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BoiseStateFan27
Sir Member
mostly a guess at this point, but oh well
1. Florida State- the threat of losing a lot of good juniors to the NFL looms, but this threat exists with a lot of teams below them too.
2. Oklahoma- this I feel is a risky ranking, but if Oklahoma can play like they did their last two games, and Trevor Knight has truly found his footing in college football, they will be challengers for the national championship.
3. Auburn- I think Tre Mason is gone, he's a junior running back coming off a big year, these days he has to declare. With that being said there's a lot returning for Auburn, I just wonder how long this offense is attainable, will defenses start to figure it out, like Oregon after 2010?
4. UCLA- yes I'm very high on the Bruins for this next year, I think Hundley is in for a big year, plus Myles Jack is a very good playmaker for them, UCLA is going to be tough to contend with in the Pac-12
5. Oregon- Mariota was slowed by an injury late in the year when Oregon was downed twice, hopefully for Oregon that excuse is actually what slowed them down, I do think some of the Pac-12 is figuring them out, plus the losses on defense are a concern.
6. Alabama- Alabama figures to always be up at the top, but they did lose their leaders on defense and offense, who will replace McCarron? these days a good quarterback is key, how the new QB plays will determine Alabama's season.
7. Stanford- Stanford's tough defense will lose a lot of starters, but David Shaw is recruiting very well. If Hogan is more consistent this could be a good year for Stanford.
8. Michigan State- Michigan State is a dangerous team now that they have found a quarterback to pair with their tough defense, big question here is how do they replace the offensive linemen they lose?
9. Ohio State- Ohio State returns Miller which is very important, plus its another year under Urban Meyer so the offense should be very good despite the loss of Carlos Hyde, big question here is how will the defense be fixed? They still haven't fired their defensive coordinator, who might be the worst coordinator of any of these teams in my top 10.
10. Baylor- Baylor really had a breakthrough year this year, finally winning the Big 12 and making a BCS bowl, though they faded down the stretch, the listless bowl performance really took a lot of shine off a good year.
11. Arizona State- The front 7 will encounter some losses on this team, but other than that they return most everyone, after a very strong season, despite the awful bowl performance.
12. Nebraska- the strong ending over Georgia and the fact that Pelini has yet to have a meltdown, shows that maybe 2014 will be his year. Their QBs got a lot of experience when Martinez was hurt this year so this will pay dividends now, Abdullah is a great running back who I think is set for a great year, and the defense might finally be close to what you expect from a Nebraska defense.
13. Georgia- this might be a bit high, but Georgia was riddled with injuries this year, usually these injury plagued teams see a huge step up in performance the following year.
14. LSU- Once again LSU is already seeing a mass exodus of players to the draft, with this happening it looks like LSU will be around 15th for most of the year again.
15. Washington- I'm a big believer in Petersen obviously, sure he's a new head coach this year but he inherits a very talented team, even though he must replace Price.
16. Wisconsin- the Wisconsin offense will be rolling again, especially with the surprise return of Melvin Gordon which is huge for the Badgers, only question is how will they replace the lost defensive starters?
17. Notre Dame- Notre Dame's defense took a big hit with some of their best players on that side declaring, offensive line will lose their best guy too, but they get Everett Golston back assuming all goes well academically, which is huge.
18. Duke- yes Duke, they aren't going to lose a lot of players from this team that just came off probably the most successful season in their football history. I'm surprised no one's ranking them, yes they're Duke but Cutcliffe is still the coach.
19. Kansas State- last season didn't look so good when they opened it up with a loss to a FCS school, turned out it was perhaps the best FCS team ever fielded that beat them, and Kansas State recovered to have a good year, now with a lot of starters back Snyder could work his magic again.
20. Missouri- they're coming off a very successful season in which they made the SEC championship and won the Cotton bowl, now we'll see how they build on it, Maty Mauk will replaces James Franklin just fine, but Henry Josey has declared for the draft and some offensive linemen are gone, 3 of their best defensive playmakers are gone too, those playmakers are going to be tough to replace, but Missouri should still be solid.
21. South Carolina- with the loss of Connor Shaw and a lot of good players on defense including Clowney of course, this seems to be one of the weaker South Carolina teams in a while, we'll see what Spurrier has in store.
22. Texas Tech- a lot of stock in the bowl performance in this one, but I think Texas Tech could have a nice breakthrough year.
