(Photo Credit: Chris O’Meara/Associated Press)

The defending champions are right back where they were in January … with a twist

Clemson, for the first time in its history, earned the No.1 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason college football poll. The preseason poll was released on Monday.

The Tigers battered Alabama 44-16 in January for their second national title in three years. Alabama, which has won five titles over 10 years, was ranked No. 2, with Georgia third and Oklahoma fourth. Clemson got 52 first-place votes and 10 went to the Crimson Tide. Alabama had been ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll the last three seasons.

There’s not much that separates the Tigers and the Tide. Both are 55-4 over the last four seasons. The Tigers, however, begin this season (Aug. 29, at home against Georgia Tech) on a 15-game winning streak.

In other college football news:

• Jalen Hurts, once the Tide’s starting quarterback, will be in that role for the Sooners as a senior transfer. Hurts were 26-2 as Alabama’s starter but lost his job to Tua Tagavailoa. Hurts was expected to beat out Sooners redshirt freshman Tanner Mordecai and true freshman Spencer Rattler.

• Ohio State, ranked fifth, has a new head coach in Ryan Day. Day, the former offensive coordinator who took over for the retired Urban Meyer, named transfer Justin Fields the starting quarterback. Fields were previously at Georgia, where Jake Fromm is entrenched.

• Nebraska, which finished 4-8 last year, is ranked 24th by the AP. The Cornhuskers had not been ranked in the preseason poll since 2014.

• The season begins Thursday night with Miami playing No. 8 Florida in Orlando (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman