The College Football Preseason Rankings are Out and Here’s the Breakdown

Article by: Harrison Weaver 

Here we go college football fans; the wait is over. College football is officially back as of tomorrow night! #8 Florida faces off against the U at 7PM on ESPN in what could possibly be our first upset alert of the season. The official NCAA Football preseason rankings were released earlier this week and so we get our final look at where the voters are placing each team heading into the season. I will drop those rankings below so you can all look, find where your team is. I know this is exciting, I feel the same way. We’ve been waiting months for some college football action and it’s finally back. So I want you to read these rankings over, take a minute to digest and compose yourselves, and then we’re going to get into my reaction towards them.

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Michigan
8. Florida
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas
11. Oregon
12. Texas A&M
13. Washington
14. Utah
15. Penn State
16. Auburn
17. UCF
18. Michigan State
19. Wisconsin
20. Iowa
21. Iowa State
22. Syracuse
23. Washington State
24. Nebraska
25. Stanford

Alright so now that you’ve had a moment to look, we can react. Let’s glance at some cool statistics that lie within the rankings.

• Some concerning news for Clemson? In the past 15 years, only 2 AP Preseason #1 teams have gone on to win a championship. Those were Alabama in 2017 and USC in 2004.
• The Big Ten leads the way with the most teams in the AP Preseason Top 25: Big Ten - 7, SEC – 6, PAC 12 – 5, Big 12 – 3, ACC – 2, AAC – 1, Independent – 1.
• Iowa State is ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the second time in school history, the first being 1978.
• Texas A&M, despite having a lot of potential, faces a daunting schedule which includes #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Georgia, #6 LSU, and #16 Auburn.

As I wrote in my college football preview, there are a couple of outsider teams in this year’s rankings that I really like. First off, Nebraska. After one of the most impressive 4-8 seasons ever seen (they lost 5 games by 5 points or less last season, meaning they were very close to be a bowl team), Nebraska is poised for a turn-around. After another season to mold the program the way he wants, Scott Frost will have a better developed squad and a leader in QB Adrian Martinez who can turn some heads this season.

Syracuse is another team that I really believe will have a strong season. With a well-balanced roster, weapons at the skill positions, and a strong season to build off, Syracuse could be the perfect team to challenge and maybe, just maybe, dethrone Clemson in the ACC Atlantic Division. To avoid redundancy, you can read about the rest of my dark horse picks in my Ultimate College Football Preview article by simply clicking the hyperlink. 
All in all, the rankings seem very appropriate to me in terms of how each team performed last season and their expectations for this coming season. I do have a couple of bold predictions, though:

• For #7 Michigan, this will finally be the year they beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten, and make the playoffs. In a year of transition for the Buckeyes in which they will have a new head coach and a new QB, it will leave the door wide open for Harbaugh’s Wolverines to final overcome the Buckeyes and win the Big Ten. This is a make it or break it year for Michigan, and I think Shea Patterson and the Wolverines will finally find a way to make it to the college football playoffs, joining who I predict to be Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia. 
• Two top 10 teams will have very disappointing seasons, Florida and Notre Dame. Florida faces Miami, Kentucky, and Tennessee early in the season, and I think each of those games has ‘slip-up’ written all over it, despite none of these opponents being ranked. The back end of their schedule only gets harder, with Auburn, LSU, and Georgia all waiting. Florida will end the season as a back-end Top 25 team. As for Notre Dame, they will be looking to return to the playoffs after making it last season, only to get smacked by Clemson, 30-3. The Irish lost six starters to the draft and face a tougher schedule this year which includes Georgia, Virginia, USC, Michigan, Stanford, and a couple of other potential tough games. For a Top 10 team, I think the Irish could be looking at an 8-4 season.
• Texas wins the Big 12. Sam Ehlinger is poised for a Heisman run this year and will be leading an undefeated Longhorns team against Oklahoma on October 12th, which will be an absolute shootout between Ehlinger and Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts. I expect the Longhorns to win in a high-scoring shootout, which will put them smack dab in the middle of the playoff conversation. However, outside of Oklahoma, Big 12 teams have become notorious for getting upset and losing their bid. In 2011, Oklahoma State was upset by Iowa State after going 10-0 and lost a shot at the BCS Title Game. In 2013, Baylor was 9-0 before getting blown out by Oklahoma State and missing the BCS Title. In 2012, it was Kansas State after going 10-0. My point is, a non-Oklahoma team has not made the Championship Game/Playoffs since Texas lost to Alabama in the title game in 2009. This is not the year those fortunes change either. Texas wins the Big 12, but no Big 12 teams in this year’s playoffs. 

So there you have it folks, some of my insight and bold predictions for this college football season. The long wait for college football is over, it’s time for big matchups, College Gameday, tailgating, upsets, beautiful fall football days, and everything else we love about the football season.