Clemson is ranked No. 6 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll. Florida State is No. 8.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | 1st Place Votes | Prev | CHANGE | Hi/Low |
| 1 | Ohio State | 6-0 | 1547 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 |
| 2 | Baylor | 5-0 | 1463 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2/5 |
| 3 | Texas Christian | 6-0 | 1441 | 5 | 2 | -1 | 2/3 |
| 4 | Michigan State | 6-0 | 1358 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 2/6 |
| 5 | Louisiana State | 5-0 | 1288 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5/15 |
| 6 | Clemson | 5-0 | 1245 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6/12 |
| 7 | Utah | 5-0 | 1239 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7/NR |
| 8 | Florida State | 5-0 | 1080 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6/9 |
| 9 | Alabama | 5-1 | 1052 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 2/13 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | 5-0 | 1028 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 10/NR |
| 11 | Florida | 6-0 | 1001 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 11/NR |
| 12 | Mississippi | 5-1 | 837 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 5/15 |
| 13 | Notre Dame | 5-1 | 786 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 7/15 |
| 14 | Michigan | 5-1 | 760 | 0 | 21 | 7 | 14/NR |
| 15 | Oklahoma State | 6-0 | 689 | 0 | 19 | 4 | 15/NR |
| 16 | Stanford | 4-1 | 677 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 16/NR |
| 17 | Iowa | 6-0 | 525 | 0 | 23 | 6 | 17/NR |
| 18 | UCLA | 4-1 | 466 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 10/20 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 4-1 | 432 | 0 | 9 | -10 | 9/19 |
| 20 | Boise State | 5-1 | 321 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 20/NR |
| 21 | Northwestern | 5-1 | 242 | 0 | 14 | -7 | 14/NR |
| 22 | Memphis | 5-0 | 185 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 22/NR |
| 23 | California | 5-1 | 174 | 0 | 22 | -1 | 22/NR |
| 24 | Duke | 5-1 | 154 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 24/NR |
| 25 | Toledo | 5-0 | 149 | 0 | 29 | 4 | 25/NR |