The preseason US LBM Coaches Poll is owned by the SEC and Big Ten. Big surprise, I know.

Those two powerhouse conferences compose over half of the preseason Top 25, including each of the top six spots and eight of the top 10. At a time when predicting how a year will unfold has become more difficult than ever — you can mostly thank widespread player movement through the transfer portal for that — Coaches Poll voters are making the safe bet that SEC and Big Ten teams will dominate the regular season.

But while the preseason poll is a handy roadmap for what’s ahead, it’s rare to see the Top 25 in August match or even come close to the final Top 25 in January. Last year, for example, nine teams ranked in the preseason finished the season unranked.

Winners

SEC

The league has a record nine teams in the preseason Coaches Poll, all inside the top 20. There’s No. 1 Georgia, the current favorite to get back to the top of the FBS. New member Texas lands at No. 4, followed by No. 5 Alabama and No. 6 Mississippi. After a brief lull, you’ll find No. 11 Missouri, No. 12 LSU, No. 15 Tennessee, another newcomer in Oklahoma at No. 16 and Texas A&M at No. 20. While it’s really hard to imagine how nine SEC teams end up with the records needed to land in the final Top 25, that so many populate the preseason poll speaks to the league’s well-deserved reputation as the nation’s best.

Big Ten

But the Big Ten isn’t too far behind the SEC, illustrating just how firmly these two leagues are in control of the Bowl Subdivision. The conference may only have six teams, but four are in the preseason top 10: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon, No. 8 Michigan and No. 9 Penn State. Joining that group are No. 23 Southern California and No. 25 Iowa. USC should be strong offensively behind quarterback Miller Moss but are desperate for improvement on the defensive side under new coordinator D’Anton Lynn. On the other hand, the Hawkeyes will have another strong defense while hoping for a spark from new offensive coordinator Tim Lester. The Buckeyes’ seven first-place votes is second to Georgia’s 46, while Michigan is one of four teams, along with Texas, to earn at least one first-place vote. Other Big Ten teams received Top 25 votes, including Washington, Wisconsin and Nebraska.

Texas

Voters are back to buying in on the defending Big 12 champs and new member of the SEC. The No. 4 ranking is the program’s highest in the preseason since 2010, when the Longhorns were fresh off a loss to Alabama in the national title game. That 2010 squad, which went a shocking 5-7, marked the beginning of a long and often torturous stretch of middling results that finally broke a year ago. It’s amazing to think of the chatter around Texas when the university announced its decision to join the SEC three years ago — basically, that the Longhorns would get chewed up and spit out by the conference — and where they stand heading into its league debut.

Losers

Group of Five

There are zero teams from the Group of Five in the Top 25 and only one team, Memphis, among the top 30 vote-getters. To have a small number isn’t that strange: No. 23 Tulane was the only Group of Five team in last year’s preseason poll and there were three in the 2022 and 2021 polls. But this marks the first preseason Coaches Poll without a team from a non-major conference since 2014. Voters didn’t have a Group of Five team in the final ranking of last season, perhaps indicating a trend among coaches on the panel to lean completely toward the new Power Four.

Michigan and Washington

The Wolverines’ ranking is historic for a defending national champion. So is defending runner-up Washington’s status outside the Top 25 entirely. Michigan is the lowest-ranked defending champ in the Coaches Poll since Auburn was No. 19 heading into the 2011 season; the only other team to be ranked outside the top seven in the preseason after winning it all was 1982 Clemson, which also came in at No. 8. Meanwhile, the Huskies are the first team since the start of the Bowl Championship Series era in 1998 to lose a title game be unranked heading into the following year. Washington is undergoing a pretty extensive rebuild while joining the Big Ten, so that might make sense, but it is still a surprising development.

