Florida No. 1 in Coaches’ Poll

Steve Spurrier has one less thing to complain about.

The Florida football coach who often finds fault with his quarterbacks had little problem with the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll, which tabbed his Gators as the preseason No. 1.

The Gators received 25 first-place votes and 1,401 points in a poll of 60 Division I-A coaches released Thursday night.

“‘We look forward to being No. 1, no matter how early it is,” Spurrier said. “I didn’t realize we would be that popular a team.”

Three of the top five teams are from Florida, with Miami second and Florida State fifth.

Oklahoma, which defeated Florida State in the Orange Bowl to claim the national championship last season, will begin this season third in the poll. Nebraska, at No. 4, completes the top five.

UCLA, coming off a 6-6 season, is rated 15th, behind three other Pacific 10 Conference teams: Oregon (eighth), Oregon State (12th) and Washington (14th). USC is not in the top 25.

Nine teams received at least one first-place vote, including No. 10 Michigan, which was the highest-placed Big Ten team in the poll.

The Associated Press poll of sportswriters and broadcasters will be released Aug. 11.

Poll: D13