FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas will open the season ranked No. 14 in the USA Today coaches poll, which was released Thursday.
The Razorbacks return 13 starters from last season’s 10-3 team, which included a No. 12 final ranking, a second-place finish in the SEC overall standings and a 31-26 loss to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard about it right there,” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino said Thursday evening following the team’s first practice of fall camp. “So 14th? We’ve got a long way to go then.”
Oklahoma was chosen as the No. 1 team in the poll. The Sooners received 42 of 59 first place votes to easily outpoint No. 2 Alabama, which received 13 first-place votes.
Arkansas will face three teams ranked among the top nine of the coaches poll, all away from home: No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 LSU and No. 9 Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas. The Hogs went 2-1 against those opponents last season, including a 24-20 loss at Reynolds Razorback Stadium to the then-defending BCS champion Crimson Tide.
The Razorbacks also face three more teams ranked in the poll in No. 12 South Carolina, No. 19 Auburn and No. 20 Mississippi State.
The SEC placed eight teams in the poll, easily the most of any conference, and three teams more than both the Big 12 and the Big Ten, which tied for second.
The No. 14 ranking is Arkansas’ highest preseason ranking since the 1989 team was No. 9 in The Associated Poll after coming off a Southwest Conference championship the previous season. The Razorbacks were ranked No. 19 in last year’s preseason USA Today poll.
It is the first time since 2003 the Sooners begin the season at the top of the preseason poll. Oklahoma totaled 1,454 points, while Alabama had 1,414.
Oregon, which lost to Auburn in last season’s BCS championship game, received two first-place votes and opens the season ranked third. The No. 3 ranking marks the highest opening ranking for the Ducks since USA Today started its poll in 1991.
LSU - which opens its season Sept. 3 against Oregon - received the other two first-place votes and is ranked fourth, and Florida State rounds out the top five.
The rest of the top 10 includes No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 Boise State, No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 Wisconsin.
Stanford’s preseason ranking is its first since 1997, when the Cardinal were ranked No. 18, and Texas A&M’s ranking is its highest since the Aggies were ranked No. 8 in 1999.
SEC coaches among the poll’s 59 voters this season are Georgia’s Mark Richt, Alabama’s Nick Saban, South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, Auburn’s Gene Chizik, LSU’s Les Miles, and Vanderbilt’s James Franklin.
Sports, Pages 21 on 08/05/2011