South Carolina ranked No. 9, Clemson 14th in preseason football coaches’ poll

COLUMBIA — South Carolina is ranked ninth and Clemson is 14th in the USA Today preseason football coaches’ poll, released Thursday.

Under coach Steve Spurrier, the Gamecocks finished last season ranked No. 8 in the coaches’ poll and No. 9 in The Associated Press poll — their first top-10 final rankings.

USC has never started the season ranked higher than No. 12 in the AP poll, and the Gamecocks will almost certainly be in the top 10 of the AP’s preseason poll when it is released later this month. This year will mark just the eighth time that USC has appeared in the preseason AP rankings. The Gamecocks finished in the top 25 in just two of those seasons – 2001 and 2011.

South Carolina is coming off a school-record 11-2 season. The Gamecocks open preseason practices at 7:30 p.m. Friday and start the season Aug. 30 at Vanderbilt.

Rank School (2011 record) Points

1. LSU (13-1) 1403

2. Alabama (12-1) 1399

3. Southern California (10-2) 1388

4. Oklahoma (10-3) 1276

5. Oregon (12-2) 1258

6. Georgia (10-4) 1061

7. Florida State (9-4) 1055

8. Michigan (11-2) 1023

9. South Carolina (11-2) 981

10. Arkansas (11-2) 948

11. West Virginia (10-3) 833

12. Wisconsin (11-3) 743

13. Michigan State (11-3) 717

14. Clemson (10-4) 598

15. Texas (8-5) 549

16. Nebraska (9-4) 501

17. TCU (11-2) 499

18. Stanford (11-2) 497

19. Oklahoma State (12-1) 476

20. Virginia Tech (11-3) 461

21. Kansas State (10-3) 398

22. Boise State (12-1) 271

23. Florida (7-6) 250

24. Notre Dame (8-5) 166

25. Auburn (8-5) 66