Oklahoma State ranked No. 14 in coaches poll

Photo Attribution: USATSI

The 2013 football coaches poll was released on Thursday and Oklahoma State is ranked inside the top 20 to open the season for the third straight time.

Here’s a look at the last six years worth of preseason rankings (where they ended in parentheses)

2008: 52 (14)
2009: 11 (25)
2010: 39 (10)
2011: 8 (3)
2012: 19 (29)
2013: 14 (?)

The Cowboys are the highest ranked Big 12 team — Texas is No. 15, OU is No. 16, and TCU is No. 20.

So basically the coaches are saying the same thing as the media did a few weeks ago: we have no idea.

The top 10 is a collection of SEC teams, probably just sorted randomly after Alabama by SIDs across the country.

After Bama at No. 1 you have Georgia at No. 5, A&M at No. 6, South Carolina at No. 7, and Florida at No. 8. Then LSU at No. 13 — so all told six SEC teams listed before the first Big 12 team (OSU). Here’s the full poll.

What’s interesting to me, and a good thing for the Cowboys, is that OSU is clearing a lot of hurdles up front. We all know that releasing a poll on August 1 is about as silly as it gets but you start seeing real consequences when teams just sit where they were voted in the preseason even if they’re winning 1-point games all year.

Remember, the coaches poll makes up 1/3 of the BCS fomula — hopefully that’s something we’re complaining talking about in December.

Also, third highest preseason ranking ever for OSU.

Looks like 14th is the third-highest preseason coaches poll ranking for #okstate, trailing eighth in 2011 and 11th in 2009.

— Kelly Hines (@KellyHinesTW) August 1, 2013

And this, wow!

So there's that RT @zach_barnett: Oklahoma State at No. 14, that's the lowest starting point for the Big 12 in the history of the conference

— RJ Young (@RJ_Young) August 1, 2013