Alabama #1 in first preseason football coaches poll, Georgia #3, Notre Dame lands at #5

Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Unsurprisingly, the undying goliath of college football that is Alabama earned the top spot in the first preseason NCAA football coaches poll.

On Monday, the first official USA Today coaches poll for 2022 was released with Nick Saban and his latest gang of elite prospects sitting in the top spot overall. To some, landing first after losing in the NCAA Championship game earlier this year might be odd and reigning champs Georgia should reside in the #1 spot.

However, when a program has taken six of the last 13 championship games and has another strong recruiting class in 2022, the Bulldogs will need to do a lot more to change the college football world’s automatic designation that Alabama is the best team each season until proven wrong. The Crimson Tide garnered 54 of the 66 first-place votes from the voting panel.

Speaking of Georgia, the program that earned their first title since 1980, and got Kirby Smart his first win over the Crimson Tide in five tries, entered the preseason as the third team in the rankings with six first-place votes. Which was one more than the program than earned the #2 spot, the Ohio State Buckeyes, who had five first-place votes.

Clemson and Notre Dame round out the top 5 in coaches poll, after Alabama

After the top three of Alabama, Ohio State, and Georgia, 2018 and 2016 champions Clemson come in at four, followed by legendary college football program Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will look to maintain their place as a perennial top-10 after long-time head coach Brian Kelly took his talents to LSU in the offseason. He was replaced by just the second African American head coach in Notre Dame history, Marcus Freeman.

You can find the full rundown of the preseason top 25 rankings from NCAA coaches below: