Oklahoma received 42 of 59 available first-place votes to grab the No. 1 spot in the USA Today/coaches preseason poll, released today.
TCU, last year's Rose Bowl champions coming off a 13-0 season, will open at No. 15.
A total of five Big 12 teams cracked the preseason poll, with Oklahoma State (No. 8) and Texas A&M (No. 9) joining the Sooners in the Top 10. Missouri (No. 21) and Texas (No. 24) also earned preseason rankings from the coaches.
Boise State, a first-year member of the Mountain West considered TCU's biggest threat to defending the Horned Frogs' 2010 conference title, opened at No. 7 in the poll.
For Texas A&M, the ranking marks the first time the Aggies have cracked the Top 10 of a preseason poll since 1999, when A&M opened at No. 7 in The Associated Press poll and No. 8 in the coaches poll. A&M finished 9-4 last season and features 18 returning starters as well as a school-record 60 returning lettermen.
Oklahoma, the defending Big 12 champ, finished 12-2 last season and won the Fiesta Bowl. The first-place votes not given to the Sooners in the inaugural poll went to No. 2 Alabama (13), No. 3 Oregon (2) and No. 4 LSU (2).
The full poll is below at this link:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/usatpoll.htm
_ Jimmy Burch
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