My ballot for the AP Top 25 – If they let me have one.
If the AP Top 25 let me have a ballot, this is how mine would look. It’s a ranking, not a power rating. But in the preseason, rankings are irrelevant. So it will have some power rating aspects to it.
Confused? Good, me too.
I’ll explain my picks in groups of 5 from 25 to 1. Then, at the bottom, I have a list of 1-40. I went 40 deep to show what my personal “others receiving votes” section would look like.
25-21
25 – Tulane
24 – Illinois
23 – Maryland
22 – North Carolina
21 – South Carolina
Tulane is the top G5 team. They beat USC in the Cotton Bowl last year, and they return most of that team. But, they are still a G5 with less talent than everyone above them. They will have to earn a higher ranking, not be gifted one.
The middle of the B1G is better than people give it credit for, Maryland and Illinois are quality teams. UNC is a good team with a great QB, but losing OC Phil Longo will hurt. South Carolina has outperformed expectations 2 years in a row. It’s time to raise expectations.
20-16
20 – TCU
19 – Wisconsin
18 – Kansas State
17 – Oregon State
16 – Texas Tech
Kansas State beat TCU in the Big 12 title game last year; they earned their spot above TCU. Speaking of TCU, they lost most of the players that made them great, they will take a step back.
Oregon State and Wisconsin both improved over the offseason. Wisconsin could be anything from 6-6 to 11-1. I’m high on them, but they can’t be above a conference title winner before we’ve even played a game. Oregon State is in a very top heavy conference full of NFL QBs. Just because their conference is tough though, doesn’t mean they deserve a lower ranking.
Texas Tech is on an upswing, I expect them to challenge for the Big 12 this year. How they fair in week 2 vs Oregon will tell us a lot.
15-11
15 – Texas
14 – Notre Dame
13 – Clemson
12 – Florida State
11 – Tennessee
Texas is being crowned as B12 champs in the preseason, and I hate it. Even I have them as the #1 Big 12 team based on the: good coach + good QB = good team rule. I am prepared to drop them like a rock if they disappoint, like they usually do.
Notre Dame is solid, that’s all I’ve got on them.
Clemson, Florida State, and Tennessee could all be T-11 for me. I have a tough time differentiating them. At least one should rise up during the season.
Some readers may find it insulting that I don’t have any ACC teams in the top 10. If you think about recent history though, the only ACC team that hangs around the top 10 consistently is Clemson. And Clemson has been sliding backwards the last couple of years. It’s likely that one of FSU, Clemson, or UNC step up their game and earn a top 10 spot. But in this preseason ranking, the ACC has no top 10 quality teams.
10-6
10 – Utah
9 – Oregon
8 – USC
7 – Alabama
6 – Washington
Holy Moly! There’s the Pac-12.
I think all 4 of these teams are great. Utah has the most questions of the 4, but I would gladly take their physical brand of football over Tennessee, Clemson, and FSU below them. The top of the Pac-12 also has the most QB certainty in the country, and that needs to matter. I don’t expect all 4 of these Pac-12 teams to deliver, but in August, they all look pretty good to me.
Bama, on the other hand, is all the way down at 7 because they have no QB certainty. They have 3 guys competing for the job, and none inspire confidence.
Washington passes the “Bama line” for me. I’m comfortable calling them the best team in the Pac-12.
USC and above are capable of winning the Natty.
Top 5
5 – Penn State
4 – LSU
3 – Ohio State
2 – Michigan
1 – Georgia
Penn State is nationally undervalued because they play OSU and Michigan every year. If they were in the ACC or Big 12 last year, they would’ve made the playoff. They return their best pieces from last year and are upgrading at QB.
LSU will be better in year 2 under Brian Kelly, and they were already good enough to beat FSU and Alabama in year one.
Michigan should be #2. OSU is their only competition for the #2 spot, and that debate has been settled on the field. If OSU wants to move above Michigan, they need to earn it (or Michigan needs to slip up).
Georgia has to be #1. If you don’t have them at #1, your ballot is invalid.
Top 40
Below is my top 40, I will not elaborate on teams outside the top 25.
1 – Georgia
2 – Michigan
3 – Ohio State
4 – LSU
5 – Penn State
6 – Washington
7 – Alabama
8 – USC
9 – Oregon
10 – Utah
11 – Tennessee
12 – Florida State
13 – Clemson
14 – Notre Dame
15 – Texas
16 – Texas Tech
17 – Oregon State
18 – Kansas State
19 – Wisconsin
20 – TCU
21 – South Carolina
22 – North Carolina
23 – Maryland
24 – Illinois
25 – Tulane
26 – Oklahoma
27 – Ole Miss
28 – Louisville
29 – Texas A&M
30 – Kentucky
31 – Minnesota
32 – Iowa
33 – UCLA
34 – Boise State
35 – Duke
36 – Nebraska
37 – Arkansas
38 – Pitt
39 – Baylor
40 – Oklahoma State
Want more Walk On Fan?
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This article was written by Cole Tollison and edited by Hayden Breene