The Stanford football team is ranked 18th in the USA Today Sports Coaches preseason poll released on Thursday.
The Cardinal earned 497 points, two points behind No. 17 TCU and four points behind No. 16 Nebraska.
The top three teams in the poll were separated by 15 points. LSU claimed the No. 1 ranking with 1403 total points and 18 first-place votes. Alabama, who received two more first-place votes than its SEC rival, came in second with 1399 points. Rounding out the top three was USC, collecting 1388 points along with 19 first-place votes.
LSU, Alabama and USC were well separated from the rest of the field, with Oklahoma sitting at fourth and 112 points behind the Trojans.
Stanford will begin practices on Sunday and open its season against San Jose State on Aug. 31.
–George Chen