The 2018 college football season is nearly upon us. Most teams open up training camps in the next week, including San Diego State. The Aztecs start on Monday, August 6 and when they do they will not be far from another national ranking.
The preseason Top-25 NCAA Coaches Poll was released on Thursday and the Aztecs showed up in the “receiving votes” portion. Technically they’re 40th in the nation, just ahead of Iowa, Iowa State, and Kentucky.
SDSU returns 16 starters (seven on offense, seven on defense, plus the kicker and punter) from last year’s 10-3 team. The only other Mountain West Conference programs to appear on the coaches poll are 22nd-ranked Boise State and Fresno State, who also received votes and sits seven spots behind the Aztecs.
San Diego State’s first test will be a tough one. The Aztecs open the season on Friday, August 31, on the road against Stanford. The Cardinal are ranked 13th in the country and feature one of the Heisman Trophy frontrunners in running back Bryce Love.
If the Aztecs can win that game (they beat Stanford last year in San Diego) they will almost definitely catapult into the Top-25 again.
To the surprise of nobody defending national champion Alabama is the preseason #1. They’re one of three Southeastern Conference teams in the Top-10, along with #4 Georgia and 10th-ranked Auburn, the two teams that reached the SEC Championship game last season. The full Top-25 Coaches Poll looks like this:
1) Alabama
2) Clemson
3) Ohio State
4) Georgia
5) Oklahoma
6) Washington
7) Wisconsin
8) Miami (FL)
9) Penn State
10) Auburn
11) Notre Dame
12) Michigan State
13) Stanford
14) Michigan
15) USC
16) TCU
17) Virginia Tech
18) Mississippi State
19) Florida State
20) West Virginia
21) Texas
22) Boise State
23) Central Florida
24) LSU
25) Oklahoma State
Others Receiving Votes: South Carolina (138), Florida (135), Oregon (105), Utah (81), Northwestern (67), Texas A&M (67), Kansas State (35), Florida Atlantic (27), Boston College (23), Memphis (23), North Carolina State (22), Arkansas State (19), Troy (19), Appalachian State (16), San Diego State (15), Iowa (8), Iowa State (8), Kentucky (8), Washington State (7), South Florida (6), Duke (5), Fresno State (4), Louisville (3), Arizona (2), Houston (2), Army (1), Northern Illinois (1).
