Back to poll results >>

crimsonlaw Ballot for 2019 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 21, 2019, 1:53 p.m.

Rank Team Reason
1 Clemson Tigers As defending champs, they get all benefits of the doubt, especially after the way they dominated Alabama in the championship. They should dominate the ACC and likely won't face a real challenge until they reach the playoffs. This team if full of some bad dudes.
2 Alabama Crimson Tide The always talented Crimson Tide have never missed the playoffs. With Tua still at the helm, and with one of the nations best receiving corps, there's little reason to think they won't be in again this year. Only an implosion on defense could derail the Tide.
3 Georgia Bulldogs Kirby Smart has built an extremely dangerous team. They've come so close to grabbing their first title since 1980 in recent years. This could be the year they finally reach the mountaintop as they feature a dangerous RB corp and have a three-year starter, Jake Fromm, leading the offense.
4 Oklahoma Sooners Lincoln Riley's guided his team to the playoffs the last two seasons. Oh, and he's produced two Heisman winners during those two seasons. Could he go three for three in both playoffs and Heisman winners? I think there is an excellent chance for the playoff streak to continue, at least.
5 Michigan Wolverines Okay, Michigan has to get over the hump this year, right? It's been about 34 years since they last beat Ohio State (I'm not looking up the actual number, but it feels like most of my life). But they get a rebuildingish Ohio State at home. This has to be the year they get a conference championship... right?
6 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State is breaking in a new coach, a new QB, and trying to improve an underachieving defense from 2018. But they are still damn talented. Their season will likely be decided when they visit Ann Arbor on Nov 30 to defend their current winning streak against arch-rival Michigan.
7 LSU Tigers Ed Ogeron was once a laughing stock as a college football head coach. After leading LSU to a 10 win season in 2018, that's no longer the case. The road won't be easy with both Texas and Alabama on the schedule, but the Tigers always field a talented, nasty team.
8 Florida Gators The Gators may be scary good in 2019. Dan Mullen built SEC West contending teams at Mississippi State with two and three star players. Now he is building a program with four and five star players. Unfortunately, they have to face Georgia (as always), Miami, Auburn, and LSU this year, so it seems like at least one loss is inevitable this season.
9 Auburn Tigers There are few truths in the chaos that is college football, but we can always count on Auburn to rise up right after they disappoint. The world expected Auburn to be in the playoff conversation last year, which lead to a disappointing 8-5 season. So we are probably looking at a 10-2 or 11-1 Auburn squad this year, and probably one that trips up Alabama but loses to Ole Miss because that's part of their chaos formula.
10 Notre Dame Fighting Irish I'm not a huge believer in Notre Dame this year, but I think they will be in the playoff conversation merely because of there schedule. But for games against Michigan and Georgia, they should be favored in every game this season. That's not to say the Irish won't field a good team, but they will be overrated (and probably are overrated here). Such is Notre Dame.
11 Texas Longhorns Texas is difficult to rank. They should be better under Herman in his second year, but they lost so much on defense (only two returning starters) it makes one nervous. Texas still has plenty of talent to fill those openings, so the drop-off could/should be minimal, but expectations don't always match reality. If they can keep QB Sam Ehilnger healthy, the Longhorns should be playing for a conference championship.
12 Oregon Ducks Mario Cristobal has all the pieces in place to win the Pac-12 this year. Having QB Hebert return for his senior season was a major coup. Coupled with a very good o-line and a solid RB corps, the offense should the strength of the team. I don't know if this will be a Chip Kelly-good offense, but it should make the Ducks proud.
13 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State will field a nasty defense in 2019 and should be a tough match-up for any team they face. The offense won't be an anchor as sophomore QB Clifford has a huge arm that could stretch defenses and and keep running lanes open for their new running backs. Unfortunately, the schedule doesn't do the Nittany Lions any favor as they must travel to Ohio State, Michigan State, and Iowa.
14 Utah Utes Utah enters 2019 as the defending Pac-12 South champs and they will be gunning for the Pac-12 crown this season. The defense will be stout. Like seriously stout. One worry is they are replacing most of their special teams unit, which is always scary with how flaky kickers/punters can be.
