College Football top 25 as the season begins
As the season begins today, here are my rankings for the upcoming college football season
I almost never write about college football, not because I don’t like it, but seemingly because I think it is almost pointless to write about. Here’s why: We know what is going to happen every season so it’s not fun unless you only pay attention to conferences instead of the national landscape. The National Championship game every year will feature either Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, and every once in a while a team from the south or midwest like LSU, Oklahoma, or Georgia.
The hope for a Pac 12 team to win it all is pretty much over (ever since Andrew Luck and Jim Harbaugh left Stanford, and Chris Peterson and Chip Kelly left Washington and Oregon respectively). As a USC graduate, I always hope that the football team can get back to its prominence in the early 2000s, but with Clay Helton as the head coach, even though I think he is a very nice man and a good recruiter, getting back to the old 2000’s USC teams seems very unlikely to happen.
USC, Oregon, Utah, ASU, and Washington are all competing for a Pac 12 crown and maybe a Rose Bowl berth, but we would all be lying to ourselves if we thought a Pac-12 team will get into the College Football Playoff this season. Until the playoff format expands to 8-12 teams (which will probably happen by 2024), watching the season is pointless if you think your team has a chance to win it all and you are not a Clemson, OSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, or Georgia fan.
Regardless, the NBA season is over and there isn’t much football to write about just yet (unless people want to talk about preseason, which quite frankly doesn’t matter unless great players get hurt) so I decided to write an article about College Football. Here are my rankings and some analysis for the upcoming College Football season.
Northwestern Wildcats
After showing out in the Big Ten the past four years, the Wildcats definitely have a weaker team than the previous two seasons, but still have Pat Fitzgerald as their head coach and have former South Carolina QB Ryan Hilinski coming in among some other highly touted transfers to help this team out.
Even though Hunter Johnson is expected to start at QB, fans have seen Ryan Hilinski’s talent and understand his ceiling at the quarterback position from his time at South Carolina. I would be surprised if Johnson is still the quarterback over Hilinski by week 8. The offensive line is obviously taking a huge hit after losing Rashawn Slater, but Northwestern will still be able to be one of the nation’s top 25 teams simply because of their talent and brilliant head coach.
Arizona State Sun Devils
The Sun Devils have a more experienced roster this year, which should put them in the mix for the Pac 12 crown. They have Junior QB Jayden Daniels back along with offensive lineman Dohnovan West and defensive lineman Tyler Johnson.
They also have Chad Johnson Jr and DeaMonte Traynum coming back along with a slew of other offensive playmakers. The biggest concern will likely be the defense. Their offensive firepower will be enough to keep them in every game, but they will only win as many games as their defense lets them. Coach Herm Edwards should be excited about this 2021 squad.
Utah Utes
The Utes always find a way to become relevant at some point in each college football season. Many preseason polls don’t even think Utah should crack the top 25, but I truly believe that Utah would pounce on schools in weaker conferences that seem to get into the preseason polls like Coastal Carolina and Louisiana.
I also think Utah would stack up well against Ole Miss, who is much better than the preseason polls give them credit for. The Utes have arguably the best offensive line in the Pac-12. Both Nick Ford and Sataoa Laumea are elite linemen and are coming off of All-Pac 12 seasons in 2020. Pac-12 second-team selection tight end Brant Kuithe is also ready to take a leap this season, along with Pac-12 first-team selection linebacker Devin Lloyd. This team is very balanced and will be able to be a force again in the Pac-12.
Texas Longhorns
The Longhorns are always ranked very high to start the season and plummet out of the rankings by the end of the season. Why should this year be any different since Sam Ehlinger is in the NFL and they don’t have another QB like him?
I am being nice putting the Longhorns in the top 25 even though we know how their season is going to go. Just like the most popular NFL team in Texas, the Cowboys, this team is always hyped up and people believe the hype even though they always find a way to disappoint by the end of the season. I don’t know if Steve Sarkisian has what it takes to push this team over the edge.
Penn State Nittany Lions
Another team with high hopes that always disappoints is the Penn State Nittany Lions. Micah Parsons is obviously in the NFL and won’t be able to lead the defense this year, but it’s actually the offensive line that is the strength of this team this year.
Rasheed Walker is going to be Penn State’s first offensive lineman picked in the first round in over 13 years and will lead the way for the offensive line. Penn State won’t be amazing this year, but they do have a top 5 recruiting class for the class of 2022 which will undoubtedly help them compete at a high level in a couple of years.
Washington Huskies
The Huskies still have a very talented roster of players from the Chris Peterson recruiting classes and it will show in big games this season in the Pac-12. `They may not make one of the big bowl games but they should stay put in the top 25 all season long if they show up against Oregon and Michigan. The Huskies’ best weapon is their secondary led by Trent McDuffie and Co. The amount of NFL DB’s Washington has produced in recent memory is amazing and McDuffie is just the next one up.
