NCAA Football Preseason Rankings 2017: Expert Reactions to Amway Top 25

The preseason Amway Coaches Poll was released at 12 p.m. ET on Thursday, and with it, our first indications for which teams are expected to be this year's NCAA powerhouses. 

The 2016 preseason poll was fairly on the nose, ranking the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. 

And, of course, those two teams went on to meet in the College Football Playoff National Championship, with Clemson taking the title, so it's fair to put more than a little stock in what the 64 FBS coaches on the panel have to say. 

The results of the coaches' predictions are below, as well as expert reactions to the first top 25 ranking of the season. The next Amway poll will be released following Week 1 of the season.  

Preseason Amway Coaches' Poll Top 25

1. Alabama

2. Ohio State

3. Florida State

4. USC

5. Clemson

6. Penn State

7. Washington 

8. Oklahoma

9. Michigan 

10. Wisconsin 

11. Oklahoma State

12. Louisiana State

13. Auburn

14. Stanford

15. Georgia

16. Florida

17. Louisville

18. Miami

19. Kansas State

20. West Virginia

21. South Florida

22. Virginia Tech

23. Texas

24. Tennessee 

25. Utah 

This year, it was no surprise to see the coaches rank Alabama No. 1 overall, as Nick Saban's squad is expected to reach the national championship for the third consecutive year. 

However, it was something of a surprise to see USC, which could boast the best offense in the country behind quarterback Sam Darnold, come in at No. 4, with Ohio State taking the No. 2 spot. 

College football writer George Schroeder of USA Today Sports did a Facebook live video to break down the year's first top 25 ranking. 

In it, he made the interesting point that after Alabama, Clemson received the second-most first-place votes, with seven.

Of course, the Tigers ended up ranked fifth in the poll, largely because they lost their best talent on offense to the NFL this spring in Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman and Mike Williams.

The Big Ten got some nice representation in the, erm, top 10; four programs, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin, were ranked therein. 

USA Today's Daniel Wolken thought that was one of the biggest surprises of the Coaches' Poll, especially given the drop-off from Alabama at No. 1 and the next SEC school, Louisiana State, at No. 12.

As the Penn State independent newspaper, The Daily Collegian, pointed out on Twitter, this is the first time the Nittany Lions have cracked the top 10 since 2009:

Meanwhile, back in the Big 12, Texas cracked the top 25 despite coming off three losing seasons, posting records of 5-7, 5-7 and 6-7 dating back to 2014 under head coach Charlie Strong. 

Texas A&M writer for Good Bull Hunting Doug Keegan found that slightly amusing:

As for snubs?

Wolken pointed out the seeming lack of regard for that other southern California program, UCLA, in the polls:

Other programs that just missed out on the top 25 include Washington State, which received 99 votes; Colorado, which received 72 votes; and TCU, which received 58 votes.