Alabama

Here’s another way (among many) to place the Nick Saban era into perspective: Alabama’s No. 5 ranking is the program’s lowest in the preseason since 2009. Hey, the Crimson Tide did lose the greatest coach in college football history to retirement. But it’s not like the cupboard is anywhere even close to bare. The Tide bring back multiple top-level contributors from last season, namely a Heisman Trophy favorite in quarterback Jalen Milroe, and should land an offensive spark from new coach Kalen DeBoer and his never-fail scheme.

Uganda sprinter Tarsis Orogot made quite the debut Monday at the 2024 Paris Olympics — and a wardrobe statement, as well.

In what was a close race through the midway point, Orogot put it into high gear down the home stretch to win his men’s 200-meter preliminary heat at State de France. He edged out the Bahamas’ Wanya McCoy with a time of 20.32 seconds to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals.

While that is a feat is worthy of celebration, it isn’t the sole reason he stood out to fans.

Instead, it was the SpongeBob socks he wore en route to victory — giving a whole new meaning to SpongeBob’s ‘I’m ready’ catchphrase.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Orogot is the first Ugandan male sprinter to compete at the Olympic Games since Davis Kamoga won bronze in the men’s 400-meter race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Additionally, he is the first Ugandan sprinter to compete in the 200-meter race since Francis Ogola ran it at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

The 21-year-old Ugandan sprinter runs collegiately in the SEC at Alabama, where he is entering his senior season with the Crimson Tide. Per his Alabama profile page, Orogot posted the NCAA’s third-fastest recorded time in the 100-meter race this past season when he finished second at Battle on the Bayou with a time of 10.12 seconds.

Orogot — and his SpongeBob socks — are now two races away from winning an Olympic medal. He will compete in the men’s 200-meter semifinal on Wednesday. The men’s 200-meter final is scheduled for Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

PARIS — When the last score was announced in the women’s floor exercise final Monday, Ana Barbosu of Romania leaped onto the floor with her country’s flag and started jumping down in celebration. And Jordan Chiles was deflated, thinking she had missed out on the podium.

Then, in seconds, their moods flipped − and a distraught Barbosu dropped her Romanian flag on the ground.

Chiles leapfrogged Barbosu to win a stunning bronze medal on floor at the 2024 Paris Olympics after her coaches successfully challenged a minor scoring decision made by the judges, boosting her to third place from fifth. It gave the 23-year-old the first individual Olympic medal of her career, in incredibly dramatic fashion.

‘I was so tired, I didn’t even realize my coaches put an inquiry in,’ Chiles said. ‘And I was like, ‘OK yeah, let’s see.’ It can vary. So when it came through, I was very proud of myself.’

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2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Chiles’ original score on floor exercise was 13.666, while left her just shy of Barbosu’s 13.700. But after her coaches, Cecile and Laurent Landi, submitted what is known as an inquiry about her score, it went up to 13.766.

Cecile Landi said the inquiry revolved around what is called a tour jeté full − essentially a split leap.

‘Today (she was) a little sloppy on the landing. But at this point, we had nothing to lose so I was like ‘we’re just going to try,’ ‘ Cecile explained. ‘I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?’ ‘

Rebeca Andrade of Brazil took a surprising gold medal in the event, while Simone Biles settled for silver.

How gymnastics scores work

The scores in gymnastics comprise of two separate pieces: A difficulty score and an execution score.

The execution score, or E score, it out of a maximum of 10 points, with judges taking deductions for each misplaced hand or slight wobble on a landing. The difficulty score, or D score, is completely reliant upon the difficulty of the skills that each gymnast does throughout their routine.

This means that some athletes, like Biles, often walk into competitions with a built-in cushion because they are doing more difficult skills. And it puts more pressure on gymnasts with lower D scores to absolutely nail their planned elements.

Why Jordan Chiles’ score changed on floor

During a routine, like Chiles’ on floor exercise, judges are keeping track of each skill or element that the gymnast completes. Each one is worth a certain point value, adding to the D score.

