How Notre Dame and Its Rivals Rank in the Preseason Coaches Poll

USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll Top 25:

1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Penn State
4. Georgia
5. Notre Dame
6. Clemson
7. Oregon
8. Alabama
9. LSU
10. Miami
11. Arizona State
12. Illinois

13. South Carolina
14. Michigan
15. Ole Miss
16. SMU
17. Florida
18. Tennessee
19. Indiana
20. Kansas State
21. Texas A&M
22. Iowa State
23. BYU
24. Texas Tech
25. Boise State

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Takeaway:

It wasn't long ago that I would have lost my mind over Notre Dame being rated fifth to start the year. It beat both Georgia and Penn State last season and returns a ton of production from a team that went to the National Championship Game.

Instead, preseason rankings don't matter much beyond building perception. With four SEC teams in the preseason top 10, the perception that it is the toughest conference is already established, regardless of what happens in its out-of-conference games.

It's called the coaches' poll, but in honesty, it should be called the Sports Information Director's poll. How many people think each of these head coaches is spending time filling out these polls each week, all season, and not just signing their name to someone else's work?