NCAA Football Preseason Rankings 2023: Expert Reactions to Coaches Poll Top 25

The first Coaches Poll of the 2023 college football season was released Monday afternoon, and it's no surprise which program sits at the top: Georgia, the two-time defending national champion.

The Bulldogs, who received 61 of the 66 first-place votes, appear poised to reload and again contend with the top teams in the country in 2023. But there are some other talented programs that could end Georgia's run at the top.

There weren't any huge surprises in the Coaches Poll, which features plenty of SEC and Big Ten programs near the top. However, plenty on social media still weighed in with their opinions of how the teams were ranked by the coaches.

Here's a look at the first 2023 Coaches Poll, followed by some expert reaction.

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2023 Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Georgia

2. Michigan

3. Alabama

4. Ohio State

5. LSU

6. USC

7. Penn State

8. Florida State

9. Clemson

10. Tennessee

11. Washington

12. Texas

13. Notre Dame

14. Utah

15. Oregon

16. TCU

17. Kansas State

18. Oregon State

19. Oklahoma

20. North Carolina

21. Wisconsin

22. Ole Miss

23. Tulane

24. Texas Tech

25. Texas A&M

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Expert Reaction

Not everybody is going to agree with the rankings for the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 Poll. That's just not how it works. Some will think a team is too high, while others will believe it is too low.

Maybe Alabama ranked at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll was a bit high? Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports seems to think so.

Sallee wrote that the Crimson Tide were overrated in the Coaches Poll because of their quarterback situation, which he described as "a major problem." Bryce Young is gone, which leaves Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner to compete with Ty Simpson and Jalen Milroe for the starting job.

While Alabama is too high in Sallee's opinion, Ohio State is too low at No. 4.

"The Buckeyes should be, at worst, No. 2 in this poll and could make a decent case to be No. 1," Sallee wrote.

Ohio State could certainly be a bit higher at least, as Marvin Harrison Jr. leads a talented receiving corps that should power its offense to success.

Another team that Sallee believed was ranked too low was Florida State at No. 8. He believes Seminoles redshirt senior quarterback Jordan Travis will be a Heisman Trophy contender.

Paul Myerberg of USA Today listed five schools that he thought got snubbed the most by being excluded from the first Coaches Poll: Iowa, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, UTSA and UCLA.

Iowa got the most votes of teams outside the top 25 of the Coaches Poll, and it had a solid case for inclusion. The Hawkeyes' offense could take a big step forward this year with quarterback Cade McNamara, a Michigan transfer who Myerberg called a "potentially dramatic upgrade."

Joel Klatt of Fox Sports released his own Top 25 rankings on Monday, and the top looks quite similar to the Coaches Poll, with Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and Alabama in the top four spots (although he had the Buckeyes at No. 3 and the Crimson Tide at No. 4).

Klatt believes the top five should be rounded out a bit differently, though, as he had Penn State at No. 5, whereas the Nittany Lions were at No. 7 in the Coaches Poll. LSU is at No. 5 in the Coaches Poll and No. 7 in Klatt's rankings.