The front 7 on the defensive end are spectacular as well with Pac-12 first-team defensive lineman Zion Tupuola-Fetui and Pac-12 second-team linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio leading the way. The offense won’t be as dominant as the defense, but Jr. tight end Cade Otton is a big-time playmaker who is poised for a big year as he prepares for the NFL draft.
Indiana Hoosiers
Michael Penix Jr. tore his ACL last season which ended the Hoosiers’ hope for a CFP berth if there was any to begin with. Penix is supposedly healthy and will be ready to go next weekend in the opening game against Iowa who is another very strong Big-Ten team. I expect Indiana to win easily just because they have a better quarterback in Penix Jr.
However, if Penix Jr. truly isn’t 100 percent yet, this Indiana team is going to have a ton of problems this season. Indiana will again have one of the best-receiving cores in the country lead by Ty Fryfogle, who could have easily been selected in the 2021 draft if he had declared. I do think this Hoosier team will end up as a top ten team if Penix Jr. can play the way many expect him to this season and if the receiving core can stay as dominant as it was last season as well.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa will have one of the best offensive lines in the country again this season led by projected first-rounder center Tyler Linderbaum, who was already the #2 ranked center for the 2021 NFL Draft had he entered instead of returning to Iowa.
Having a guy that talented at center can do wonders for a team, and since the rest of the offensive line is great as well, running back Tyler Goodson will flourish with that kind of protection. Expect the Hawkeyes to win about 8 or 9 games, but since they aren’t as good as their rival Iowa State, or Ohio State and Wisconsin for that matter, they don’t have a high chance of making a New Years’ 6 bowl.
Ole Miss Rebels
Matt Corral is going to be the most entertaining quarterback in college football this season. You heard it here first. I watched some of the Ole Miss games last year and Corral has such an electric arm that he could put up 300+ yards in one half. In fact, I think he did that on multiple occasions last season. Corral’s biggest problem has been consistency and the interception numbers have to go down this year if he wants to hear his name called in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
A great season from Corral will put him on the Heisman watch and solidify himself as a top pick in next year’s draft, and Lane Kiffin has turned this offense around very quickly. This team doesn’t have much of a defense but they can outscore you every single game and I expect this team to do that to every school except maybe Alabama, Georgia, A&M, and LSU. People are sleeping on this team, and if you want to watch entertaining football this year go turn on the Rebels!
Miami Hurricanes
A storied program that has had trouble getting back to its old prominence, Miami has a very talented roster this season which should put them in the mix for the ACC’s second-best team behind Clemson. Zion Nelson has established himself as one of the best linemen in the country, and edge rusher Quincy Roche is poised to become the team’s premier defender after Gregory Rousseau and Jaelan Phillips both entered the NFL and were both first-round picks.
Now Roche isn’t as good as either of those guys, but he has the talent to be a top 3 round pick and should show it this year. If the Hurricanes can beat North Carolina and get 9 or 10 wins, expect their ranking to be even higher and a New Years’ 6 bowl to be imminent.
USC Trojans
The Trojans had one of the best-receiving cores in the country the past two seasons and that should be the case again this season. Drake London will be a high draft pick in next year’s NFL draft and Kyle Ford should also blossom into a legitimate high-quality receiver as well. Korey Foreman and Drake Jackson are poised for huge years on the defensive end as well.
Foreman is obviously only a Freshman, but Jackson could go as high as 5th overall in next year’s draft based on his play. Obviously, Kedon Slovis will be back and a lot of the team’s success rides on how he will play this season. If Slovis is able to have a year like his Freshman season, not like last year, then USC will have a great shot at winning the Pac-12 and getting into a New Years’ 6 bowl.
If he doesn’t have a great year and struggles…well they also have Freshman Jaxon Dart who has obliterated expectations already in spring camp and in training camp recently as well. Dart will undoubtedly be the starting QB next season if Slovis enters the NFL draft like everyone expects him to do. USC football is in good hands with Dart for their future, but a lot is riding on this season as well.
Clay Helton is on the hot seat again (as always) and the Trojans constantly underperform each season. Last season was great until the collapse in the final 2 games (including the bowl game), but this is a much longer season and the Trojans cannot afford to have any games like they did against Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game where they played horrendously.
Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin is going to be the usual Wisconsin team it is every year. Very good, but just not good enough to be considered for the CFP. There isn’t a problem with that since they are by no means as talented as Ohio State, but I am sure Badger fans want more from a team that has been on the cusp of the CFP many times. The Badgers will have a good defense led by linebacker Jack Sanborn, but the offense is going to be the big question for this team.
