PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Florida State is ranked fourth in the preseason coaches' poll released Thursday.
Defending national champion Alabama is the top-ranked team, while Clemson and Oklahoma are second and third.
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Clemson played for the national championship last season, defeating Oklahoma in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl.
The Seminoles, who were 10-3 last season, received one first-place vote among the 64 participating head coaches.
Alabama received the most first-place votes (55), while Clemson was second with seven first-place votes.
Rounding out the top 10 are Ohio State, Louisiana State, Stanford, Michigan, Notre Dame and Tennessee. The Volunteers also received one first-place vote.
Florida is ranked No. 25. The Gators won 10 games a season ago and played for the Southeastern Conference championship but flamed out with three straight losses to rival Florida State, Alabama and Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
Michigan State, which was one of the four teams selected in last season's College Football Playoff, is ranked 11th.
No. 12 Mississippi opens the season against FSU on Labor Day evening in Orlando.
Houston is the highest-ranked among the "Group of Five" teams. The No. 13 Cougars upended FSU in last season's Peach Bowl.
The SEC's six teams (Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi, No. 16 Georgia and Florida) in the preseason poll are the most of any conference.
Miami narrowly missed the top 25 but received the most votes among those teams that were left out of the rankings. The Hurricanes, led by former Georgia head coach Mark Richt, received 120 votes. South Florida also received two votes.
Each of the top four teams in the preseason rankings -- Alabama's Nick Saban, Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Florida State's Jimbo Fisher -- have votes in the coaches' poll. So do Richt and Florida International's Ron Turner.
The Associated Press preseason top 25 will be released Aug. 21.