23. Iowa- this team finally found some players on offense this past year and returned towards the upper part of the big 10, with a lot of starters back the momentum should continue.
24. USC- they ended the season very strong, there's a lot of talent in place, so they really could finish a lot higher than this.
25. Boise State- I can get my hopes up can't I?
just missed the cut.
Clemson- Boyd, Watkins, Bryant, and a lot of other great players all gone, this is a rebuilding year.
Texas- from the previous stop Strong made it looks like he'll need a year to get his system into place, so we'll see on this one.
Arizona- a lot of starters back from a team that had some promising performances last year, but Carey is a huge loss(based on the assumption he's leaving).
Pitt- I think Paul Chryst can have some success this year with a lot of starters back
Oklahoma State- A lot of talented players gone and Florida State in the opener could really set the season off on the wrong foot.
Marshall- They might end up being the best non power 5 team, lets just hope Boise State returns back to normal.
Utah State- they aren't going away, Keeton returning from injury will be huge.
Mississippi- A solid year should be in store for them, I think a breakthrough year will happen the year after.
Virginia Tech- Logan Thomas being gone could be a positive, he was talented but could never put it all together, yet Virginia Tech had to pretty much keep him in just in case he does.
BYU- they lose Van Noy, but do still bring a lot of guys back.
Texas A&M- Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans both being gone will downgrade the offense no matter what, Sumlin will at least decently replace them, hopefully the defense can't get much worse.
The "Are You Kidding Me?" List of teams that people are ranking in preseason polls that shouldn't be ranked.
Florida- they're actually showing up in preseason top 25s believe it or not, the team that went 4-8, got blown out by Vandy, lost to Georgia Southern, and couldn't stop from blocking guys on their own team. Not only that but the best players on the defensive side have all declared for the NFL draft.
North Carolina- Yes they pulled together and had a strong ending to the 2013 season, and they return a lot of starters, but they still finished the season with 6 losses, the wait and see approach should be used.
UCF- they had a strong year sure, but their two best players have declared for the draft already, from a team that was a few plays away from at least 5 losses.
Louisville- I haven't seen this one much at least, but we don't even know who's coaching them yet, plus they enter a new conference, teams that enter a new conference usually struggle their first year there.
1. Florida State- the threat of losing a lot of good juniors to the NFL looms, but this threat exists with a lot of teams below them too.
2. Oklahoma- this I feel is a risky ranking, but if Oklahoma can play like they did their last two games, and Trevor Knight has truly found his footing in college football, they will be challengers for the national championship.
3. Auburn- I think Tre Mason is gone, he's a junior running back coming off a big year, these days he has to declare. With that being said there's a lot returning for Auburn, I just wonder how long this offense is attainable, will defenses start to figure it out, like Oregon after 2010?
4. UCLA- yes I'm very high on the Bruins for this next year, I think Hundley is in for a big year, plus Myles Jack is a very good playmaker for them, UCLA is going to be tough to contend with in the Pac-12
5. Oregon- Mariota was slowed by an injury late in the year when Oregon was downed twice, hopefully for Oregon that excuse is actually what slowed them down, I do think some of the Pac-12 is figuring them out, plus the losses on defense are a concern.
6. Alabama- Alabama figures to always be up at the top, but they did lose their leaders on defense and offense, who will replace McCarron? these days a good quarterback is key, how the new QB plays will determine Alabama's season.
7. Stanford- Stanford's tough defense will lose a lot of starters, but David Shaw is recruiting very well. If Hogan is more consistent this could be a good year for Stanford.
8. Michigan State- Michigan State is a dangerous team now that they have found a quarterback to pair with their tough defense, big question here is how do they replace the offensive linemen they lose?
9. Ohio State- Ohio State returns Miller which is very important, plus its another year under Urban Meyer so the offense should be very good despite the loss of Carlos Hyde, big question here is how will the defense be fixed? They still haven't fired their defensive coordinator, who might be the worst coordinator of any of these teams in my top 10.
10. Baylor- Baylor really had a breakthrough year this year, finally winning the Big 12 and making a BCS bowl, though they faded down the stretch, the listless bowl performance really took a lot of shine off a good year.
11. Arizona State- The front 7 will encounter some losses on this team, but other than that they return most everyone, after a very strong season, despite the awful bowl performance.
