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Alabama grabs top spot in ESPN’s ‘Way-Too-Early Top 25’ version 2.0
By Nick Cole
Published:
ESPN is hitting us with a college football rankings overload in early February.
The “worldwide leader” released its preseason Fantasy Power Index on Tuesday morning, which featured nine SEC programs in the Top 25 and all 14 conference teams ranked with the top half of the 128 teams in the FBS.
ESPN also released the second version of its “Way-Too-Early Top 25” on Tuesday.
While the number of SEC teams featured dropped from nine in the FPI to six in the ranking put together by ESPN senior writer Mark Schlabach, these rankings are probably a little closer to the prevailing public opinion at this point in the year.
Here’s a look at the Top 25, though you’ll want to visit Schlabach’s article for the reasoning behind the picks:
- Alabama
- Florida State
- Michigan
- Baylor
- Clemson
- LSU
- Oklahoma
- Stanford
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
- Houston
- Tennessee
- Ole Miss
- Michigan State
- TCU
- USC
- Iowa
- North Carolina
- Georgia
- Oregon
- UCLA
- Oklahoma State
- Washington
- Florida
- Boise State
The initial version of this poll did not feature Alabama at the top, so it is nice to see that ESPN has come to its senses in that regard.
As the defending national champions and the only team to have participated in both versions of the College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide deserves the top spot until someone takes it away from them.
LSU continues to get plenty of love for the return of RB Leonard Fournette and several key contributors to last year’s team.
Tennessee and Ole Miss are trendy picks to continue to build upon the momentum of strong finishes to the 2015 season and solid recruiting classes.
Nick Cole is a former print journalist with several years of experience covering the SEC. Born and raised in SEC country, he has taken in the game-day experience at all 14 stadiums.
