Is everyone chasing Clemson, Bama?
Putting together a preseason AP Top 25 ballot started with two easy decisions and quickly grew far more difficult from there.
Clemson and Alabama ended last season as the nation’s top two college football teams. Alabama looked far and away like the best team all season until Clemson pounded the Crimson Tide, 44-16, in the championship game on Jan. 7.
With quarterback Trevor Lawrence back this season leading the Tigers as a sophomore, Clemson is the easy No. 1. Alabama could just as easily replace Clemson as the national champion this season, so the Tide is naturally No. 2.
The next teams in the next tier are tasked – and capable – of knocking off those two kingpins.
Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Michigan have the talent and coaching to make a run. Which one is best? Georgia has the most complete roster and figures to get a shot at Alabama in the SEC title game.
Overall, the SEC is the nation’s deepest league. LSU and Florida are top-10 teams on my ballot, giving the league four of the nation’s top 10.
Texas A&M, Auburn, Mississippi State and Missouri are worthy of top-25 votes as well, giving the league eight on the ballot.
The ACC and Pac-12 are at the other end of the scale among Power Five teams.
While Clemson is No. 1, the only other ACC team worthy of a preseason ranking is Syracuse all the way down at No. 21. Clemson’s road back to the College Football Playoff looks like an expressway.