clout…if you knew this you would not have posted this downright foolish remark!
—————————————————-
Like UGa holds Clout but never lives up to it.
Those schools might be given more respect but Tech has proven they don’t deserve it much like UGa being picked #6 this year.
I dropped my fried twinkie
August 19th, 2012
1:28 pm
taking Cdpridg to the dWagshed with facts and research not talking out the butt like a mutt.
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
1:31 pm
Twinkie? Are you starving to be addressed?? Thanks for reminding us all how brilliant you are. It was established some 50 to 60 yrs ago that UGA holds more clout and DESERVEDLY so than thesad state of affairs on north ave
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
1:35 pm
Ywinkie…why dont you go have a twinkie and not post any of your meaningless tech ignorance on this board or else you will be schooled..
Tide Rising
August 19th, 2012
1:45 pm
Georgia has got to easily be the most overrated team on there. I can imagine that the no. 6 ranking is solely due to a creampuff schedule. It certainly can’t be based on the idea that they are actually the 6th best team in the country. They’re not in the same league with Arkansas. That’s for sure. If they had a schedule where they played at least one decent team out of conference like Boise or Michigan and at least one of the 3 big boys from the west I would take them a little more seriously. But in reality they’re probably around the 18th or 20th best team in the country all things being equal. This is after all a program that has lost its last 2 bowl games to a middling big 10 team and Central Florida.
Buzzzzzzz
August 19th, 2012
1:52 pm
Results from the 2011-2012 season for the Big 3 men’s sports:
Football: UGA 1, GT 0
Basketball: GT 1, UGA 0
Baseball: GT 2, UGA 1
——————————-
Total: GT 3, UGA 2
In other words…
GEORGIA TECH RUNS THIS STATE!
Laughing at all things Dawg
August 19th, 2012
1:58 pm
Saw this on another blog and it sums up UGA football and its fanbase:
Tradition is a great crutch when the present doesn’t have a leg to stand on……..
Kingdaddy seemed to embrace the saying. Probably because it is correct.
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
2:01 pm
Tide Rising…i am about to explain why you are a moron in a very short andjust as sweet as I possibly can…..lets say you are a tide fan and not a cowardly techie….you takethe Dawgs seriously first and foremost because we have owned you a decade plus….secondly and this is where you look ansolutely silly son….you posted here…you worry…as you should of the big bad DAWG
Cdpridg
August 19th, 2012
2:02 pm
Laughing at…the real laugh comes every Nov around Tgiving….lol
Court Reporter
August 19th, 2012
2:03 pm
During the 1986 Jan Kemp trial, Hale Almand Jr., a lawyer for UGA, offered a justification for the favorable treatment accorded the athletes, describing a typical UGA player. “We may not make a university student out of him,” he told the jury, “but if we can teach him to read and write, maybe he can work at the post office rather than as a garbageman when he gets through with his athletic career.”
That trial exposed UGA for the football factory that it was, and exposed slimy Vince Dooley as a fraud and a sleazebag. It also derailed Dooley’s plans for a political career in the U.S. Congress. That’s why we see the decrepit old fraud doing TV commercials even now.
Mark Richt is just the latest in a line of sleazy UGA coaches who coddle athletes and discard them after four years of football. He recruits illiterate morons he knows aren’t smart enough for college, but he doesn’t care, as long as they help him line his pockets with millions of dollars each year. But to Richt’s credit, he does produce a lot of fine garbagemen. And homeless bums.
Suntanned Saint Mark isn’t quite all he appears to be, is he?
Laughing at all things Dawg
August 19th, 2012
2:08 pm
@Cdpridg
I an assure you no BCS Conference team fears UGA. UGA is a paper tiger. A history of big game choking, beating up on small school programs, off the field stupidty, and fan base ignorance. That pretty much sums up The Georgia Way. What a traditionof nothingness. You wear the crown well.
7576DAWG
August 19th, 2012
2:10 pm
Tide Rising
It is obvious you like to live in the past , I prefer to move on and learn from past mistakes .The reason Georgia didn’t win their last too bowl games was because they did not have the depth to stay with Michigan States senior lead team and against Central Florida I think they were just embarrassed as coaches and players so much they did not care. Today you get so much money to show up for a bowl game refusing the invite was out of the question , but they didn’t want to be there. Now getting to the schedule , Georgia supposedly had a easy schedule last year but all four teams we lost too ended high up in the ratings. Same thing this year if Georgia wins the East they will NOT get away without playing LSU or Alabama for the Championship.