Why your top team could tank in 2019 (13-1)

Sorry to be a bummer at a time of the year usually reserved for hope and optimism, but there is a decent chance your favorite college team is going to be a big disappointment this season.

The preseason AP Top 25 presented by Regions Bank is out. There were no real surprises at the top. Defending champion Clemson is No. 1 and Alabama is No. 2. The Tigers and Crimson Tide have alternated winning the last four national championships.

Georgia, which has had its national championship hopes dashed by Alabama the past two seasons, is No. 3. Oklahoma, working on a string of four straight Big 12 championships, is No. 4. Ohio State, with three Big Ten titles and a national championship in the last five years, landed at No. 5.

Over the last 10 years, about 40 percent of the teams that have started the season ranked end it that way.

Obviously, the better the start the more likely it is a team stays in the rankings, but 19 preseason top10 teams have finished the season unranked in that span.

And seven of those were in the top five. Three times in the last 10 seasons, including last year, three top-10 teams finished unranked. The last time all the preseason top-10 teams managed to finish the season in the Top 25 was 2006.

So give a look at that top 10, rounded out by No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 10 Texas. At least one of them is fixin’ to break some hearts.

The first Reality Check of the season assesses the chances for each Top 25 team to tank. Opener: vs. FAU.

Reality check: If Georgia transfer QB Justin Fields is a bust, the Buckeyes aren’t in position to bail him out.

RICHARD SHIRO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence passes against Duke last season in Clemson, S.C.