The College Football Preview

My Top 25 that is cooler and better than the AP's

College football is finally upon us in two days, where people far and wide can start the year with a marquee matchup that could shift the landscape of the sport as we know it: Nebraska vs. Illinois.

In all seriousness, I am very excited for college football to be back in our lives, hopefully in a more normal format than last season, though it looks more and more dicey each day (Get vaccinated, I beg of you).

I figured I would just give you my personal top 25, my predicted playoff, Heisman winner, random other things, you get it. I want to do a full top 25 mostly because I hate on the AP voters so much that it only feels right that I actually put one together to see if mine, too, sucks.

Here we go:

1.) Alabama

2.) Georgia

3.) Clemson

4.) Oklahoma

5.) Ohio State

6.) Cincinnati

7.) Iowa State

8.) Texas A&M

9.) Oregon

10.) North Carolina

11.) Coastal Carolina

12.) Wisconsin

13.) Indiana

14.) Florida

15.) Louisiana

16.) USC

17.) Miami (Fla.)

18.) Notre Dame

19.) Iowa

20.) Ole Miss

21.) Arizona State

22.) Penn State

23.) Washington

24.) NC State

25.) Texas

I feel that my top five is very much ordinary, and I do think that these are the five best teams in college football. Alabama is at No. 1 because the Crimson Tide are the defending champions and are, well, Alabama, but I think Georgia’s roster is the best in the country heading into the season.

Clemson and Oklahoma return more production than the other three, and, for now, I have Ohio State just outside the top four because of a secondary that I still think is unproven at the very best.

Cincinnati is at No. 6 to start for me and should get into the playoff with an undefeated season. I think that the Bearcats likely don’t unless some chaos happens at the top, but here’s hoping. I am nearly equally high on Iowa State, who ranks No. 24 in returning production after one of the program’s best seasons ever. If not now, then it’s likely never for the Cyclones.

I debated top 10 Coastal Carolina out the gates, but I think 11 is still a fair spot for one of the most entertaining teams in college football who returns almost everyone from 2020. The Chanticleers are one of two Sun Belt teams in my top 25, the other being Louisiana at No. 15, who likely should be favored against Texas in Week 1 (Shoutout The Outside Zone).

Maybe my biggest disagreement in the AP Top 25 which, overall, was pretty good all things considered, was Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish return very little from last year and have known 0.0 WAR quarterback Jack Coan as their starter, so I am not seeing where a top 10 ranking comes from. Instead, they are down at 18 in mine.

The two teams I added in my top 25 are Ole Miss at 20 and NC State at 24. I know that I am riding the Lane Train straight into a pit of hell, but damn it I like this team. The Rebels return plenty of talent and Matt Corral really impressed me at quarterback. I would have loved if Ole Miss fired the murderer that it continues to pay to coordinate a horrifying defense, but I still think the Rebels will be an exciting, mostly good team this year.

Finally, I am trusting in the Wolfpack mostly because of what Patrick has told me, if we are being honest here. Plus, I live in this state now, so let’s ride. And speaking of my state, Charlotte is the team that Hoopla rides or dies with now. The 49ers are a touchdown underdog against Duke, and they need all of your support.

For end-of-season predictions, I believe that the playoff will look like this:

1.) Georgia (13-0)

2.) Clemson (12-1)

3.) Ohio State (12-1)

4.) Iowa State (12-1)

———————

5.) Cincinnati (13-0)

6.) Alabama (11-2)

7.) Oklahoma (11-2)

Georgia and Clemson really have one hurdle to get over in the regular season: each other. The two play in Week 1 and have mostly easy schedules the rest of the way. Yes, the Bulldogs travel to play Florida, which I think is tricky, but avoiding Alabama and Texas A&M is huge.

I think Clemson’s loss is to Georgia, Ohio State’s is to Oregon and Iowa State’s is to Oklahoma in the regular season, then a win over the Sooners in the Big 12 title game. Yes, I do have Cincinnati outside of the playoff after earlier saying the Bearcats should make it in with an undefeated record and wins over Indiana and Notre Dame. But, alas, I am not the playoff, so I expect Cincinnati will get robbed in cold blood of what would have been such a cool moment. Instead, the Cyclones get their moment, which is also cool!

Also, I think Alabama drops one regular season game, then falls to Georgia in the SEC title game. Bryce Young is immensely talented, but I just expect a hiccup somewhere, maybe to Ole Miss (eye emoji) or Texas A&M, which the Tide play on back-to-back weekends.

In the playoff, I expect Georgia to beat Iowa State somewhat convincingly, while Clemson makes it 4-1 over Ohio State, this time in a nail-biter. This sets up a Week 1 rematch of Clemson and Georgia, except this time it is the Tigers that win out. D.J. Uiagalelei will come into his own throughout the season, put up some big stats to win a Heisman (!) and then cap it off with a national title. Georgia sadness continues another year.

Congrats to you, dear reader, who now knows exactly what will happen this season in college football. I am 100 percent right and please do not feel the need to come back and check this because, well, you should just trust me on this one.

If you are interested in me talking about random topics like this, or on my more focused Monday posts with Big Ten women’s basketball, you can subscribe with the button above. Thanks!