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woakley Ballot for 2021 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 24, 2021, 10:44 a.m.

Overall Rationale: There's only so much you can base a preaseason poll off. My methodology for this poll is to look at prior year results as well as returning starters and recruiting rankings in order to project my top 25. This will change quite a bit once we have results. 

Rank Team Reason
1 Alabama Crimson Tide It's Bama. Defending National Champs, top recruiting class, no reason to not be #1. 
2 Clemson Tigers Argument could be made for either Clemson or Ohio State here. They both lost key pieces at QB, but we know a little bit more about the QB stepping in at Clemson as he's already had to step into some big spots, and Clemson competes in the easier conference. Clemson also returns more starters overall
3 Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State may have lost Justin Fields, but their coaching and recruiting still lands them up here. I expect them to be playoff contenders once again.
4 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma's season was really derailed by two close early season losses last year one to Iowa State (okay) and one to Kansas State (not okay). Oklahoma was able to avenge their loss to Iowa State, and they were in control for the rest of the season. Another top 10 recruiting class and one of the best returning QB's in the country lands Oklahoma up here. 
5 Texas A&M Aggies Only 1 loss last year, which was a thumping by Alabama. But the Aggies return most of their starters, have another top 10 recruiting class, and have an experienced coach. 
6 Georgia Bulldogs Losses last year were only to Bama and Florida. They return their starting QB and add a top 10 recruiting class
7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Some people think that ND is almost always overrated, but they are consistently top contenders, and they once again bring in a top recruiting class. Question mark at the QB position, where they lose an experienced player, but Brian Kelly has shown that he can keep this team competitive. 
8 Iowa State Cyclones Iowa State has strong coaching, and returns more starters than most teams in college football. Their recruiting isn't as strong as others, but this is an experienced team that could make noise. 
9 Cincinnati Bearcats Cincinnati returns their QB and most importantly returns Luke Fickell. Their recruiting isn't as strong as anyone up on this list, and they have to contend with an AAC that grows in strength every year, but this team has shown that they are up to the challenge. 
10 Oregon Ducks I'll admit that i'm a little skeptical of Oregon. They had a number of uncharacteristic losses last year, and they have a number of starters to replace. I'm ultimately not sure if Oregon lives up to a top 10 level of play, but with their recent recruiting success and one of the most disruptive defensive players in the country, i'm banking on them hitting their stride.
11 Florida Gators UF was a shoe throw and a close Alabama game away from a playoff spot last year. Yes, they lose Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts, Toney and a number of other starters, but I think that Emory Jones may actually be a better fit for what Mullen wants on offense, and UF has a pretty strong recruiting record. Dan Mullen has also shown that he can succeed with less in the SEC. Their success will depend on depth from last year being able to step up.
12 Wisconsin Badgers Three tough losses last year, all to ranked opponents. They return their QB, recruit well, and have shown that they can be competitive year over year. 
13 North Carolina Tar Heels This team returns a strong QB and has recruited well in recent years. They lose their top running back, but Mack Brown has completely turned this program around
14 Indiana Hoosiers Indiana has grown a lot over the past few years. Their only regular season loss last year was a close game to Ohio state, and they return a good QB. 
15 LSU Tigers LSU was a disappointment last year, there's not much denying that. It wasn't surprising that they took a step back considering all the pieces they lost on the coaching staff and the field, but as a result LSU fielded a younger team last year that they return a large number of. The greater experience along with strong recruiting should put them back in the mix.
16 USC Trojans I can't say that I have a ton of faith in Clay Helton, but USC played well last year, and seemingly always have talent. The question will be can they put it together, but if they keep their form from the prior year they should have a strong year.
17 Miami Hurricanes Miami returns possibly the best playmaker in college football. Can they put it all together and win the big games? They haven't been able to do that in recent years. If they can they'll end up even higher than this.
18 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers It's hard for G5 schools to stay competitive year after year, but this team returns most of their starters, along with their QB, and has shown an ability to be successful at a high level. I would expect them to run through their conference once again, the question is can they compete on a higher level.
19 BYU Cougars BYU's only loss last year was Costal Carolina. They lost a lot of starters including a top 10 pick at QB, but this was a very good team last year. They've been able to compete with less talent in the past, we'll have to see if they can replace the talent they've lost. 
20 Liberty Flames I can't say that i'm the biggest fan of Liberty or of Hugh Freeze, but this was a very good team that returns almost everyone from last year. They deserve some respect until we are shown otherwise.
21 Texas Longhorns Is Texas back? They seemingly have the talent to be, it remains to be seen if they actually can compete again. They were better last year, if they can continue to improve them might get to the level that they expect to be at
22 Iowa Hawkeyes Iowa got stronger as the year went on. They return their QB, but they do need to replace a number of starters
23 Utah Utes Utah returns most of their starters. They had mixed results last year, but it's so hard to draw conclusions from 5 games played. I would expect them to be better than they were last year.
24 Northwestern Wildcats Northwestern lost most of their starters from last year, and they aren't a strong recruiting team traditionally, but i'm done counting this Northwestern team out. This was the number 10 team at the end of the year, and they've finished 4 of the last 6 seasons ranked. This is a legit team and Pat Fitzgerald has shown time and time again that he can get the most out of the recruits he gets. 
25 UCF Knights This is probably my biggest projection out of the whole top 25. There's no denying that UCF has taken steps back in both 2020 and 2019. I was not a fan of Josh Heupel, and I know that Gus Malzahn has his problems as well, but I think Malzahn is an upgrade. This is a team that has talent, has been aggressive in the transfer portal, and has one of the better QB's in college football (in my opinion). I think they'll come back into the national spotlight this year, even with the AAC growing more competitive every year. 

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