When the biggest "news" in college football is about who is No. 1 in a preseason poll -- remember, preseason polls really don't mean anything, especially when it's the first season of a four-team playoff -- it's obvious it wasn't really a newsy day.
That was the case Sunday as defending national champion Florida state was the runaway selection as the top team in The Associated Press' preseason media poll.
FSU received 57 of the 60 first-place votes; Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma -- which are ranked second through fourth, respectively -- each got one first-place vote. No AP preseason No. 1 has won the national title since USC in 2004.
FSU coach Jimbo Fisher couldn't have been that surprised.
"We're the second-winningest team in the country the last four years, the winningest team the last two years and have had the most NFL players," Fisher told the AP. "We've recruited well, too. Recruited a lot of great young players we've been able to mentor and develop as we go, so we're very comfortable with the guys who are replacing the guys that left."
FSU was 11th in the AP's preseason poll last season. Auburn, the team the Seminoles beat in the BCS national championship game, was unranked.
Here are seven other things to know about college football from Sunday:
- Former Ohio State RB Maurice Clarett spoke to Notre Dame players on Sunday, presumably to tell them to enjoy the ride and to stay on task. Irish freshman WR Justin Brent obviously is a fan:
- Running back Joe Bergeron, who was dismissed at Texas last month, has resurfaced at Division II Texas A&M-Commerce. Bergeron is a physical runner who would've played this fall with the Longhorns, and he should have success in Division II. Whether it will be enough to garner the attention of NFL scouts is another matter.
- Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer expects to have a starting quarterback selected soon. Truth be told, the same Hokies fans who were upset with former starting QB Logan Thomas very well could be pining for him relatively quickly during the season.
- Iowa should have a punishing ground attack this fall, but news that projected starting FB Adam Cox will miss the season with a knee injury still hurts. Cox (5-11, 230), a junior, is a former walk-on who started three times last season and played in all 13 games. Besides being a tough blocker, he had some receiving ability, too.
- Appalachian State is new to the FBS ranks this season, and it's never good when a FBS newcomer loses perhaps its best offensive player. That's the case with the Mountaineers, who will be without starting TB Marcus Cox -- who ran for 1,250 yards and 15 TDs last season as a true freshman -- for at least two games because of a knee injury. App State opens at Michigan, and its chances for a second monumental upset over the Wolverines took a big hit with Cox's injury.
- Auburn seems likely to be without starting "star" Robenson Therezie for at least a few games because of what coach Gus Malzahn termed "eligibility issues." Given that this isn't exactly a world-beating defense to begin with means any long-term absence by Therezie really hurts.
- James Madison players received a pep talk from perhaps the most famous alum in school history Sunday when former NFL defensive end Charles Haley -- the possessor of five Super Bowl rings -- dropped by. James Madison, a FCS school, is coached by Everett Withers, who is in his first season with the Dukes after serving as co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State the past two seasons.
James Madison opens the season Aug. 30 at Maryland.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
