The first USA Today Amway Coaches Poll was released on Thursday afternoon. Not much surprise near the top as Florida State is the top ranked team. The Louisville Cardinals are 11th under “Others Receiving Votes,” essentially meaning they are ranked 36th in this poll. The Miami Hurricanes are two spots ahead of the Cards.
Three of UofL’s opponents are ranked: Florida State (1), Clemson (16), and Notre Dame (17). In previous seasons, it has been good to just find one ranked opponent on the schedule. That won’t be a problem this season!
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK | CHANGE | HI/LOW* |
| 1 | Florida State Seminoles |
14-0 | 1543 | 56 | NR | — | |
| 2 | Alabama Crimson Tide |
11-2 | 1455 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners |
11-2 | 1382 | 3 | NR | — | |
| 4 | Oregon Ducks |
11-2 | 1314 | 1 | NR | — | |
| 5 | Auburn Tigers |
12-2 | 1271 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 6 | Ohio State Buckeyes |
12-2 | 1267 | 1 | NR | — | |
| 7 | UCLA Bruins |
10-3 | 1085 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 8 | Michigan State Spartans |
13-1 | 1050 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 9 | South Carolina Gamecocks |
11-2 | 1009 | 1 | NR | — | |
| 10 | Baylor Bears |
11-2 | 965 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 11 | Stanford Cardinal |
11-3 | 955 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 12 | Georgia Bulldogs |
8-5 | 905 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 13 | LSU Tigers |
10-3 | 833 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 14 | Wisconsin Badgers |
9-4 | 654 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 15 | USC Trojans |
10-4 | 627 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 16 | Clemson Tigers |
11-2 | 535 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 17 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
9-4 | 509 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 18 | Arizona State Sun Devils |
10-4 | 358 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 19 | Mississippi Rebels |
8-5 | 346 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 20 | Texas A&M Aggies |
9-4 | 266 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 21 | Kansas State Wildcats |
8-5 | 257 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 22 | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
9-4 | 228 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 23 | North Carolina Tar Heels |
7-6 | 175 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 24 | Texas Longhorns |
8-5 | 143 | 0 | NR | — | |
| 25 | Washington Huskies |
9-4 | 142 | 0 | NR | — |
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; GeorgiaTech 2; Houston 2; Arkansas 1; Arizona 1; Northern Illinois 1.
*Hi/Low Rankings
Hi/Low = The highest and lowest ranking each team has held during the designated season. Any team that starts the season unranked and/or falls out of the top 25 during the season will reflect a “NR” (not ranked) designation as its lowest rank.
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.
