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kamiller2020 Ballot for 2023 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 22, 2023, 3:38 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Another of CFB is upon us, and this year I have in depthish previews for the top 10 teams all of who I think could raise the CFP trophy(we really need to bring back the crystal ball. Georgia is on a tier of their own, then 2-5, then 6-10. 11-17 are firm top 20 teams, than 18-21 are firm top 25ish team. After that it's personal preference to round out the top 25. I do like Texas A&M and Miami, I just want to see them play a few games before ranking them. Oklahoma I'm not as high on but I can see arguments to be made for their inclusion.

Rank Team Reason
1 Georgia Bulldogs This roster is STACKED. Beck will be fine and has shown decent stuff from his limited game tape. The WR core should be good with Dominic Lovett and RaRa Thomas being great weapons to complement Ladd McConkey and Brock Bowers. The running game is a question mark, but the offensive line is so strong that no matter the RB with the ball the Dawgs should find success. Defensively they should be even better than last year. This is the best secondary Kirby has ever had and with talent up front and a strong linebacker core it's hard to see anybody but Georgia having the best defense in the country. This is a national championship-type roster and the only thing preventing a threepeat would be a weak running game or bad luck.
2 Michigan Wolverines While Michigan isn't personally my pick to win the Big 10, as of right now this is the most complete roster outside of Athens. J.J. hasn't shown anything to be seen as a top NFL draft pick, but as a college QB, he's been very solid and looks to elevate himself into the next tier of QBs this season. They have the best running back duo in the country with Donovan Edwards and Blake Corum which will take the heat off the wide receivers until that unit gets up to speed. Two starters return on the offensive line from last year's Joe Moore award-winning unit, and the players they got from the transfer portal should have them competing for the best line once again. Defensively they're elite in the front 7 and they'll be one of the toughest teams in CFB to run the ball against. Three safeties return as does the star corner Will Johnson, but depth at CB is a major concern and will need to improve if they want to win a national title. Michigan's regular season is defined by 2 games, go 1-1 and there's a solid shot at a third straight playoff appearance.
3 Ohio State Buckeyes I'm interested to see how Hartline and Key handle the offense the first 3 weeks before putting them at #2 over Michigan. Hartline is expected to take over playcalling duties this season and will have a new QB to work with. Whether Brown or McCord wins the job, they'll be throwing to the best WR core in CFB headlined by future top 5 draft pick Marvin Harrison Jr. Emeke Egbuka is a 1st rounder in 2024 along with veteran Julian Fleming; the freshman Carnell Tate is drawing rave reviews from Columbus but expect Jayden Ballard and Xavier Johnson to also play quality reps at least early on. TreVeyon Henderson when healthy is an elite RB along with Miyan Williams will be one of the top RB duos in CFB. However, tackle is a massive question mark and while good things have been said about Josh Simmons he's still unknown. Defensively, the Buckeyes have missed the dynamic EDGE talent they had pre-COVID and are hoping Jack Sawyer and/or JT Tuimoloau become certified top 10 NFL draft talents this season. Tommy Eichenberg returns and is healthy, which is huge for OSU's linebacker room and while there is a ton of experience in the Buckeye secondary they're looking for one or two guys to become standouts. This is a roster with title potential however things need to mesh on the defensive side and the OLine needs to perform in order to get there, especially with road dates to South Bend and Arbor plus a sneakily tough month of October.
4 LSU Tigers Jayden Daniels showed the promise he had as a freshman starter at Arizona State to full use last year and with a full year in Baton Rouge under his belt, expect big things from the senior QB this year. Malik Nabors is poised for a big year in 2024 along with stud TE Mason Taylor but the Tigers are going to need more out of the rest of their skill positions this year. Brian Thomas returns, but expect a lot of Aaron Anderson or Jalen Brown if they start the year strong. The offensive line returns in full which is huge and should carry a pretty mediocre group of RBs. Harold Perkins was dynamite all season long, Mekhi Wingo was an all-American last year, and Mason Smith is back from injury giving LSU major star power up front. The LBs should be solid, but it's the secondary where questions arise. The reports from the camp have been great about guys like Duce Chester and Zy Alexander but everything is speculation until week 1. LSU is missing depth that would make it an easy title front-runner, but if some young guys step up next year they have more top-end talent than anybody CFB and could make a strong run at Houston this year. However, the FSU game looms large in week 1 and is a must-win if they want a real shot at the CFP.
