The college football season starts today and with that, the best four months of the year is closer than ever. Buckle your seat belt and get ready, because this is about to be another crazy year in the college football world. Teams all the way from number 25 to number 1 seem like they could win it all, so let’s get ready for a fun year.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State has outstanding starters returning all over the field. They have their three star quarterbacks, Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett, and Braxton Miller who will move over to the receiver position. They also have Ezekiel Elliot returning who ran for 696 yards in the Buckeyes three postseason games. Defensively, they have they have the countries scariest rush duo in Joey Bosa, who is suspended for the season opener, and hybrid linebacker Darron Lee, who combined for 37 1/2 TFLs last season. Oh, let’s not forget that they also have the best coach and recruiter (sorry Nick Saban), Urban Meyer.
The Ohio State Buckeyes championship came a year ahead of schedule last season, and they look even better this season. Look for the Buckeyes to seem nearly unbeatable throughout the regular season, and I expect them to win another National Championship.
2. TCU Horned Frogs
The Horned Frogs were snubbed from last years inaugural College Football Playoff, but that is expected when there is only 4 teams that get in. This year the Horned Frogs are much more experienced, as they only lost one starter on offense. They have a great quarterback, Trevone Boykin, who is a Heisman front-runner right now, and a defense who shut down a pretty good Ole Miss Rebels offense last season in the Peach Bowl. Oh, and lets not forget what the offense was able to do to the “Land Shark Defense.”
TCU will beat Baylor twice, once in the regular season and again in the Big-12 Championship, and they will finish the season with one loss and be in the College Football Playoffs this season.
3. Alabama Crimson Tide
Oh Alabama, the juggernaut of College Football. Nick Saban has created a dynasty down in Tuscaloosa, and they seem to be ranked in the top 5 every single season. I mean, last year was a rebuilding season for the Crimson Tide, and they were arguably the second best team in the country! This upcoming season has questions, just like last season did. The Crimson Tide do not have a proven quarterback to put under center. Jake Coker transferred from Florida State in the offseason, but he never really played, and they were also to get 4 star recruit David Cornwell in the offseason. I am sure Nick Saban will make the right decision before the season starts on which QB will be the starter, and the Crimson Tide will win 11-12 games just like every season.
The Crimson Tide have Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake back at running back, and they always play outstanding on the defensive side of the ball. Alabama will win a lot of games this season, and their season will come down to the Iron Bowl. Whoever wins the Iron Bowl will win the SEC and be the SEC’s representative in the College Football Playoff.
4. Baylor Bears
The Baylor Bears had the best offense in the nation last season, and they bring back a ton of weapons from that team. Their star sophomore receiver, K.D. Cannon is back, and they also have Junior running back Shock Linwood returning this season. They also have a 6’7″, 392 pound TE named LaQuan McGowan who will obviously be very hard to bring down. The only unknown for this offense is the quarterback position. Bryce Petty is gone, and Seth Russell is taking over the offense. The Baylor coaching staff speaks highly of Russell, and it seems like he will fit into the offensive scheme very well. The Bears defense, led by Shawn Oakman, will be great. They have a great defensive line, and they will be causing nightmares for opposing quarterbacks.
5. Auburn Tigers
The Auburn Tigers will be improving all over the place compared to last season. They lose quarterback Nick Marshall, but he is being replaced by 6’5″ Jeremy Johnson who could very well be Auburn’s next Cam Newton. He has been at the school for two years now, so he knows the offense very well. He is a MUCH better passer than Nick Marshall was, and that will allow the Tigers to pass the ball a lot more this season. Auburn has a lot of good running backs to be used in the backfield with Johnson, such as Roc Thomas and Jovon Robinson. He also has some great receivers to throw to, such as Duke Williams and Ricardo Lewis.
The Tigers defense was a big weakness last season. They hired defensive mastermind, Will Muschamp, over the offseason. He will help the Tigers defense to be great this year. They have Cassanova McKinzy and Kris Frost to lead the team at the linebacker positions, and the line will be lead by DE Carl Lawson.
The Auburn Tigers will be undefeated going into the Iron Bowl, and if they win the game they will be the SEC Champions, and they could very likely win the College Football Playoffs this season.