They are returning elite tight-end Jake Ferguson, but they still have Graham Mertz as their starting QB. Mertz isn’t the worst QB in the big ten, but he is vastly overrated and makes bad decisions almost every drive. To win a ton of games and be back in the CFP conversation, Mertz needs to turn into a whole different QB this season and be super consistent with his passes.
Florida Gators
The Gators obviously lost Kyle Trask to the Buccaneers in the 2021 NFL draft and won’t have a quarterback nearly as productive as Trask this season. I mean how many quarterbacks were as productive in the whole country as Trask last season?
Either way, Emory Jones, the Redshirt Junior who is tasked to replace Trask, seems good enough to win the Gators 8-9 games, but believing that this team will be back in the mix for the CFP again is insane. They lost their best receiver in Kadarius Toney, their best QB obviously in Trask, and arguably the best player in the whole country last season in tight-end Kyle Pitts. The Gators always find a way to compete in the SEC though and they should stay in the top 25 all season long.
North Carolina Tar Heels
Quarterback Sam Howell is expected to be one of the first quarterbacks taken in the 2022 NFL draft, which has already been deemed one of the weakest drafts in recent memory, especially at the QB position. Either way, Howell is obviously one of the best players in the country and is experienced as well. Howell threw for 3,586 yards and 30 touchdowns last season both of which ranked in the top 6 in the whole country and also threw for 35 touchdowns as a true Freshman in 2019 (in a longer season of course).
Howell is a bit undersized at the position at 6-1, but he’s built at 220 pounds and makes great reads on the football field, which gives this Tar Heels squad a chance to get into the CFP. Obviously, they will have to beat Clemson to do so but wins against Miami and Notre Dame will help them tremendously in preparing for a great matchup against Clemson, which will likely happen in the ACC championship game.
LSU Tigers
LSU is Defensive Back University as the school’s track record of elite cornerbacks is unparalleled. LSU sports arguably the two best defensive backs in the nation again in 2021 with projected top 5 selection in 2022 Derek Stingley Jr., and a projected top 10 selection in 2023 in Eli Ricks. No one will be able to throw into that secondary at a high rate and the rest of LSU’s defense is pretty dominant as well.
The offense will be the biggest question mark as the QB position was a serious issue last season and who knows how good Myles Johnson is since he has barely played at all in college. Time will tell, and after a down year last season following a national championship two seasons ago, Ed Orgeron and LSU are ready to get back on track and compete for a CFP playoff spot. They should be able to do so with good showings against Alabama, Georgia, and Texas A&M.
Cincinnati Bearcats
Desmond Ridder is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, and also one of the most experienced ones after three seasons being the Bearcats starter already under his belt. Ridder was a Maxwell Award finalist last season and lead the Bearcats to the Peach Bowl last season, where they only lost by 3 points to a very good Georgia Bulldogs team.
Cincinnati should be able to win the American Athletic Conference again this year and make a New Years’ 6 bowl, but winning a New Years’ 6 bowl is the goal for this Bearcats team this go around, not just making it again.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
The Fighting Irish really wish they still had Ian Book as their QB this season after Book was their most consistent quarterback in the history of the program. Instead, they will rely on former Wisconsin quarterback Jack Coan who transferred to Notre Dame after missing the 2020 season due to a foot injury. In 2019, Coan lead Wisconsin to the Big-Ten title game and to a 10-4 record overall.
Coan is a great successor to Book but is far from being as consistent. Regardless, Notre Dame will rely on its elite defense steered by projected top 10 pick and the best safety in the country, Kyle Hamilton. Notre Dame has a tough schedule having to play Wisconsin, Cincinnati, North Carolina, and USC, but if the Irish are able to finish the season undefeated or with only one loss, they will definitely be in the mix again for the CFP.
Oregon Ducks
The Ducks are easily the most talented team in the Pac-12. I wish it was USC since I went there, but USC only has better receivers and a better QB than Oregon. Oregon’s defense is much better than any other team in the Pac-12. Edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux is going to be the most dominant defensive player in the country this year, while Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell will be extremely dominant as well this year.
I expect the Ducks to go 10-2 overall and miss out on the CFP. However, the Ducks have a clear path to the CFP if they can beat Ohio State in Columbus in week 2, which will undoubtedly be the hardest matchup Oregon has had in the past three years at least.
Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State has ascended into a very good team after going 9-3 in 2020. In 2019, the Cyclones were only 7-6, but their 2021 season will resemble more of their 2020 campaign with QB Brock Purdy, tight end Charlie Kolar, and running back Breece Hall returning.
