Alabama opens season at No. 1 in coaches poll

The first preseason poll of 2016 is out.

The preseason coaches poll was released Thursday and the defending national champions are No. 1. Alabama topped the rankings with Clemson, the team the Tide beat in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, is No. 2.

Here’s the full list of 25 teams. Clemson (7), Florida State (1) and Tennessee – yes, UT – (1), were the only other teams to get first place votes.

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida State
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Stanford
8. Michigan
9. Notre Dame
10. Tennessee
11. Michigan State
12. Ole Miss
13. Houston
14. TCU
15. Iowa
16. Georgia
17. Southern Cal
18. Washington
19. Oklahoma State
20. North Carolina
21. Baylor
22. Oregon
23. Louisville
24. UCLA
25. Florida

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Rather than going through the poll and disagreeing with where it has some teams ranked, we’ll use this paragraph to tease our own top 25 which is coming later this month. In the weeks before the season begins we’ll outline who we think the top 25 teams are plus preview each Power Five conference and more.

If last year is your guide, don’t look at the poll as a guide for how the College Football Playoff will stack up at the end of the season. Ohio State was the No. 1 team in the coaches poll entering 2015 and TCU and Baylor were also in the top four. Alabama (at No. 3), was the only team in the top four that made the CFP.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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