Florida State, the defending BCS champions, were No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll released Thursday. The Seminoles are the only team from Florida in the rankings.
FSU received 56 of the available 62 first-place votes, while Oklahoma had three votes, and Oregon, Ohio State and South Carolina all received one vote each.
"We're very excited about being No. 1 and happy to be No. 1, but we understand that we have to play like No. 1 and play great football," Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher told USA TODAY Sports. "That's going to be our objective. We're proud to start there and now we just have to go play great football.
Two other ACC teams are also ranked: No. 16 Clemson and No. 23 North Carolina.
UCF, which finished last season 12-1 and was ranked No. 12 in the final coaches poll after defeating Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl, received 102 votes, leaving the Knights just outside the top 25 at No. 28.