12. Nebraska- the strong ending over Georgia and the fact that Pelini has yet to have a meltdown, shows that maybe 2014 will be his year. Their QBs got a lot of experience when Martinez was hurt this year so this will pay dividends now, Abdullah is a great running back who I think is set for a great year, and the defense might finally be close to what you expect from a Nebraska defense.
13. Georgia- this might be a bit high, but Georgia was riddled with injuries this year, usually these injury plagued teams see a huge step up in performance the following year.
14. LSU- Once again LSU is already seeing a mass exodus of players to the draft, with this happening it looks like LSU will be around 15th for most of the year again.
15. Washington- I'm a big believer in Petersen obviously, sure he's a new head coach this year but he inherits a very talented team, even though he must replace Price.
16. Wisconsin- the Wisconsin offense will be rolling again, especially with the surprise return of Melvin Gordon which is huge for the Badgers, only question is how will they replace the lost defensive starters?
17. Notre Dame- Notre Dame's defense took a big hit with some of their best players on that side declaring, offensive line will lose their best guy too, but they get Everett Golston back assuming all goes well academically, which is huge.
18. Duke- yes Duke, they aren't going to lose a lot of players from this team that just came off probably the most successful season in their football history. I'm surprised no one's ranking them, yes they're Duke but Cutcliffe is still the coach.
19. Kansas State- last season didn't look so good when they opened it up with a loss to a FCS school, turned out it was perhaps the best FCS team ever fielded that beat them, and Kansas State recovered to have a good year, now with a lot of starters back Snyder could work his magic again.
20. Missouri- they're coming off a very successful season in which they made the SEC championship and won the Cotton bowl, now we'll see how they build on it, Maty Mauk will replaces James Franklin just fine, but Henry Josey has declared for the draft and some offensive linemen are gone, 3 of their best defensive playmakers are gone too, those playmakers are going to be tough to replace, but Missouri should still be solid.
21. South Carolina- with the loss of Connor Shaw and a lot of good players on defense including Clowney of course, this seems to be one of the weaker South Carolina teams in a while, we'll see what Spurrier has in store.
22. Texas Tech- a lot of stock in the bowl performance in this one, but I think Texas Tech could have a nice breakthrough year.
23. Iowa- this team finally found some players on offense this past year and returned towards the upper part of the big 10, with a lot of starters back the momentum should continue.
24. USC- they ended the season very strong, there's a lot of talent in place, so they really could finish a lot higher than this.
25. Boise State- I can get my hopes up can't I?
just missed the cut.
Clemson- Boyd, Watkins, Bryant, and a lot of other great players all gone, this is a rebuilding year.
Texas- from the previous stop Strong made it looks like he'll need a year to get his system into place, so we'll see on this one.
Arizona- a lot of starters back from a team that had some promising performances last year, but Carey is a huge loss(based on the assumption he's leaving).
Pitt- I think Paul Chryst can have some success this year with a lot of starters back
Oklahoma State- A lot of talented players gone and Florida State in the opener could really set the season off on the wrong foot.
Marshall- They might end up being the best non power 5 team, lets just hope Boise State returns back to normal.
Utah State- they aren't going away, Keeton returning from injury will be huge.
Mississippi- A solid year should be in store for them, I think a breakthrough year will happen the year after.
Virginia Tech- Logan Thomas being gone could be a positive, he was talented but could never put it all together, yet Virginia Tech had to pretty much keep him in just in case he does.
BYU- they lose Van Noy, but do still bring a lot of guys back.
Texas A&M- Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans both being gone will downgrade the offense no matter what, Sumlin will at least decently replace them, hopefully the defense can't get much worse.
The "Are You Kidding Me?" List of teams that people are ranking in preseason polls that shouldn't be ranked.
Florida- they're actually showing up in preseason top 25s believe it or not, the team that went 4-8, got blown out by Vandy, lost to Georgia Southern, and couldn't stop from blocking guys on their own team. Not only that but the best players on the defensive side have all declared for the NFL draft.
North Carolina- Yes they pulled together and had a strong ending to the 2013 season, and they return a lot of starters, but they still finished the season with 6 losses, the wait and see approach should be used.
UCF- they had a strong year sure, but their two best players have declared for the draft already, from a team that was a few plays away from at least 5 losses.
Louisville- I haven't seen this one much at least, but we don't even know who's coaching them yet, plus they enter a new conference, teams that enter a new conference usually struggle their first year there.