FOOTBALL

Iowa, Iowa State both ranked in preseason football poll for first time ever

Danny Lawhon
The Des Moines Register

Can football season get here already? Because Iowa State and Iowa fans each have even more reasons to be jacked.

The latest fist-pump moment is the unprecedented double ranking of both the Cyclones and the Hawkeyes in the preseason USA TODAY Amway Coaches' Poll, which was released late Thursday morning.

Kirk Ferentz's squad debuts at 19th in the poll, while Matt Campbell's bunch comes in at No. 24.

It's the first time the Cyclones have been ranked in the preseason poll, and the first honor for the Hawkeyes since 2016.

Clemson, the defending national champion, will enter the campaign with the top ranking. It is the first preseason No. 1 ranking for the Tigers in the history of the coaches poll.

Clemson received 59 of 65 first-place votes, with the remaining six all going to second-ranked Alabama. This is the first time since 2010 that only two teams received first-place votes in the preseason.

The rest of the teams in the top five are also the same as those who started last season there, though the order is slightly different. Georgia will open at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Ohio State. It is the first time since 1992 that the preseason top five has been made up by the same teams in consecutive seasons.

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The Hawkeyes are picked second in the Big Ten Conference's West Division in the annual Cleveland.com preseason media poll, sharing 14 first-place votes with favored Nebraska.

Iowa State was chosen third in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll, behind league stalwarts Texas and Oklahoma.

The two schools could make more history Aug. 19 when The Associated Press' preseason rankings are released. Iowa State has been ranked in that early poll just once, in 1978. Iowa has 23 preseason top-25 rankings in its history, most recently in 2016.

The annual Cy-Hawk game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sept. 14. And as long as neither side has an uncharacteristic slip-up in the first couple of weeks, you can expect the hype for the rivalry game to be unprecedented as well.

Bring it on.

FULL AMWAY COACHES' POLL TOP 25

  1. Clemson (59 first-place votes), 1619 points
  2. Alabama (6), 1566
  3. Georgia, 1447
  4. Oklahoma, 1415
  5. Ohio State, 1368
  6. LSU, 1218
  7. Michigan, 1155
  8. Florida, 1103
  9. Notre Dame, 1100
  10. Texas, 1038
  11. Texas A&M, 893
  12. Washington, 834
  13. Oregon, 787
  14. Penn State, 699
  15. Utah, 642
  16. Auburn, 606
  17. Wisconsin, 436 (tie)
  18. Central Florida, 436 (tie)
  19. Iowa, 343
  20. Michigan State, 313
  21. Washington State, 274
  22. Syracuse, 227
  23. Stanford, 200
  24. Iowa State, 169
  25. Northwestern, 161

Others receiving votes: Nebraska 152; Boise State 118; Mississippi State 111; Miami 94; Army 91; Kentucky 79; Virginia Tech 64; Texas Christian 63; Southern California 47; Utah State 32; Fresno State 32; Virginia 30; Cincinnati 25; West Virginia 24; Memphis 24; Oklahoma State 20; South Carolina 15; NC State 12; Duke 10; Boston College 5; Florida State 4; Baylor 4; Appalachian State 4; North Texas 3; Houston 3; UCLA 2; Temple 2; Arizona State 2; Troy 1; Tennessee 1; Mississippi 1; Minnesota 1.