TCU opens at No. 2 in coaches poll; Baylor is No. 4

TCU will open the college football season as the highest-ranked team from Texas in the Amway Coaches Poll, released today.

The Horned Frogs made their debut at No. 2 in the preseason poll, two spots ahead of No. 4 Baylor. Ohio State, the defending national champion, opened at No. 1 and received 62 of 64 available first-place votes. TCU and No. 3 Alabama each received one first-place vote.

TCU (12-1) and Baylor (11-2) shared last season’s Big 12 championship and narrowly missed being part of the inaugural four-team bracket in the College Football Playoff. Baylor finished fifth, and TCU was sixth, in the final CFP rankings that set last year’s playoff field. Ohio State (14-1) won the national title after entering the playoff as the No. 4 seed, a decision by the CFP selection committee that denied the Big 12 a representative in the playoffs.

Both the Horned Frogs and Bears project as playoff contenders again this season. TCU returns 15 starters from last season, including 10 on a prolific offense led by quarterback Trevone Boykin, a Heisman Trophy candidate. Baylor returns 17 starters (eight on offense, nine on defense), including all five of its starting offensive linemen and two All-America candidates on the defensive line (DE Shawn Oakman, DT Andrew Billings).

Behind top-ranked Ohio State, the rest of the Top 10 teams in the preseason poll, in order, included TCU, Alabama, Baylor, Oregon, Michigan State, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia and Southern California.

The only other Texas-based school or Big 12 team to crack the poll was No. 19 Oklahoma. Arkansas landed at No. 20 but Oklahoma State and Texas A&M were unranked.

The Associated Press will release its preseason poll on Aug. 23. The first regular-season coaches poll will be released Sept. 8, following the first full weekend of games.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 10:34 AM with the headline "TCU opens at No. 2 in coaches poll; Baylor is No. 4."