Paired with an above-average defense while also taking into account that the Cyclones play in a lackluster conference (other than Oklahoma this year), the offense should be able to win all but one of their games this year. The Cyclones know that they are in charge of their own fate and will have to beat Iowa, Texas, and play Oklahoma very tough to be in the mix for the CFP.
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M is returning almost every high-end player from last season including top NFL Draft prospect Isaiah Spiller and projected first-round picks offensive tackle Kenyon Green and defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal. Freshman Haynes King has been named as the successor to Kellen Mond at quarterback and King is known for his dual-threat talent and innate ability to read defenses at a high level, even at a super young age.
Jimbo Fisher obviously thinks that King is the guy and that the Freshman can lead them into the CFP and he might be right. Haynes King has all of the tools to become one of the best quarterbacks in the nation and should have a fantastic first season with the Aggies behind an elite offensive line and an elite RB alongside him in Spiller.
Ohio State Buckeyes
All the pressure will be on new quarterback C.J. Stroud to succeed and get the Buckeyes back to the National Championship game. The offensive weapons will be there for Stroud as Ohio State boasts the top receiving core in the country this year by far.
Former #1 overall recruit Julian Fleming is poised for a breakout year alongside two highly touted 2022 NFL draft prospects Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, who may even be the first receivers taken in next year’s NFL draft. The defensive will be dominant as always and the Buckeyes will have another serious shot at winning it all. It will all depend on how well C.J. Stroud can play against very good teams because the Buckeyes again have all of the pieces and coaching to win it all.
Georgia Bulldogs
J.T. Daniels is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation and should be a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft. He led the Bulldogs to a Peach Bowl victory last season but has his eyes on leading the bulldogs to the CFP this season, and they are extremely capable of doing so. Wide receiver George Pickens is one of the best offensive playmakers in the nation and is a defensive mismatch everywhere on the field. With Daniels’ throwing arm and Pickens catch ability, expect a ton of big-time plays from that tandem. Adam Anderson and Jordan Davis lead an impressive defensive front 7.
Georgia has all of the pieces to win it all this year, but the Bulldogs have a tough schedule per usual which includes a matchup with #2 Clemson in week 1 on September 4th. Although a loss in the first week to Clemson does not eliminate them from the CFP by any means, winning out and beating Alabama in the SEC championship game would certainly get the Bulldogs into the playoff. Get your popcorn ready because Clemson vs. Georgia is the first big game of the season and could be the biggest game all year long!
Oklahoma Sooners
With Head Coach Lincoln Riley’s track record of producing NFL-ready quarterbacks (Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield), Spencer Rattler is poised to be the next QB taken at the top of the first round next April. Rattler struggled early on in the season but coasted to 19 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions through the final 8 games of the season.
Rattler and Co. are poised for a big year as the offensive machine will keep rolling this season. I expect the Sooners to finish with only 1 loss entering the final CFP rankings, which will for sure get them in. This Sooners team is a legitimate threat to dethrone Alabama and win the national championship game behind one of the best QBs in the country.
Clemson Tigers
Clemson will open up its season against Georgia on September 4th and I fully expect them to win that game. D.J. Uiagalelei is the best amateur QB prospect in College Football right now. I don’t care what anybody says, he will be the first player taken in the 2023 NFL draft, not Bryce Young. Uiagalelei would also be the first player selected in this upcoming NFL draft if he were eligible, but he is still only a Sophomore.
Clemson also has the most dominant front 7 on the defensive side in the nation led by projected first-rounder Tyler Davis. Davis is poised for a big season and so is receiver Justyn Ross who is arguably the best receiver in the nation with Ohio States’ Wilson and Olave. With a dominant defense and Uiagalelei and Ross leading the offense, the Tigers are poised for another championship run. However, it would be nice for them to win their opener against #4 Georgia, which will undoubtedly be one of the best college football games all season long.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Bryce Young will look like an experienced quarterback in his first season starting at the QB position for Alabama and the Tide will keep on rolling this season. They again have an elite O-line led by Evan Neal and a good wide receiving core led by projected first-rounder John Metchi. However, even with how good Alabama’s offense is, the reason they are ranked #1 is because of their #1 ranked defense.
Filled with top 2 rounders, Alabama’s defense includes linebackers Shane Lee and Christian Harris, safety Jordan Battle, defensive linemen LaBryan Ray and D.J. Dale, and cornerback Josh Jobe. All of these players and possibly, even more, will be selected in the first two-three rounds of the NFL draft next April. Nick Saban has a dominant defense and an elite quarterback which is never a good combination for opposing teams. Expect the Crimson Tide to roll into the national championship game as long as Georgia doesn’t beat them in the SEC title game.