The Boise State football team received 25 points in the USA Today’s preseason coaches’ poll, however, the team will start the season nine spots out of the poll.
WAC rival Fresno State is ranked at No. 25 with 91 points, while Oregon, the Broncos’ opponent in Eugene, Ore., on Sept. 20, comes in at No. 20.
Boise State starts the season Aug. 30 at home versus Idaho State.
The Broncos (10-3 in 2007) were ranked in the final six USA Today polls last regular season, but did not even receive a vote once the final poll was released after the Hawaii Bowl loss to East Carolina. Boise State was No. 23 in the preseason USA Today poll prior to last season.
Georgia, the team Boise State opened the season with three years ago, topped the poll. The Bulldogs were followed by USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Florida to round out the top 5.
The top-ranked Bulldogs are coming off a 41-10 rout of Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl and return 17 starters from last season, including potential Heisman Trophy candidate Knowshon Moreno (1,334 rushing yards last season).
However, the team has a brutal schedule that includes the aforementioned Florida Gators, No. 6 LSU, No. 11 Auburn and No. 16 Arizona State.
Other teams of note include BYU, ranked No. 17, Michigan, with new coach Rich Rodriguez, is No. 24, and former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins’ Colorado Buffaloes received one point.
The highest-ranked team from a non-BCS conference is the 17th-ranked Cougars, who return a 1,000-yard rusher in Harvey Unga and quarterback Max Hall, who threw for 3,848 yards and 26 touchdowns for BYU, which went 11-2 last season.
The SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten each had five teams represented in the poll. The only two non-BCS conferences represented were the Mountain West (BYU) and WAC (Fresno State).
