Early 2024 Rankings....

[belcherboy]

Link

ESPN has their new updated Top 25

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Oregon
4. Texas
5. Notre Dame
6. Ole Miss
7. Missouri
8. Penn State
9. Alabama
10. Utah
11. Arizona
12. LSU
13. Michigan
14. Oklahoma
15. Florida State
16. Tennessee
17. Oklahoma State
18. NC State
19. Clemson
20. Kansas State
21. Louisville
22. Kansas
23. Kentucky
24. Miami FL
25. Texas A&M

Just Missed: USC, Washington, SMU, Iowa, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Boise State, Air Force, and Liberty

Honestly, I think this is a pretty good ranking here, if they are guesstimating what the final rankings next season will be.

I think Ohio will end the season #1, and will do it in a dominating fashion. Georgia will have a couple of close calls, but I think they manage to squeak out an undefeated regular season, especially with Bama in sort of a free fall (only because they lost some key players to the draft and portal).

Oregon and Texas should both be solid. I think Ole Miss is the wildcard. They should have enough talent to give Georgia a run at home in November. If they can pull off a win in that game they may have one or less losses at seasons end.

I think if Michigan can stay in the top 15, it should be considered a great season. They are losing A LOT and will have a whole new coaching staff on defense. If they can just sneak into the playoffs, they should consider that a home run season. I think I see them ranked just outside the playoffs next year somewhere around 15-20.

The good news is that this top 25 have A LOT of games against each other next season. Michigan plays 4 top 10 teams from last year's end of the playoffs rankings. I'm hoping they keep those games close and can win at least 2 of them, but I'm thinking they lose 3. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Duckboy33]

Honestly, I think this is a pretty good ranking here, if they are guesstimating what the final rankings next season will be.

I think Ohio will end the season #1, and will do it in a dominating fashion. Georgia will have a couple of close calls, but I think they manage to squeak out an undefeated regular season, especially with Bama in sort of a free fall (only because they lost some key players to the draft and portal).

Oregon and Texas should both be solid. I think Ole Miss is the wildcard. They should have enough talent to give Georgia a run at home in November. If they can pull off a win in that game they may have one or less losses at seasons end.

I think if Michigan can stay in the top 15, it should be considered a great season. They are losing A LOT and will have a whole new coaching staff on defense. If they can just sneak into the playoffs, they should consider that a home run season. I think I see them ranked just outside the playoffs next year somewhere around 15-20.

The good news is that this top 25 have A LOT of games against each other next season. Michigan plays 4 top 10 teams from last year's end of the playoffs rankings. I'm hoping they keep those games close and can win at least 2 of them, but I'm thinking they lose 3. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

Ohio State has road games against Penn State and Oregon. They also have to get the Michigan monkey off their back. They have a great team but I'm not ready to pencil them in at 12-0.

 

[belcherboy]

Ohio State has road games against Penn State and Oregon. They also have to get the Michigan monkey off their back. They have a great team but I'm not ready to pencil them in at 12-0.

It’s been a long time since Penn State has beaten Ohio. I want to say Ohio has maybe lost to them once in the past 10-12 games. I guess maybe PSU is due for another win, but I don’t see it happening against this Ohio team.

Oregon is interesting though. I don’t know enough about who is returning to make a prediction on that game.

I just don’t see Ohio doing anything but dominating this season. The only teams I think could give them a legit scare this year is Georgia, Texas, and maybe Michigan (only because of the rivalry and they seem to have a monkey on their back). Even then, I think Michigan has too much going against them to beat Ohio next season.

I think Ohio goes 15-0, and plays in the national title game to try and make it 16-0.

 

[Gator]

Time to rattle some cages!
Look Trojan:
Alabama SEC Mercer
Arkansas SEC Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Auburn SEC Alabama A&M
Florida SEC Samford
Georgia SEC Tennessee Tech
Kentucky SEC Murray State
Louisiana State SEC Nicholls State
Mississippi SEC Furman
Mississippi State SEC Eastern Kentucky
Missouri SEC Murray State
Oklahoma SEC Maine
South Carolina SEC Wofford
Tennessee SEC Tennessee-Chattanooga
Texas A&M SEC McNeese State
Vanderbilt SEC Alcorn State

Every SEC team except Texas will play an FBS team. I even highlighted my team for you!!!

 

[navamind]

It’s been a long time since Penn State has beaten Ohio. I want to say Ohio has maybe lost to them once in the past 10-12 games. I guess maybe PSU is due for another win, but I don’t see it happening against this Ohio team.

Oregon is interesting though. I don’t know enough about who is returning to make a prediction on that game.

I just don’t see Ohio doing anything but dominating this season. The only teams I think could give them a legit scare this year is Georgia, Texas, and maybe Michigan (only because of the rivalry and they seem to have a monkey on their back). Even then, I think Michigan has too much going against them to beat Ohio next season.

I think Ohio goes 15-0, and plays in the national title game to try and make it 16-0.

It's been a long time, but PSU has still played OSU tough. Not to mention it's at PSU. I love beating Franklin, but I'm kinda glad we're dodging them in 2024.

