College Football Way Too Early Top 25

Posted byjachoman9Posted inCollege Football, College Football Rankings

My pre-spring way too early top 25:

  1. Texas Longhorns
  2. Ohio State Buckeyes
  3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  4. Oregon Ducks
  5. South Carolina Gamecocks
  6. Alabama Crimson Tide
  7. Penn State Nittany Lions
  8. Georgia Bulldogs
  9. Tennessee Volunteers
  10. Ole Miss Rebels
  11. Florida Gators
  12. LSU Tigers
  13. Clemson Tigers
  14. Texas A&M Aggies
  15. Indiana Hoosiers
  16. BYU Cougars
  17. Texas Tech Red Raiders
  18. Arizona State Sun Devils
  19. Oklahoma Sooners
  20. SMU Mustangs
  21. Miami Hurricanes
  22. Kansas State Wildcats
  23. Nebraska Cornhuskers
  24. Auburn Tigers
  25. Louisville Cardinals

Conference Comparison

SEC: 11 (1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 19, 24)

Big Ten: 5 (2, 4, 7, 15, 23)

ACC: 4 (13, 20, 21, 25)

Big 12: 4 (16, 17, 18, 22)

Independent: 1 (3)

Playoffs

1 Texas

2 Ohio State

3 Clemson

4 BYU

5 Notre Dame vs 12 Tulane

6 Oregon vs 11 Tennessee

7 South Carolina vs 10 Georgia

8 Alabama vs 9 Penn State

These are what the playoffs would be according to these rankings, but obviously the SEC won’t get 5 teams in because they won’t have 5 teams with a good enough record. I expect 4 SEC teams to get in, 3 Big Ten, 3 ACC/Big 12, Notre Dame, and a G5 team.

From the SEC there are 8 teams that will contend for those 4 spots. Texas, SC, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Florida, and LSU.

The Big Ten will have 5. Indiana and Nebraska won’t be anything special, but the committee might pit them in if they get to 10 wins. Ohio State, Oregon, and Penn State are virtual locks already (unless OSU loses to Texas in week 1, then things could get interesting).

The ACC and Big 12 don’t have any top 12 teams in my rankings, but I wouldn’t be surprised if 3 of them slipped in there when it is all said and done. In the ACC there are 4 teams that could compete for that conference championship (Clemson, SMU, Miami, and Louisville) though Clemson should be the heavy favorite to get the auto bid. Things get a little more interesting in the Big 12 as a lot of their members have very high ceilings with good QBs. BYU, Texas Tech, and Arizona State are definitely the favorites, but Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State, and possibly TCU, Colorado, or Utah could make some noise if everything falls right. All of these solid teams could be the Big 12’s undoing though, as they may cannibalize each other and prevent the conference from getting two teams at 10-2 or better.

Here’s a playoff projection with records and the committee in mind:

1 Texas

2 Ohio State

3 Clemson

4 BYU

5 Notre Dame vs 12 Tulane

6 Oregon vs 11 Texas Tech

7 South Carolina vs 10 Georgia

8 Alabama vs 9 Penn State

Leave a comment