Badgers ranked No. 23 in coaches preseason poll

Published Aug. 1, 2013 11:31 a.m. ET

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Wisconsin's football team will begin the 2013 season ranked No. 23 in the USA Today preseason coaches Top 25 poll, which was released Thursday.

In total, five Big Ten teams made the poll, with the other four ranked ahead of the Badgers.

Wisconsin, which finished last season outside the Top 25 following a Rose Bowl loss to Stanford, earned 172 points in the preseason poll. Northwestern narrowly edged Wisconsin at No. 22 with 186 points.

The other Big Ten teams to make the poll were Ohio State (No. 2), Michigan (No. 17) and Nebraska (No. 18). Wisconsin will play Ohio State on Sept. 28 in Columbus and Northwestern following a bye week on Oct. 12 in Madison.

The first regular-season poll will be released Sept. 3. Wisconsin's season opener is Aug. 31 against UMass. Polling will then continue weekly through Dec. 8, when the pairings for the Bowl Championship Series will be announced.

The voting panel this year consists of 62 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches. There has been a coaches poll for major college football since 1950, while USA Today became the administrator of the poll beginning in 1991.

1. Alabama, 1545 points (58 first-place votes)2. Ohio State, 1427 points (3 first-place votes)3. Oregon, 1397 points4. Stanford, 1,262 points5. Georgia, 1,250 points6. Texas A&M, 1,215 points (1 first-place vote)7. South Carolina, 1,136 points8. Clemson, 1,047 points9. Louisville, 1,010 points10. Florida, 930 points11. Notre Dame, 872 points12. Florida State, 844 points13. LSU, 797 points14. Oklahoma State, 726 points15. Texas, 622 points16. Oklahoma, 620 points17. Michigan, 589 points18. Nebraska, 426 points19. Boise State, 420 points20. TCU, 400 points21. UCLA, 202 points22. Northwestern, 186 points23. Wisconsin, 172 points24.USC, 165 points25. Oregon State, 135 points
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