15 Washington Huskies Washington and Oregon are neck-and-neck in the Pac-12 North. People smarter than me will note Washington has a very favorable schedule, with USC, Utah, Washington State, and Oregon all coming to Seattle. The Huskies boast a fantastic offensive line and a great defense. This will be a very good team that may be slightly underrated here and very well could win their division.
16 Nebraska Cornhuskers Nebraska may be one of the biggest surprises of 2019. They were amazingly bad at times last year and ended with a 4-8 record. But they went 4-2 over their last 6 games, which offers some hope. QB Adrian Martinez should develop nicely as a sophomore and, considering there is no dominate team in the division, may very well lead the Cornhuskers to to the Big Ten Championship game this year.
17 UCF Knights Okay, so I'm not a fan of this UCF team, but I also wasn't last year and they dominated their schedule yet again. Maybe they fall back to earth and go 8-4, but I putting them here purely because of how good they have been the last two seasons. Gotta respect what they have done. That being said, there are serious questions at QB and on defense as we enter the season, so another perfect season may be just out of reach.
18 Michigan State Spartans I know the Spartans haven't been world beaters recently, going just 20-18 over the last three seasons. But I'm going to put my faith in the defense to carry this team to a respectable season (8-4/9-3). Mark Dantonio could be coaching for this job this season, but I don't expect him to wilt under the pressure.
19 Wisconsin Badgers The Badgers will be big and strong and bully some teams. They will have a Heisman candidate in their backfield, Jonathan Taylor, who could rack up another 2,000 yard season. A big concern is they lost 4/5ths of their offensive line. Can their new line gel into a solid unit? They also have a ton of holes to plug on defense. Still, they will be a challenging opponent in the Big Ten and should put together a nice season.
20 Washington State Cougars Mike Leach also makes things weird. In a good way. Usually. Washington State had a great season last year, and I expect the Cougars will be scary to face all year long. True, they have to replace their QB, but Leach's system appears to be a plug-and-play system. Unfortunately, they have travel to Washington, Oregon, and Utah, and I'm not optimistic that their rushing defense has improved tremendously, so I'm betting they stumble a bit this season and fail to reach 10 wins again.
21 Syracuse Orange The Orange put up a bigger fight against Clemson than Alabama did, so they deserve to be ranked just out of that respect factor. Plus, you know, they had a 10 win season in 2018. Syracuse is actually a pretty solid team whose future depends on how well holes at LB and OL can be filed. As a bonus, they have one of the best kickers in the nation who can save them in a tight game. And they get Clemson at home this year.  Who wants to call the upset???
22 Texas A&M Aggies I don't like the outlook for this team. They are talented and will have a nice record, but I don't understand the borderline top-10 love they've been getting. Jimbo Fisher can recruit, but I don't think he is a great game-day coach. However, I'm primarily worried about their schedule. They face my top 3 teams plus Auburn and LSU. I'm guessing they suffer four losses in those five games. Let the overrated chants begin!
23 Stanford Cardinal Stanford is as consistent as a program can be, always producing 8 to 10 wins. The Cardinals will make some noise but likely won't compete for a division crown this year. The turnover on offense is likely too much to overcome. They will win the games they should win and lose the games they should lose. 
24 Miami Hurricanes Here's what I see happening for Miami. They don't perform well against the Gators in college football's opening weekend, so everyone gets down on them, only for the program to slowly climb the rankings the rest of the season. They get Virginia and Virginia Tech at home, their two main competitors for the Coastal division crown. Miami will field a good defense lead by a great LB corps. The big question is whether the offense can get into some sort of rhythm and capitalize on the opportunities the defense provides.
25 Iowa State Cyclones They don't have the talent yet to challenge for a conference title, but Iowa State is a good little team that is on the rise under Matt Campbell. They certainly lost some key talent to the NFL, but they return all five starters on the offensive line and the defense should be nasty again. They lead the Big 12 in rushing defense and scoring defense last year and should be just as tough this season.

Back to poll results >>