5 Alabama Crimson Tide Jalen Milroe vs Ty Simpson is NOT a sexy QB battle by any stretch of the imagination, but the hope is one of these guys will emerge to be a lot better than people outside Tuscaloosa are expecting. Simpson is a 5-star who has basically never played, while Jalen Milore did play last year and looked...inconsistent. The worries don't stop there as outside Ja'Corey Brooks the wide receiver room massively underperformed. Nothing from camp has indicated that the situation has gotten better so expect a lot of the offense to fall onto Jase McClellan and the running back room. OLine wasn't great last year but they do return two starters, the big one being J.C. Latham. However, the defense is going to be really dominant this year under Kevin Steele. Dallas Turner isn't Will Anderson, but that's about as good of a replacement as you could find. There are 2 other defensive starters returning up front, and while LB doesn't have a returning starter the talent in that room should shine this season. Kool-Aid McKinstry showed some really good things and you'd expect to see even more development this season along with freshman Caleb Downs playing immediately in week 1. The rest of the defense is young but this side of the ball is where the Tide have the most upside next year. If the offense can get up to speed then Alabama will be back in the playoffs next season and contend for the title next year. If the offense struggles then the Texas schools could knock Bama out of the playoffs real early.
6 USC Trojans Returning the Heisman trophy winner is always a major plus, and Caleb Williams is as dynamic as any player USC has ever had not named Reggie Bush. Especially when the WR room should be even better than it was last year, with Dorian Singer replacing a banged-up Jordan Addison and Zachriah Branch drawing rave reviews from camp. They also return 3 starters at WR, all of who should play in the NFL in some capacity. Losing Travis Dye is tough but MarShawn Lloyd should hopefully replace some of his toughness and talent. You also have Raleek Brown in the backfield as well, which should help the offensive line mesh as they only return two starters. The defense was a nightmare last year, but I'm one of the few people on earth who believe in Alex Grinch. And mostly I believe in the shit ton of transfers they brought in on defense. Bear Alexander is the headliner, but Jahlil Muhammad and Solomon Byrd are just a few of the players USC is going to use this year up front that hopefully should give them a presence in the middle. The big thing though was Mason Cobb transferring in from Oklahoma State, which should be a major improvement as the USC linebackers couldn't tackle to save a life. That LB core needs to make major strides in order for the Trojans to succeed, as does the secondary though they return 3 starters. If USC's defense is even below average this is could be a playoff team. If the defense is good than USC becomes the favorite to hoist up the trophy in Houston.
7 Penn State Nittany Lions Drew Allar is the key to a national championship, if he lives up to the hype then in 2023 and 2024 Penn State will have a real shot at winning the whole thing. They'll lean heavily on Nicholas Singleton to lead them this year, with Kaytron Allen playing a strong complementary role. I'm personally high on Dante Cephas from Kent State, KeAndre Lambert-Smith is a strong deep threat. The entire offensive line returns including future first-round pick Olu Fashnu which will be high for Allar's development. And don't sleep on Theo Johnson either. Abdul Carter is garnering Micah Parsons comparisons from Penn State people, which should be scary for everybody else in the country. Penn State returns two strong DE's and one of the deeper young linebacking cores in the country. Losing Joey Porter Jr. will be tough, but Kalen King is one of the best corners in CFB and they really like what they have in the secondary. The question on Penn State's defense is depth, specifically against matching up with Ohio State's and Michigan's offenses. This team should win 9 games easily, but if things break right Penn State has the ability to win the Big Ten and contend for a national title a year earlier than people expect.
