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Here is the first major preseason poll for the 2014 College Football season. To no surprise defending champion Florida State is #1 with returning Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston.
| Rank | Team (click to visit SB Nation team site) | Points | First-place votes |
| 1 | Florida State | 1543 | 56 |
| 2 | Alabama | 1455 | 0 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 1382 | 3 |
| 4 | Oregon | 1314 | 1 |
| 5 | Auburn | 1271 | 0 |
| 6 | Ohio State | 1267 | 1 |
| 7 | UCLA | 1085 | 0 |
| 8 | Michigan State | 1050 | 0 |
| 9 | South Carolina | 1009 | 1 |
| 10 | Baylor | 965 | 0 |
| 11 | Stanford | 955 | 0 |
| 12 | Georgia | 905 | 0 |
| 13 | LSU | 833 | 0 |
| 14 | Wisconsin | 654 | 0 |
| 15 | USC | 627 | 0 |
| 16 | Clemson | 535 | 0 |
| 17 | Notre Dame | 509 | 0 |
| 18 | Arizona State | 358 | 0 |
| 19 | Ole Miss | 346 | 0 |
| 20 | Texas A&M | 266 | 0 |
| 21 | Kansas State | 257 | 0 |
| 22 | Nebraska | 228 | 0 |
| 23 | North Carolina | 175 | 0 |
| 24 | Texas | 143 | 0 |
| 25 | Washington | 142 | 0 |
Five of Utah's 2014 Pac-12 opponents are in this preseason rankings with Oregon (4), UCLA (7), Stanford (11), USC(15), and ASU (18). In the "Others Receiving Votes" category, opponents Michigan, Oregon State, Fresno State and Arizona appear.
Here are the "Others Receiving Votes":
Also receiving votes: Missouri 126; Florida 122; Central Florida 102; Mississippi State 74; Oklahoma State 56; TCU 54; Michigan 53; Iowa 49; Miami (Fla.) 45; Duke 41; Louisville 32; Marshall 27; Brigham Young 18; Boise State 13; Louisiana-Lafayette 12; Virginia Tech 12; Texas Tech 8; Minnesota 6; Cincinnati 6; Northwestern 5; Oregon State 4; Fresno State 4; GeorgiaTech 2; Houston 2; Arkansas 1; Arizona 1; Northern Illinois 1.
So in 2014 Utah is facing nine opponents that are ranked or that are receiving votes to be ranked. The Pac-12 has six ranked teams, only one behind the SEC's seven, and two ahead of the Big-10 and Big-12.
The surprises for me in this poll for the Pac-12 are USC (for reasons I've mentioned in previous articles) at 15 and Washington at 25. Washington lost virtually everything they had on offense with Keith Price, Bishop Sankey, and Austin Seferian-Jenkins moving on. I have no doubt that UW has some skill, but it's unproven, so I figured they'd be in the "others" category early on.
What are your thoughts on this preseason poll? About right? Who is overrated? Who is underrated?