My Way Too Early Top (Fuctionally) 10:
First, some teams that are not in it. Call these 12 through 21, in no particular order:
Our Lady of the Perpetual Tie I think they will be as good a team in terms of talent as last year and can certainly be in the playoff picture. But they have a new coach and their first game is in Columbus against a truly stacked the. In addition, there are games against ClemSIN, a resurgent (I expect) USC, and BYU. That is a tough schedule and I think they have had an unintentionally soft schedule the last few years (that is, it is not their fault Florida State, V Tach and USC were down last year) that has kept them elevated. Not this year.
Texas A&M TAMU was in everyone elses top 10 preseason last year, but not mine. And they are in everyone elses top 10 this year and not in mine this year for the same reason: I just do not trust them. They also break in a new QB, although they open with a couple of light snacks before the real schedule sets in. There is a potential for any of the God apostrophe s conference West teams to be in the Top 20, which makes for a rough schedule.
Oklahoma State The Cowboys are just a couple of years away from dominating their league. But they lost a lot from their defensive backfield from last year, and the backfield is a bad place to be lacking in that Pure Prairie League.
BYU I have them as my G of 6 rep, but I think the schedule is too unmanageable for them. Hard to be a G of 6 team and be top 10 with more than one loss. They should be the G of 6 representative in the Committee Bowls, but it is hard to see them in the playoffs.
USC It might take more than one year for USC to break through the carnage of the last year. They do have talent, but years of mismanagement is not going to go away overnight. The biggest question is the QB, which has seen a mass exodus of talent. If they can get Williams to follow Riley, that will help.
Oregon Starting quarterback Bo Nix. Nuff said.
Old Mississippi Maybe a reach, but I think Kiff has done well in the transfer portal. Replacing Corral with throwing Darts helps. But for them to break through to the Top 10 is tough. There is a pretty clear path for five losses for them. Or one.
the Louisiana State University I usually down grade teams with new coaches slightly, but Brian Kelly is a real good coach, and I think LSU was just off under Ed the Orgys On and his loose touch. The talent has always been there for a top flight team. The LSU schedule is a manageable one, but it is a tough division. I just think, as with USC, one year is not enough to flush the system.
Meatchicken Pains me to put them in my Top 11, of course, but they have no Power 5 Out of Conference games. They get both the Pennsylvania State and Eventual 2022 2023 National Champion Michigan State in Ann Arbor and got a favorable draw from the Big However Many West. They should still have a strong run game, and even though they were powered by a defense that suffered plenty of losses and have some QB issues, and Harbaugh could well be a Dolphin in a week, the strong run game and favorable schedule should cap their losses at 2.
Michigan State Yes, I know, I have them at 1. But this is reality, and the reality is they have one very big set of shoes to fill in III. They are using the portal well for their other holes, and I think the pass defense will improve, not that it could get much worse. But it is a tough schedule that could get them four or five losses pretty easily. I am comfortable with them in the real world top 20, though.
Anyway, here is my Top 11:
11. ClemSIN
Again, they are perfectly capable of returning to the top of the CFB ranks next year. But the worlds worst scrabble tile set never progressed last year, so until he does their offense is mired in mediocrity. The defense has carried them through and should still be strong. But Venable was considered a rock star DC for a reason. Will they be able to replace him and stay at the same level? On paper, it is a mushy schedule, but their two biggest games, OLotPT and Woke Forrest, are on the road. If this and the Meatchicken blurb read funny, it is because I have been toggling the two teams into this spot while writing this, and finally landed ClemSIN here and decided it was not worth rewriting the blurbs.
10. Wisconsin
The Big However Many did not do them any favors with the schedule reshuffle. They still draw both of their East teams on the road, and the East teams are the and Eventual 2022 National Champion Michigan State University. Still, they return a strong run game with their stud running back and I assume there is a reason Mertz was offered by Alabama and that reason may show itself any day. While they have some losses to make up on Defense, they should still be strong. Someone is winning the Big However Many West.
9. Kentucky
Someone is also winning the God apostrophe s Conference East, and I am taking KY. The Fightin Jellies return their entire starting backfield, including their starting QB and a thousand yard, 6 plus ypc running back in Rodriguez. They do need to do some work elsewhere on offense but are using the transfer portal well. Is this a reach? Probably. But the East is available for any team that catches fire.
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