Texas football trolled with first-place vote in USA Today Coaches Poll
On the morning of Aug. 8, the anticipated preseason USA Today Coaches Poll dropped with an interesting nugget showing up concerning head coach Steve Sarkisian and the Texas football program. Texas wound up getting the No. 18 slot in the preseason Coaches Poll, which is one spot higher than last year’s preseason poll and the highest mark for the program since 2020.
But what was the most interesting about the preseason Coaches Poll this year concerning the Longhorns was that they got a first-place vote.
In fact, Texas was the only team that got a first-place vote among those outside of the top three in this poll. The other three teams that got first-place votes were the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (54 votes), No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes (five votes), and No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (six votes).
Texas football and Steve Sarkisian appear to be the target of a troll job in preseason USA Today Coaches Poll
Teams receiving first place votes in preseason USA Today Coaches Poll:
— Hook'em Headlines (@HookemHeadlines) August 8, 2022
1. Alabama-54
2. Ohio State-5
3. Georgia-6
4. Texas-1 pic.twitter.com/qwNR8X2OWD
In the modern era of college football, this is the lowest-rated team to ever receive a first-place vote. And the second-lowest-rated team in the preseason poll to ever receive a first-place vote was the No. 10 Tennessee Volunteers back in 2016.
Preseason USA Today Top 25 coaches poll
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 8, 2022
1-Bama
2-Ohio St
3-Georgia
4-Clemson
5-NDame
6-Michigan
7-A&M
8-Utah
9-OU
10-Baylor
11-Okla St
12-Oregon
13-NC St
14-Mich St
15-USC
16-Pitt
17-Miami
18-Texas
19-Wake
20-Wisconsin
21-Kentucky
22-Cincinnati
23-Arkansas
24-Ole Miss
25-Houston
This clearly looks like a troll job by some coach somewhere. As far back as we could go for the preseason Coaches Poll (back to 1992), Texas was by far the lowest-rated team to receive a first-place vote.
It’s also likely that Sark and the Longhorns got a boast in the Coaches Poll overall rankings for the preseason thanks to getting this first-place vote.
Texas only edged out the No. 19 Wake Forest Demon Deacons by a few points in the preseason poll.
Moreover, the Longhorns were one of four Big 12 teams that cracked the preseason top 25 in the Coaches Poll. The other three were the No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners, No. 10 Baylor Bears, and No. 11 Oklahoma State Cowboys.
You can view the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll in its entirety here.
Next. 3 takeaways from Texas’ first week of fall practice. dark
Texas finished up last season with a record of 5-7 (3-6 Big 12), missing out on bowl season for the first time since 2016. Sark and the Longhorns will open up the 2022 regular season on Sep. 3 at home against Louisiana-Monroe.