Ballot Type: Hybrid

Submitted: Aug. 14, 2017, 11:45 p.m.

Overall Rationale: To come up with preseason rankings, I adjusted my computer's final rankings from last year using a formula based on Bill Connelly's returning production and two-year recruiting rankings, and head coach rankings from Athlon and Sporting News. That's pretty much all you have to go on in the preseason. You will notice a few teams on the list who reliably get preseason hype and pretty reliably disappoint. Maybe this year it will be different? Maybe not. On the other hand, there will be teams not on the list who will surprise and do more with less, and I look forward to finding out who they are. Since G5 teams just can't recruit or keep coaching talent at the level of the P5 schools, they will be underrepresented with this formula, but obviously someone will break into the top 25 at some point. Highest ranked G5 teams as of now are #46 USF and #56 Colorado St. #26-30 are SCAR, GT, Northwestern, Louisville, and Kentucky. Yes, Kentucky. You heard it here first. Why Kentucky? Why not?

• Ballot
• Analysis

Rank	Team	Reason
1	Alabama Crimson Tide
2	Clemson Tigers
3	Florida State Seminoles
4	USC Trojans
5	Penn State Nittany Lions
6	Washington Huskies
7	Oklahoma Sooners
8	Ohio State Buckeyes
9	Florida Gators
10	Stanford Cardinal
11	Auburn Tigers
12	Michigan Wolverines
13	Miami Hurricanes
14	LSU Tigers
15	Georgia Bulldogs
16	Wisconsin Badgers
17	Oklahoma State Cowboys
18	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
19	Tennessee Volunteers
20	Oregon Ducks
21	Virginia Tech Hokies
22	Texas Longhorns
23	Texas A&M Aggies
24	TCU Horned Frogs
25	Mississippi State Bulldogs

Teams Ranked:

Rank	Team	Unusualness
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	0.00
2	Clemson Tigers	0.42
3	Florida State Seminoles	0.00
4	USC Trojans	0.00
5	Penn State Nittany Lions	0.15
6	Washington Huskies	0.00
7	Oklahoma Sooners	0.00
8	Ohio State Buckeyes	-1.32
9	Florida Gators	1.20
10	Stanford Cardinal	0.31
11	Auburn Tigers	0.00
12	Michigan Wolverines	0.00
13	Miami Hurricanes	0.66
14	LSU Tigers	0.00
15	Georgia Bulldogs	0.00
16	Wisconsin Badgers	-0.90
17	Oklahoma State Cowboys	-0.81
18	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	6.44
19	Tennessee Volunteers	1.40
20	Oregon Ducks	3.00
21	Virginia Tech Hokies	0.00
22	Texas Longhorns	0.12
23	Texas A&M Aggies	0.41
24	TCU Horned Frogs	0.00
25	Mississippi State Bulldogs	0.13

Omissions:

Team	Unusualness
Louisville Cardinals	1.77
Kansas State Wildcats	0.54
USF Bulls	0.45
West Virginia Mountaineers	0.47
Utah Utes	0.03
Washington State Cougars	0.07

Total Score: 20.59