South Carolina Gamecocks 9th in preseason Amway Coaches Poll

The South Carolina Gamecocks placed 9th in the first Amway Coaches Poll of the year, which was released around noon this afternoon.

The Gamecocks were one of three SEC schools to be named; Alabama (naturally) was the top-ranked school in the conference at #2, while Auburn, the national runner-up, came in at #5. Clemson, by the way was #16.

Interestingly, the Gamecocks received a single first-place vote among the 62 coaches on the selection panel, while Alabama received none. The lion’s share went to Florida State, the defending national champion, who received 56 out of 62 first-place votes to show at #1.

Preseason polls mean one thing: college football is that much closer. Today is four months until the Gamecocks and the Texas A&M Aggies, who were ranked 20th, do battle at Williams-Brice Stadium.

You can read USA Today’s breakdown of the poll here. The poll, as always, will be released every Thursday throughout the regular season; this is Amway’s first season as its title sponsor.