6. Michigan State Spartans
The Spartans seem to be forgotten about at the start of every season. They are always ranked in the top 10, but no one really talks about them like they do Ohio State, Oregon, or Alabama. Mark D’Antonio has built a great team around senior QB Connor Cook. The Spartans play stout defense, and they move the ball consistently offensively. They are Ohio State’s biggest threat this season. Michigan State will be a championship contender this year, and when they play Ohio State, it may be one of the best games of the season.
7. Oregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks have been so close to getting their first ever national championship the past few years, but they fall just short every season. This year, they lose star QB Marcus Mariotta, and they do not have any clear replacements that will be able to lead them like he did. The Ducks offense will be carried by their run game this year, led by Royce Freeman and Thomas Tyner. They will likely score a ton of points, but when they play their tougher games on the schedule (Michigan State, USC, Stanford), they may not move the ball as well as we are accustomed to seeing them.
The Ducks will be a top 15 team all season, but I don’t know if they will win 10 games. I expect them to go 9-3, honestly. It is going to be very hard to replace Marcus Mariotta, and I do not think they will play at the same level as they have the past few season.
8. Clemson Tigers
The Clemson Tigers are the most underrated and overlooked team in college football. They have been the most consistent team in college football over the past few seasons. They win 10 games every season, and they are always ranked in the top 15. They just have not been able to get over the edge and be a championship team. Well, this year, they are a championship team. They are lead by standout sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson, who will likely win the Heisman Trophy. He will have the pleasure to throw to two great wide receivers, Artavis Scott and Mike Williams. The Tigers running game will also be better this year, as they have several solid running backs like Wayne Gallman, Tyshon Dye, and Zac Brooks. Defensively, they lose a lot of players, but they will be lead by corners Mackenzie Alexander and Cordrea Tankersley. They will have the best offense in the nation, and the defense will be good enough to make sure Clemson blows out just about every team.
Clemson’s toughest games are all at home against Notre Dame, FSU, and Georgia Tech. I expect the Tigers to defeat all three of these teams, only having trouble with GT, and go undefeated and be in the College Football Playoff, and they have a strong chance to win it.
9. Georgia Bulldogs
The Georgia Bulldogs are yet another team that has an uncertainty at the QB position. They definitely do not have uncertainty at running back though. Nick Chubb is back this season, and he is arguably the best running back in college football. He also has two speedy side kicks in Sony Mitchel and Keith Marshall. Georgia is going to run the ball all over teams, but when it comes down to close games, they will not get it done. Georgia will be a 9-3 team at the end of the regular season, with tough games against Tech, Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and Missouri.
10. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Tech is led by their star QB Justin Thomas, and JT5 has mastered the triple option in just one year. He is the best QB that Tech has had since Josh Nesbitt was there way back. The thing that makes Thomas better than Nesbitt though, is that Thomas can throw as well as any other QB in college football. The Yellow Jackets also are bringing back Broderick Snoddy, who is an extremely fast A-back, but they lose Synjyn Days, Zach Laskey, and Charles Perkins who combined for 2,218 yards last season. Last season, Tech did not have a good defense at all, but they were able to score a lot of points so it did not matter. This season, I expect the same thing to happen for Tech’s defense.
Tech will be in the ACC Championship game, coming in with 2 or 3 losses, but either Clemson or Florida State will probably make easy work of them this year.
11. Florida State Seminoles
FSU loses Heisman winner Jameis Winston, and they will not have running back Dalvin Cook who carried most of the load last season offensively. They’re receiving core is also weaker as they do not have their best wide receiver, Rashad Greene. Sean Maguire and Everett Golson, who transferred from Notre Dame, will be the Seminoles QB this season, but they will not be able to fill the shoes of Winston. One player to watch for the Seminoles is freshman running back Jacques Patrick who is 6’1″ and 232 pounds
The Seminoles will not be as good as the past two seasons, and they are probably going to have to hand the torch of the ACC over to Clemson who is poised to have a phenomenal season. The Seminoles will go somewhere around the 8-4 range this season.
