Florida State picked No. 1 in preseason Amway Coaches Poll

The Florida State Seminoles will start this season exactly where they ended the last one: No. 1.

The reigning national champions were an overwhelming No. 1 with 56 of 62 first-place votes in the preseason Amway Coaches Poll, released Thursday.

"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," 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."

The Seminoles have been here before to start the season, but it's been awhile. Though Florida State has topped the preseason coaches poll four times since USA TODAY began administering the poll in 1991, this is the first since 1999. Of those four, twice have the Seminoles finished the year No. 1, in '93 and '99. In '99, Florida State went wire to wire to win the BCS championship.

"There is no added pressure," Fisher said. "Our goal every year is to win the national championship. That's why we're at Florida State."

On the way to the title last year, the Seminoles took down Auburn in the championship game, ending the SEC's seven-year run at the top.

The SEC will have strong contenders for the inaugural four-team College Football Playoff, and to reclaim the championship belt, leading the way with seven teams in the top 25, including two in the top five: No. 2 Alabama and No. 5 Auburn, which lost a significant portion of its running game when Tre Mason was drafted by the St. Louis Rams.

The Pac-12 is second with six teams in the top 25, led by No. 4 Oregon, which earned a No. 1 vote, and No. 7 UCLA. The Big 12 and Big Ten each have four teams in the poll, and the ACC has three.

The Big 12's Oklahoma, which earned three No. 1 votes, is third; the Big Ten's Ohio State, which got one No. 1 vote, is sixth. Reigning Big Ten champion Michigan State is No. 8.

The last of the 62 first-place votes went to the SEC's South Carolina, which comes in at No. 9.

Also worthy of note:

• No teams outside the Power 5 conferences landed in the top 25. Notre Dame came in at No. 17. The American Athletic's Central Florida, 12-1 after an upset of Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl last year, is the top non-power 5 team, 28th overall.

• Texas A&M, which is gearing up for its first season post-Johnny Manziel, opens at No. 20.

• Florida, coming off a 4-8 season that included a loss to Georgia Southern, is not in the preseason coaches poll for the first time since USA TODAY Sports took over the poll in 1991.

• Ohio State continues its run of poll success: The Buckeyes have appeared in every preseason poll in which they were eligible (they missed out in 2012 because of NCAA sanctions).

• The ACC got three teams in the top 25, FSU, No. 16 Clemson and No. 23 North Carolina. Not, however, league runner-up Duke despite coming off a 10-4 season, an ACC Coastal Division title, a clash against Florida State in the ACC Championship game and a narrow loss in a thriller to Manziel and Texas A&M in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. However, the pollsters did pay Duke some respect: The Blue Devils got 41 points to leave them 35th. It's the first time Duke has gotten votes in the preseason coaches poll since 2007, when it got one point.

The rankings:

1. Florida State Seminoles: 14-0, 1543 votes, 56 first-place votes
2. Alabama Crimson Tide: 11-2, 1455 votes
3. Oklahoma Sooners: 11-2, 1382 votes, 3 first-place votes
4. Oregon Ducks: 11-2, 1314 votes, 1 first-place vote
5. Auburn Tigers: 12-2, 1271 votes
6. Ohio State Buckeyes: 12-2, 1267 votes, 1 first-place vote
7. UCLA Bruins: 10-3, 1085 votes
8. Michigan State Spartans: 13-1, 1050 votes
9. South Carolina Gamecocks: 11-2, 1009 votes, 1 first-place vote
10. Baylor Bears: 11-2, 965 votes
11. Stanford Cardinal: 11-3, 955 votes
12. Georgia Bulldogs: 8-5, 905 votes
13. LSU Tigers: 10-3, 833 votes
14. Wisconsin Badgers: 9-4, 654 votes
15. USC Trojans: 10-4, 627 votes
16. Clemson Tigers: 11-2, 535 votes
17. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 9-4, 509 votes
18. Arizona State Sun Devils: 10-4, 358 votes
19. Mississippi Rebels: 8-5, 346 votes
20. Texas A&M Aggies: 9-4, 266 votes
21. Kansas State Wildcats: 8-5, 257 votes
22. Nebraska Cornhuskers: 9-4, 228 votes
23. North Carolina Tar Heels: 7-6, 175 votes
24. Texas Longhorns: 8-5, 143 votes
25. Washington Huskies: 9-4, 142 votes

Others receiving votes: Missouri (12-2) 126; Florida (4-8) 122; Central Florida (12-1) 102; Mississippi State (7-6) 74; Oklahoma State (10-3) 56; TCU (4-8) 54; Michigan (7-6) 53; Iowa (8-5) 49; Miami (Fla.) (9-4) 45; Duke (10-4) 41; Louisville (12-1) 32; Marshall (10-4) 27; Brigham Young (8-5) 18; Boise State (8-5) 13; Louisiana-Lafayette (9-4) 12; Virginia Tech (8-5) 12; Texas Tech (8-5) 8; Cincinnati (9-4) 6; Minnesota (8-5) 6; Northwestern (5-7) 5; Fresno State (11-2) 4; Oregon State (7-6) 4; Georgia Tech (7-6) 2; Houston (8-5) 2; Arizona (8-5) 1; Arkansas (3-9) 1; Northern Illinois (12-2) 1.