 

[trojanfight]

Time to rattle some cages!
Look Trojan:
Alabama SEC Mercer
Arkansas SEC Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Auburn SEC Alabama A&M
Florida SEC Samford
Georgia SEC Tennessee Tech
Kentucky SEC Murray State
Louisiana State SEC Nicholls State
Mississippi SEC Furman
Mississippi State SEC Eastern Kentucky
Missouri SEC Murray State
Oklahoma SEC Maine
South Carolina SEC Wofford
Tennessee SEC Tennessee-Chattanooga
Texas A&M SEC McNeese State
Vanderbilt SEC Alcorn State

Every SEC team except Texas will play an FBS team. I even highlighted my team for you!!!

9 conference games coming sooner rather than later reportedly. Even that wont make the SEC cupcakes disappear

 

[Gator]

9 conference games coming sooner rather than later reportedly. Even that wont make the SEC cupcakes disappear

Yes, but dissolving the PAC made a bunch of cupcakes disappear from USC schedule!

 

[belcherboy]

It's been a long time, but PSU has still played OSU tough. Not to mention it's at PSU. I love beating Franklin, but I'm kinda glad we're dodging them in 2024.

I don’t watch all the games in this matchup, but I just don’t see how PSU has played them all that tough. Ohio is 13-2 in the last 15 games. 8 of those wins have been by double digits. Most of those wins are by more than a TD.

 

[navamind]

I don’t watch all the games in this matchup, but I just don’t see how PSU has played them all that tough. Ohio is 13-2 in the last 15 games. 8 of those wins have been by double digits. Most of those wins are by more than a TD.

The last 8 games were by 13 or less, including the one point games in 17-18. The defense held OSU in check for the majority of the game, but the offense couldn't do anything all game. They hung tough in the 2022 game until mistakes crippled them in the 4th quarter. They were down by 3 going into the 4th in '21, but the offense couldn't manage anything and OSU hit a few field goals to out it away. '19 was a 4 point game going into the 4th, but again the offense couldn't manage any points. OSU may have won most of those games by a TD+, but the majority of those games were very competitive going into the 4th.

I do think PSU's offenses have certainly held them back against the likes of Michigan/OSU.

 

[belcherboy]

The last 8 games were by 13 or less, including the one point games in 17-18. The defense held OSU in check for the majority of the game, but the offense couldn't do anything all game. They hung tough in the 2022 game until mistakes crippled them in the 4th quarter. They were down by 3 going into the 4th in '21, but the offense couldn't manage anything and OSU hit a few field goals to out it away. '19 was a 4 point game going into the 4th, but again the offense couldn't manage any points. OSU may have won most of those games by a TD+, but the majority of those games were very competitive going into the 4th.

I do think PSU's offenses have certainly held them back against the likes of Michigan/OSU.

Like I said, I haven't watched most those games, but I don't think I can agree that a team that has lost 13 of their last 15 games to the same team has been all that competitive against them. The past 7 games they've lost in a row, they've been a ranked as a top 20 team, often a top 10 team.

I have zero confidence they will beat this Ohio team in 2024. I hope I'm wrong as this might be PSU's strongest team coming into a season in decades, but I still don't think they stand a chance against this Ohio team. Again, I'm rooting hard for them to beat Ohio, but I wouldn't bet a dollar that they will beat them. I think it will likely be another 2+ possession loss for PSU.

 

[navamind]

Like I said, I haven't watched most those games, but I don't think I can agree that a team that has lost 13 of their last 15 games to the same team has been all that competitive against them. The past 7 games they've lost in a row, they've been a ranked as a top 20 team, often a top 10 team.

I have zero confidence they will beat this Ohio team in 2024. I hope I'm wrong as this might be PSU's strongest team coming into a season in decades, but I still don't think they stand a chance against this Ohio team. Again, I'm rooting hard for them to beat Ohio, but I wouldn't bet a dollar that they will beat them. I think it will likely be another 2+ possession loss for PSU.

That's like saying the 2022 OSU game wasn't competitive. It felt like Michigan was barely holding on early in that game until the two Cornelius Johnson TDs. That game was very much in question until the 4th.

 

[belcherboy]

That's like saying the 2022 OSU game wasn't competitive. It felt like Michigan was barely holding on early in that game until the two Cornelius Johnson TDs. That game was very much in question until the 4th.

No, it’s like saying the 2010-2019 games weren’t really competitive. If you have a long streak of dominance, it’s hard to argue it is still competitive.

Again, maybe this is PSU’s year, but I’m going to say it isn’t, just like it hasn’t been for 7 years straight now.

 

[All-Star Benchwarmer]

Unless there is some significant injuries, I just don't see how it doesn't come down to Georgia and Ohio State. I don't think anyone is even close to those two, and Ohio State may be to a step or two above Georgia...especially if Chip Kelly shows out next year. Ohio State is likely to walk away with a national title next season, maybe winning it by double digits.

FIFY

And I've always found it stupid as hell to rank teams before the first snap of the season.

 

[belcherboy]

Ohio is KILLING it in these categories. I'm waiting for the March rankings from the College Football Report twitter account. I've found those guys are pretty good at predicting a pretty accurate top 25.

 

[navamind]

ND leading the ever so important helmets catagory.