After the score is announced, a gymnast’s coach − who obviously knows all of the planned elements in the routine, and what that D score should be − can then choose to challenge the D score by submitting what is officially called an ‘inquiry.’ The coach basically asks why a specific skill was not credited, and sometimes that can lead to an improved score after the initial one is announced.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Chiles’ initial D score on floor exercise Monday was 5.8, which left her just fractionally behind Barbosu. But after the routine, the Landis submitted an inquiry with the judging panel about that one leaping element. And it worked.

‘I was not confident, but what do you have to lose?’ Laurent Landi said. ‘She was out of the podium already, so even if they dropped the score, it couldn’t have been worse, you know? We tried.

‘I was at the same angle as the judge and I felt (her tour jeté full) was way better than all the other meets than she’s done, so what the heck? We may as well try.’

Chiles’ execution score was not changed as a result of the inquiry, but the D score went up by one tenth of a point, to 5.9. And that was enough to give her a bronze.

Jordan Chiles’ reaction to winning bronze on floor

The inquiry made a small difference in Chiles’ score but ultimately helped her achieve her goal of winning an individual medal.

Although she won team silver and gold at the past two Games, Chiles had not qualified for an individual final before this one. Though no fault of her own, mind you. Chiles was unlucky not to be included in both the all-around and vault finals after an extremely strong performance in qualifying.

Chiles placed fourth in both the all-around and vault in qualifying. But because Biles and Suni Lee both finished ahead of her in the all-around, and Biles and Jade Carey were ahead of her on vault, Chiles was excluded by a rule that limits the field to just two gymnasts per country.

Chiles has said she is not a fan of that rule, but at least she had a chance at her own medal Monday.

‘I’m on cloud nine,’ she told reporters. ‘This is my first-ever (Olympic) individual event (apparatus) final, at my second Olympics. I have no words.’

Where some athletes might have sulked or scaled back, Cecile Landi said, Chiles continued coming to practice and working hard in preparation for Monday.

‘She loves floor, so I think qualifying on floor really helped her keep her chin up,’ she said. ‘I’m glad she didn’t give up. And it paid off today.’

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.

Spain has already punched its ticket to the Paris Olympics men’s soccer final. Which country will join them?

Spain beat Morocco 2-1, while host country France faces Egypt at 3 p.m. in the other semifinal match Monday.

The winners of each match will meet in the gold medal game Friday, while the losers will play in the bronze medal game Thursday.

Spain will make its second straight appearance in the gold medal game, after losing to Brazil and earning silver at the Tokyo Olympics. France seeks its second gold after winning at Los Angeles in 1984, and finishing with silver at Paris 1900. Morocco and Egypt are both vying for their first Olympic men’s soccer medal.

Follow along here for live updates from USA TODAY Sports on the Paris Olympics men’s soccer semifinals:

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Men’s soccer games today: Schedule, times, scores

∎Spain 2, Morocco 1

∎France vs. Egypt, 3 p.m. ET (USA Network)

How to watch Olympic men’s soccer: TV channel, streaming

TV channel: USA Network | NBC Universo | Telemundo

Streaming options: NBCOlympics.com | NBC app | NBC Olympics app | Peacock | Fubo (free trial)

Spain vs. Morocco highlights: Late goal helps Spain reach gold medal game

Juanlu Sanchez scored in the 85th minute, the late goal Spain needed to reach the men’s soccer final at the Paris Olympics in a 2-1 win against Morocco.

Spain will make its second straight appearance in the gold medal game, and hopes to win gold after a silver finish at the Tokyo Olympics.

Fermín López scored in the 66th minute to fuel Spain’s comeback after Morocco’s Soufiane Rahimi converted a penalty in the 36th minute to lead early.

An electric run by Morocco, which beat the United States 4-0 and outscored opponents 11-2 before Monday’s semifinal, comes to an end.

Fan storms onto pitch, scores goal before Spain-Morocco ends

Just before the final minutes of stoppage time concluded, a fan ran onto the pitch and scored a goal before he was taken off by stadium security.