8 Florida State Seminoles Jordan Travis returns and is a darkhorse Heisman contender after a strong 2023, which is huge given how many other top contenders have question marks at QB this year. Trey Benson returns as one of the ACC's best running backs, and Jaheim Bell transfers in from South Carolina at TE to give FSU another weapon. The big news however was the transfer of Keon Coleman from Michigan State who along with Johnny Wilson is the best receiving group in the ACC. 3 starters return up front along with multiple P5 transfers which should make a solid front 5. Bringing back Jared Verse is major, and alongside Patrick Payton, they might actually have a better pass rush than Clemson this season. They bring back every single starting linebacker and 3 starters from the secondary. Florida State also brought in several transfers on the defensive side of the ball as well, and the goal should be being a top 10 all-around defensive unit in CFB. The Seminoles are a veteran-heavy roster that would make for an old-time title favorite, but they lack the top recruits modern title teams have had. However, with only 2 losable games on the schedule and more experience than anybody in CFB, FSU should be thinking about bucking the blue-chip ratio and competing for a national title.
9 Texas Longhorns Admittedly, I wanted to put Texas at #3 because I'm fully in the "Texas is back" camp this year. And that starts with Quinn Ewers, who while not perfect showed enough flashes to make me believe that there's a lot of good football ahead of him. Losing Bijan is massive along with Roschon Johnson, but Texas is going to have an arsenal of guys to imploy an RBBC until somebody emerges out of that room. The WR room is loaded with Xavier Worthy returning, Isiah Neyor coming back from an injury, Jordan Whittington, and transfer AD Mitchell from Georgia. Plus first team Big 12 TE in Ja'Tavyion Sanders gives the Longhorns no excuse to not have an elite passing game. Plus every single offensive line starter returns from a very impressive unit last year, headlined by 2025 1st-round pick Kelvin Banks Jr. The defense is solid. 3 huge pieces of last year's defensive line return which should be in the top of the Big 12 in disruption once again, along with a solid LB group. Jalen Catalon could be a massive pickup if he returns to 2021 form but the secondary needs to show a bit more in order to restore faith. Texas sneakily had a pretty good year on the defense and could be a top-25 unit this season if things break right. At their peak this team can win the national title, but they have to perform better in close games if they want to truly contend for anything. You're not going to blow out everybody, especially with their schedule, and 2-5 in one-score games is not going to cut it.
10 Clemson Tigers Klubnik has talent, it's whether the rest of the passing game has talent as well. Cade wasn't perfect but he does look like a guy who could put up big numbers if the guys around him step up. However outside Antonio Williams, Will Shipley, and Jake Bringstool that is a massive question. The WR room for Clemson has not been drawing rave reviews from camp which is a huge concern given the Tigers have had this issue for the past 3 seasons and it's really hampered their offense. Will Shipley will be a potential All-American once again but it'd be nice if somebody young in the WR room like Cole Turner stepped up and gave Clemson some versatility at wideout. The offensive line returns 4 starters which should be a huge help for Cade. Defensively, they'll be great The question is whether this is a top 20 defense or a top 3 defense. Xavier Thomas returns for another season along with two other defensive line starters but the loss of two 1st round picks on the DLine is a huge hole they don't have a obvious fill for. Clemson does have the best linebacking duo with Jermeiah Trotter Jr. and Barrett Carter both being future NFL starters. While Clemson's secondary was disappointing last season, they bring back 4 starters who hopefully will improve next season. Clemson has national title potential, but they're going to need to make some major strides in the passing offense and defense if they want to return to the playoffs in 2023.
11 Oregon Ducks
12 Washington Huskies
13 Utah Utes
14 Tennessee Volunteers
15 Kansas State Wildcats
16 Wisconsin Badgers
17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
18 UCLA Bruins
19 Oregon State Beavers
20 Duke Blue Devils
21 Tulane Green Wave
22 Ole Miss Rebels
23 North Carolina Tar Heels
24 Iowa Hawkeyes
25 Texas Tech Red Raiders

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