Preseason Rankings: Winners and Losers

Three weeks to go till college football season and the preseason Coaches’ poll has been released with some surprises inside. The poll goes:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Florida
4. Texas
5. Boise State
6. Virginia Tech
7. TCU
8. Oklahoma
9. Nebraska
10. Iowa
11. Oregon
12. Wisconsin
13. Miami (FL)
14. Penn State
15. Pittsburgh
16. LSU
17. Georgia Tech
18. North Carolina
19. Arkansas
20. Florida State
21. Georgia
22. Oregon State
23. Auburn
24. West Virginia*

24. Utah*

*= A tie in votes.

Surprises to me at least include Ohio State at two. Year after year Ohio State flops in bowl games outside of the Big Ten and nobody ever learns that they just aren’t that great. Another surprise is Virginia Tech, only because they just don’t seem like a sixth ranked team to me. Oklahoma at eight is insane to me because after a mediocre football year, for them to be eighth is crazy to me. Miami is also a little high at thirteen, but not crazy high. Florida State is also a little high at twenty even with a lot of returning players, they just are struggling as a program right now.

For the teams to be lower ranked now, I think starts with TCU. They’ve been playing great the past few years and I think they deserve top 5. Iowa should also be a bit higher, with Stanzi returning and a powerhouse offence. Georgia Tech seems like they should be higher as well. Oregon State I think will surprise people this year, so I think they should be lower and will end up lower for sure. Utah seems like they aren’t getting the recognition they deserve even though they are losing players, but I think that they will at least end up better at the end of the year.

I think the standings are a little off but overall they are pretty good. But that’s just my opinion. It’s a good starting point for the beginning of the year, but we’ll have to see how teams prove themselves over the course of the year.