Juanlu Sanchez goal: Spain 2, Morocco 1

Juanlu Sanchez has scored in the 85th minute for Spain, a late goal that could ensure Spain’s entry to the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics.

Fermín López goal: Spain 1, Morocco 1

Spain’s Fermín López struck with a left boot in the 66th minute, and we’ve got a tied semifinal between Spain and Morocco.

López did receive a yellow card for his celebration, kicking the corner flag.

Soufiane Rahimi penalty goal: Morocco 1, Spain 0

The new referee made a crucial penalty call after VAR, and it paid off in Morocco’s favor: Soufiane Rahimi scored in the 36th minute to give Morocco a 1-0 lead over Spain.

Penalty by Spain!

Spain’s Pablo Barrios was penalized for this kick on Morocco’s Amir Richardson, leading to a penalty kick after VAR review by the new referee in this match.

Spain vs. Morocco referee injured, substituted out

There’s already a substitution in the Spain-Morocco match, and it’s the head official, who collided with a player from Spain and needed to be subbed off.

Spain vs. Morocco Olympic men’s soccer starting lineups

Here are the lineups for both teams for today’s semifinal:

When is the Paris Olympics men’s soccer gold medal game?

The gold medal game is Friday at 12 p.m. ET.

TV, streaming: USA Network (Fubo), Telemundo, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

When is the Paris Olympics men’s soccer bronze medal game?

The bronze medal game is Thursday at 11 a.m. ET.

TV, streaming: Telemundo, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com

How did Spain reach Paris Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinal?

Spain beat Japan 3-0 in the quarterfinals, and finished second in Group C after a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan, a 3-1 win over Dominican Republic and a 2-1 loss to Egypt.

How did Morocco reach Paris Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinal?

How did France reach Paris Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinal?

France beat Argentina 1-0 in the quarterfinals, and won Group A with a 3-0 win over the United States, 1-0 win vs. Guinea and 3-0 win against New Zealand.

How did Egypt reach Paris Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinal?

Egypt advanced past Paraguay 1-1 (5-4 in penalties) in the quarterfinals, and won Group C after a scoreless draw against the Dominican Republic, 1-0 win vs. Uzbekistan and a 2-1 win against Spain.

How did USMNT perform at Paris Olympics?

The United States Olympic men’s soccer team was ousted after a 4-0 loss to Morocco in the quarterfinals. It was USA Soccer’s first Olympics appearance since 2008, and the first time they reached the knockout stage since 2000.

When does USA women’s soccer national team play in Paris Olympics?

The USWNT is still alive in the Paris Olympics, and will play Canada in the semifinals on Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET.

There is no more fundamental truth in sports that where you finish is more important than where you start.

Beginning the college football season outside the US LBM preseason college football Top 25 in no way shape or form indicates a team is doomed to failure for the upcoming campaign. Indeed, it can often serve as a rallying cry.

Preseason polls, as we point out every year at this time, are by their very nature speculative ventures. Even so, there are a few curious omissions from the rankings that should have been recognized by voters.

Here are five teams with the best chance to overcome being snubbed in the initial balloting.

Washington

We get it. Everything is different in Seattle. The coach is gone, most of the key contributors are in NFL training camps, and the Huskies are in a new conference with a lot of depth and a lot of travel requirements. We should further clarify that the Huskies weren’t ‘snubbed’ per se by the voters. Washington did appear on most ballots, picked as high as No. 5 in some cases. But they’re also the first team to play in a national title game and also being unranked in the following preseason. An omission that should give them some motivation in the Big Ten.

Even so, starting unranked for the second-place finisher in the just completed season is unprecedented. Washington will probably have a number in front of its name at some point this season. Jedd Fisch, the new man in charge at U-Dub after bringing Arizona back to respectability, has a bit more infrastructure in place at this job. Last year’s offense will be impossible to match, but the arrival of veteran QB Will Rogers from Mississippi State will help.

