Florida Takes Top Spot in College Football AP Preseaon Poll

The Florida Gators have taken the number one position in the College Football Associated Press Preseason Poll, near unanimously, and to nobody's surprise. Florida received 58 of the 60 first-place votes, and left no doubt, on who is the team to beat in the upcoming season. The Gators are the defending BCS champions, and will be looking to win their third national title in four seasons. Florida is the preseason number one for the third time in their history, the other two times being in 1994 and 2001.

When Heisman winner Tim Tebow announced that he would return for his senior season with the Gators and would not enter the NFL Draft, the Gators became the favorites to repeat as national champions. Tebow has been one of the most consistent quarterbacks during his time in Florida, and has been selected as a Heisman nominee, in each of the last two seasons, winning it after the 2007 season. If all goes well for Tebow, he could become the first person to win three national titles and two Heisman awards. The Gators are not just good on offense, they also have one of the best defensives in all of college football. Also returning is head coach of Florida, Urban Meyer, who is one of the best coaches in all of college football and will be entering his fifth season.

The Texas Longhorns, which received the two other first-place votes, was voted as the number two team in the poll. Colt McCoy will lead the offense for the Longhorns, and he is also in his senior season with the team. Texas had a great season in 2008 and won the Fiesta Bowl, against Ohio State. The Longhorns are expected to give Florida, their toughest test, and has a good chance of facing the Gators in the BCS Championship, if they have another great season.

The remaining top 10 teams that round out the preseason poll are the Oklahoma Sooners, USC Trojans, Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, Virginia Tech Hokies, Ole Miss Rebels, Penn State Nittany Lions, and Oklahoma State Cowboys. All of these top teams have a chance of pulling off some upsets and contending for the national title, but most likely, these teams will contend for lesser championships against each other. Most of these teams are ranked lower than before, because they either lost a key quarterback, or a key defensive lineman, to the NFL Draft, that helped them greatly last season.

There have been ten preseason number one seeds who have won the national championship in the same season. The Florida Gators will look to become the eleventh team to do the same.