It’s a new year but the story remains familiar…
The initial release of the Coaches’ Poll features a perennial power led by possibly the greatest college football coach of all time, Nick Saban. At the top of the totem poll, the Alabama Crimson Tide garnered 63-of-65 first place votes. Despite losing a ton of talent, the program is the reigning National Champions and deserves the No. 1 spot until proven otherwise.
Where it gets interesting is behind the Crimson Tide as the No. 2 Clemson Tigers failed to earn a first place vote. After starting the previous two season as the top dog, the program lost Trevor Lawrence under center and will be forced to replace the prolific quarterback. Nevertheless, the Tigers continue to recruit well and possess a highly talented youngster who has already been named the starter in D.J. Uiagalelei.
Instead of assigning the first place votes to the number two team in the country, the coaches allotted them to the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners! Behind the only returning starting QB of the three teams mentioned here, Spencer Rattler is poised for a big statistical season and a run into the College Football Playoff. Despite the off-season news dooming the Big XII, the team still has it’s sights set on a National Championship.
Rounding out the top five are the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Georgia Bulldogs. The rest of the rankings are as follows:
- Alabama (63)
- Clemson
- Oklahoma (2)
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Texas A&M
- Notre Dame
- Iowa State
- North Carolina
- Cincinnati
- Florida
- Oregon
- LSU
- USC
- Wisconsin
- Miami (FL)
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Texas
- Penn State
- Washington
- Oklahoma State
- Louisiana
- Coastal Carolina
- Ole Miss
Of the ten teams that currently reside in the Big XII (for now), four of them are ranked which speaks to the perception of each program. Clearly these are desirable targets for other conference looking to poach schools from a league entering limp mode. Nevertheless, the year is setting up to be intriguing as college football is just around the corner.
Where do you disagree with the coaches?