12. USC Trojans
Cody Kessler and the USC Trojans are ranked so high every year and I always think to myself, why? They are always a completely average team, and they go about 8-4 because they lose 4 close games every year. This season they are ranked 8th in the AP Poll, and I just do not see how they have proved this. I will say Cody Kessler, the Trojans QB, is probably going to have a great season, and this year they may actually win 10 or more games. It will likely be a down year for Oregon, so maybe USC can win the Pac-12 this season.
13. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Fighting Irish started last season on fire, but then they just cooled off at the end of the year, and they lost their last 4 games. This season, the Irish have 18 returning starters who do NOT want the same thing to happen again. Led by lefty quarterback Malik Zaire, the Irish are ready to have a big season. They have an experienced defense this year, but they will need their D-line to make plays and put pressure on opposing QBs if they wish to contend.
The Irish could potentially make the college football playoff, but I think they will end up a middle of the road team that will be tough to beat if they play at their full potential.
14. Ole Miss Rebels
The “Land Shark” defense will be just as good as it was last year, and the Rebels offense will also be just as good as last year. They will replace Bo Wallace, but they replace him with Chad Kelly at QB, and pick up right were they left off last season. Their star receiver, LaQuon Treadwell, is back after being injured in last years Auburn game, and he is ready to carry the load of the receiving core. The defense will be extremely fun to watch led by defensive line man Robert Nkemdiche.
The Ole Miss Rebels will have another fabulous season where they upset multiple high ranked SEC opponents, and they will be one of the top teams in the SEC. I think they may go 10-2 or 9-3.
15. UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins finished last season 10-3, and they have 18 returning starters. They are a very experienced team, but they lost their starting QB, Brett Hundley. They did get the top-ranked QB recruit, Josh Rosen, in the offseason, and he is an outstanding ball player. UCLA starts ranked at 15 on the rankings because of the uncertainty at QB, but if Rosen is as good as they say he is, they could be one of the best teams in the country this year and potentially go to the playoffs.
16. Arizona State Sun Devils
The Arizona State Sun Devils are a very experienced team. They’re led by 5th year QB Mike Bercovici, and they are moving D.J. Foster to wide receiver to take over Jaelen Strong’s role on the team as the star wide receiver. They are able to move their running back to wide receiver because they have two great sophomore running backs as his back ups, Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage. The Sun Devils will surprise a lot of people this season, and they will win 9 or 10 games.
17. Boise State Broncos
Boise State surprised a lot of people last season. We all remember a few seasons ago when they won like 50 straight home games, but they kind of fell off of the map until last season. Boise returns 17 starters from last years 12-2 team, and they are extremely deep. They have a 4 man QB race going right now, and they have 5 running backs to switch in and out. Boise could make another run up the rankings this season, and make it to another New Years 6 bowl.
18. Arizona Wildcats
Anu Solomon was a monster as a freshman, and he will be a monster again this season. Solomon has been working on his ability to read the defense with ease, and his IQ of the game has improved drastically this season. Solomon has play makers all around him, with sophomore running back Nick Wilson returning after running for 1,375 yards last season, and Cayleb Jones who caught 73 passes for 1,019 passes. The Wildcats have a weak defense unfortunately, so they will likely be in a lot of high scoring games this season, unless standout linebacker Scooby Wright can pump this defensive unit up and get them to make some stops.
The Wildcats will have a good season, but in a Pac-12 that will be very tough this season, they will go 8-4 or 9-3. They will need their defense to step up big time, because they will have tough match ups against Stanford, UCLA, and Arizona State.
19. Arkansas Razorbacks
The Razorbacks tough hard-nosed style is tough for any team to play, and last season they played close games against just about every team. This year, they are even better. They have both of their star running backs, Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins returning, and QB Brandon Allen is in his third year in the system. Arkansas can beat any team on any given day if they play at their best, and they will have a good season in the always tough SEC.
20. Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin had a great season last year, but they got destroyed by Ohio State in the Big-10 Championship game, and they lost their record-setting running back Melvin Gordon. Don’t sleep on Corey Clement though, as he ran for for 949 yards last season as the back up running back. The Badgers will need better passing from senior QB Joel Stave so that defenses can’t key on Clement the entire game. Defensively, the Badgers have holes to fill on the line, but as that works itself out in the opening weeks, they will have to lean on their amazing secondary.
