I’ve spent a lot of time going through these teams, their rosters, their quarterbacks and their schedules, and there are a few things about this Top 25 that I just don’t buy.
Ohio State at No. 1? I can live with it. Oregon at No. 2 and Georgia at No. 3? No major argument there either. Those are three teams with the talent and depth to legitimately compete for a national championship.
Notre Dame at No. 4 is where I start raising an eyebrow. I think Notre Dame is good. I’m just not convinced they’re the fourth-best football team in America.
Then we get to Texas at No. 5.
This is where preseason rankings can become as much about expectations and brand names as what we actually know. Texas has talent all over the roster, but I’m not ready to automatically put them ahead of everybody else because they’re Texas. They still have to prove it on the field.
Indiana at No. 6 is fascinating. A few years ago, if you had told somebody Indiana would be ranked sixth in the country in football, they would have asked what you were drinking. But that program has earned respect.
I like Miami at seven. I like Texas A&M at eight. Ole Miss at nine is certainly reasonable, and Oklahoma at ten tells you just how much respect people have for what they could become.
But now let’s get into the SEC.
LSU at 11.
Alabama at 13.
Tennessee at 20.
Missouri at 25.
And South Carolina isn’t ranked at all.
That’s the one I have a problem with.
The more I’ve studied South Carolina, the more I like this football team. They have two legitimate game-changing players in LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart, and Nick Harbor gives them another player with the physical ability to completely change a football game.
They attacked their problems through the portal. They addressed the offensive line. And if that offensive line is considerably better than it was a year ago, I think South Carolina is going to surprise some people.
I’ve already said I believe the Gamecocks can make their first appearance in the Top 25 after Week 3. I’ll go further than that: I think there is a legitimate path for this team to win nine games.
Does that mean they will?
No.
But if we’re putting Missouri at 25 and Tennessee at 20, I have a hard time telling you South Carolina doesn’t belong somewhere in this conversation.
Penn State at 18 also jumps off the page. That is a major drop for a program we’ve become accustomed to seeing around the Top 10. If they’re really the 18th-best team in the country, that’s a completely different conversation about where that program stands.
The other team I’m watching is Alabama at 13. When was the last time we looked at a preseason ranking and saw Alabama sitting there? The mystique isn’t what it was under Nick Saban. They’re still loaded with talent, but now Alabama has to prove they’re Alabama instead of everybody simply assuming it.
And that’s really what preseason rankings are.
They’re educated guesses.
Nobody has played a damn game yet.
There are probably five teams in this Top 25 that won’t be ranked by October, and there are probably five teams outside of it right now that will be.
And I’m betting South Carolina is going to be one of them.