Virginia Tech

The Hokies have a good chance to emerge from what looks to be a crowded middle of the pack in the expanded ACC. The defense should again be among the best in the conference, and just a few more points and fewer mistakes from the offense should translate into more victories. The optimism entering Brent Pry’s third season starts with QB Kyron Drones, who emerged in the second half of last season in leading Tech to five wins in its last seven games. But he’s one of almost an entire starting lineup that returns and will be boosted by some key transfers.

West Virginia

Neal Brown’s chair was mighty warm at this time a year ago. Now on the heels of a 9-4 campaign that finished on a three-game winning streak including a bowl victory, the Mountaineers enter 2024 as a possible dark-horse contender in the expanded Big 12. There’s depth and experience on both sides of the ball, and veteran QB Garrett Greene is a good leader on and off the field. The running game boast two options in Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson to test teams. The defense addressed concerns in the secondary and looks to be capable of slowing down offenses.

Memphis

There were no Group of Five team is ranked in the initial poll. That will almost certainly change as the season unfolds, with one non-power conference champ guaranteed a seat at the 12-team playoff table. The winner of the American Athletic Conference, despite defections over the last couple of years, at least figures to have its eventual winner in that discussion, and the Tigers seem to be in the best position to be that team. Seth Henigan is back to quarterback what should again be a high-octane attack, and the defense got a talent infusion with LB Elijah Herring of Tennessee among the key additions.

Boise State

The Broncos could also be in the best-of-the-rest mix by season’s end. The defending Mountain West champs closed strong in 2023 and have a legit superstar in camp in the person of RB Ashton Jeanty, who rushed for 1,347 yards and added 569 receiving yard last year and has most of his offensive line returning. The offense got further boosted with the addition of QB Malachi Nelson from Southern California, a rare elite recruit to play on the team’s distinguished blue turf. The defense boasts standout DL Ahmed Hassanein and LB Andrew Simpson and should again be stingy.

PARIS — Simone Biles didn’t win the floor exercise final at the 2024Paris Olympics on Monday, but she did take a bit of a parting shot at the judges.

In a moment that casual gymnastics viewers might have overlooked, Biles maintained her required salute for an unusually long period of time after she concluded her floor routine at Bercy Arena, keeping her hands in the air for several seconds, even as she walked toward the stairs to leave the floor. In both an attempt to avoid another deduction and, perhaps, to make a point.

At the beginning and end of every routine, gymnasts are required to salute the judges by holding up their hands. And in an unusual move, the judges at the Olympic balance beam final actually deducted three-tenths of a point from Biles’ score because, in their view, she did not salute for a long enough period of time.

‘Yes, she did (get deducted for that),’ her coach Cecile Landi confirmed when asked about it. ‘That’s why on floor she sure did not get deducted for it.’

Each gymnast is required ‘to present themselves in the proper manner (arm/s up) and thereby acknowledge the D1 judge at the commencement of her exercise and to acknowledge the same judge at the conclusion of her exercise,’ according to the current code of points published by the International Gymnastics Federation. Failing to do so can result in a 0.3-point deduction.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

Video footage of Biles’ dismount on the beam shows her raising her hands up very quickly as she walked off the mat, likely frustrated by her performance, which included a fall.

A reporter asked Landi if she thought the deduction, which is uncommonly applied in the sport, was reasonable.

‘We watched it. I could see it, yes and no,’ Landi said. ‘I think it’s a little harsh, but at the end, it didn’t matter. So no, we’re not going to make a big deal out of it.’

The fraction of a point that Biles, 27, lost would not have made a difference in her final place. She finished 0.833 points behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who placed fourth, and 0.9 points off the bronze medal, which went to Manila Esposito of Italy.

Even so, Biles clearly didn’t want it to happen again. So after her floor routine, she kept her hands raised in the air with a wide smile, both making her point and leaving nothing to chance.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.