The Badgers will be a top 4 team in their conference, and Corey Clement will have an amazing season as all Wisconsin running backs always do.
21. Oklahoma Sooners
The Sooners new offense will be very pass heavy this year. They hired a new offensive coordinator, Lincoln Riley, who likes to air it out a lot. Either Trevor Knight or Texas Tech transfer Bakey Mayfield (the 2013 Big-12 Offensive Player of the Year) will start, and they will have a lot of opportunities to show what they can do in this offense. The Sooners cannot forget about the ground game though, as Samaje Perine is an excellent running back who set a FBS record rushing for 427 yards against Kansas.
The Sooners will need to work out the kinks of a new offense this season, and they may have a tough season while doing it. I expect them to be a 8-4 team just as they were last season.
22. LSU Tigers
Leonard Fournette is Nick Chubb’s competition for the best running back in the nation, and Les Miles always has a good defense, but will the LSU ever find a good QB? This school has the worst luck with QBs. Last season both Anthony Jennings and Brandon Harris were equally awful. This year, both need to have improved for the Tigers to make a dent in the SEC, and potentially make a run at the SEC Title game.
Leonard Fournette will have a big year, but the QBs will hold the Tigers back from where they need to be, and the Tigers will be a middle of the pack SEC West team (which is still really good considering how good the SEC West is).
23. Stanford Cardinal
Stanford is a different team in the Pac-12. Usually Pac-12 teams have high-speed spread offenses, and when teams face the Cardinal, they cannot figure out the tough-nosed pro style offense. Last season, the Cardinal were 8-4 because they did not have a dominate run game, but this year Christian McCaffrey has bulked up so that he can get through the tackles and help in pass protection. The Stanford coaches say that he is versatile like a cat. He is quick enough to return kicks and run in the open field, but he is big enough that he can run up the middle and move a pile. A very dangerous combination for a running back.
Kevin Hogan is returning for his 4th season, and he is ready to have a big one. Throwing to Austin Hooper all season, the Cardinal offense will be much better than last season. The defense needs to replace 8 starters from last season, but I expect them to be fine. They always play good defense.
In a very good Pac-12, Stanford could be one of the best. Their style of play is the kryptonite of some of the other Pac-12 teams (looking at you, Oregon), and they should be able to make a run up the rankings.
24. Missouri Tigers
Missouri has been a threat ever since they joined the SEC. They seem to win the East nearly every year, and they always have a good defense. This season, Missouri is about the same. They will have to replace defensive ends Shane Ray and Markus Golden, but they have two likely top NFL draft picks in Harold Brantley and Marcus Loud to come in and take their spots. Offensively, Maty Mauk is in his third season and has led the team to two straight SEC East titles, so why can’t he do it again?
The Missouri Tigers will have another good season in the SEC, but they will not win the revamped East this year, that title will likely go to Tennessee or Georgia.
25. Tennessee Volunteers
Tennessee has been bad for years, but they are finally getting better. With QB Josh Dobbs ready to take over the offense, he will have plenty of weapons around him. They have 6’3″ running back Jalen Hurd right next to Dobbs on every play, and he has the receiving threats of Marquez North and Pig Howard to throw to all day. The Volunteers defense will need to have a great season in order for them to get through the tough SEC schedule though. The could be the SEC East Champions.
Here’s how the College Football Playoff should break down based off my preseason rankings:
- Ohio State (13-0 Big-10 Champions)
- Auburn Tigers (13-0 SEC Champions)
- TCU (12-1 Big-12 Champions)
- Clemson Tigers (12-1 ACC Champions)
The first two teams out will be:
The Alabama Crimson Tide who go 10-2, but a loss to Auburn in the Iron Bowl kills their championship hopes.
The Baylor Bears who lose to TCU twice, once in the regular season and once in the Big-12 Championship.
The National Championship game will be Auburn At Ohio State, and Auburn will win the game 31-28 in a well fought battle. The Auburn Tigers will be this years National Champions, and Jeremy Johnson will be their MVP.
