Florida at No. 10 in USA Today preseason top 25

By Adam Silverstein
October 20, 2011

The preseason USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll was announced Thursday with the North Carolina Tar Heels being slotted as the overwhelming No. 1 team in the country after receiving 30 of 31 first-place votes. North Carolina, which returns all five starters from 2010, is one spot ahead of the Kentucky Wildcats, which were not voted lower than No. 6 in any ballot submitted.

Four Southeastern Conference teams made the poll including Kentucky (No. 2), Vanderbilt (No. 7), the Florida Gators (No. 10) and Alabama (No. 17).

The 2010-11 Gators were ranked No. 11 heading into last season, which saw them win the SEC and end the year with a record of 29-8 (13-3 SEC) that included an appearance in the Elite Eight round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

Athlete	Country	Sport
Mark Kolozsvary	USA	Baseball
Marife Torres	Puerto Rico	Golf
Leanne Wong	USA	Gymnastics
Adriana Leon	Canada	Soccer
Deanne Rose	Canada	Soccer
Michelle Moultrie	USA	Softball
Aubree Munro	USA	Softball
Kelsey Stewart	USA	Softball
Caeleb Dressel	USA	Swimming 4x100 free 100m free 50m free
Amro Al-Wir	Jordan	Swimming 200 breast
Natalie Hinds	USA	Swimming 4x100 free
Bobby Finke	USA	Swimming 800m free 1500m free
Eric Friese	Germany	Swimming 4x100 free
Enzo Martinez	Uruguay	Swimming 50m free
Alfonso Mestre	Venezuela	Swimming 800m free
Kieran Smith	USA	Swimming 400m free 200m free 4x200 free
Andres Arroyo	Puerto Rico	T&F 800m
Doneisha Anderson	Bahamas	T&F 4x400 relay
Lloydricia Cameron	Jamaica	T&F Shot put
Will Claye	USA	T&F Triple jump
Marquis Dendy	USA	T&F Long jump
Yanis David	France	T&F Triple jump Long jump
Joseph Fahnbulleh	Liberia	T&F 200m
Grant Holloway	USA	T&F 110m hurdles
Genevive LaCaze	Australia	T&F 3000m steeple
Eddie Lovett	U.S. Virgin	T&F 110m hurdles
Taylor Mason	USA	T&F
Cory McGee	USA	T&F 1500m
Hakim Sani Brown	Japan	T&F 200m
Marija Vucenovic	Serbia	T&F Javelin

USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES POLL
Preseason 1-5: North Carolina (30), Kentucky (1), Ohio State, Connecticut, Syracuse
6-10: Duke, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Memphis, Florida
11-15: Pittsburgh, Baylor, Kansas, Wisconsin, Xavier
16-20: Arizona, Alabama, Michigan, Texas A&M, UCLA
21-25: Marquette, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, California, Missouri

*Numbers in parenthesis represent first-place votes.