Editor’s note: Saturday Down South’s annual Top 25 preview week continues with Matt Hayes tackling the 25 biggest topics about the 2023 season.

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We’ve had enough of the offseason sideshow. Another round of conference realignment, another Georgia speeding ticket.

Another complaint from Nick Saban, another NCAA violation from Jim Harbaugh.

It’s time to take the sport where it needs to be, and answer the top 25 questions for the 2023 college football season.

25. Will the SEC and Big Ten dominate the final season of the 4-team Playoff?

We’ve been close the past 2 seasons. This time, there will be no doubt: 2 teams from the SEC, 2 teams from the Big Ten.

The only question is which 4 teams? Georgia, Alabama, LSU and Tennessee are built for championship runs. So are Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State.

Alabama and Tennessee each play 2 of the 3 championship-ready SEC teams, and Georgia and LSU play 1. The 3 Big Ten teams play one another.

With 1 season remaining in the 4-team format, the pressure to avoid an SEC vs. Big Ten Playoff won’t be as demanding on the Playoff selection committee. And if you still don’t think those dynamics come into play during weekly voting, you don’t understand the human condition.

After the realignment events of this offseason, “fairness” — however you want to see it or define it — is long gone.

24. Can Tulane go unbeaten and earn a Playoff spot?

The easy answer is no. But if a whole lot of crazy happens — and when does it not in this perfectly imperfect sport? — Tulane has a cakewalk schedule with 1 key Power 5 game: Week 2 against Ole Miss in New Orleans.

The schedule, because of American Conference defections to the Big 12, is horrific. Even with an unbeaten season — and despite the win over USC in the 2022 Cotton Bowl to back up 2023 — it will take an unthinkable amount of chaos for Tulane to make the Playoff.

23. Can Jimbo Fisher and Bobby Petrino coexist — and succeed at Texas A&M?

Petrino, the infamous control freak, is already saying all the right things about Fisher, the infamous control freak.

“It’s a collective effort,” Petrino told reporters Sunday when asked who would call plays, and the offseason of avoiding a simple answer for Fisher and Petrino continued. “I’ve been calling the plays in practice. A lot of times, the calls are made throughout the week.”

Yeah, that sounds healthy.

Let me fast forward to Week 2 in Miami Gardens, and a rare sellout at Hard Rock Stadium. Let’s just say — you know, for hits and giggles — the Texas A&M offense gets bogged down in the 2nd half and Miami gets a signature win for coach Mario Cristobal.

Then the inevitable happens in the postgame press conference: Who was calling plays when the offense was spinning its wheels?

If it doesn’t happen there, it can happen a month later against Alabama. Or against Tennessee. Or Ole Miss … or, you get it.

Then we’ll get anonymous sources explaining who’s really calling plays, and that, too, sounds healthy. Especially considering Texas A&M has the talent to beat any team on its schedule.

22. Will Sam Hartman be the best Notre Dame quarterback in the past 2 decades?

Woah, woah, wait a second. We’re getting way ahead of ourselves here.

Hartman was a record-setting player at Wake Forest, perfectly situated in an offense (the slow mesh) set up for his skills (manipulating defenses with his eyes, and throwing deep balls).

Hartman threw 110 TD passes in 4 seasons at Wake Forest, but that’s a long way from a new system, new QB coach and play-caller, new teammates and leadership, and a new cast around him. Get it?

Also, the best ND quarterback? Let’s not forget what Ian Book did at Notre Dame: 72 career TD passes, and 2 Playoff appearances. If Hartman comes close to Book’s best season (34 TDs, 6 INTs in 2019), it still may not be enough to lead the Irish to the Playoff.

Because Notre Dame didn’t advance to the Playoff in Book’s best season.

21. Who are the top 5 transfers for the 2023 season?

1. QB Shedeur Sanders, Colorado: Alabama coach Nick Saban wanted Sanders when he was a 4-star high school recruit. Now the former Jackson State star is part of the complete overhaul at Colorado with his dad, coach Deion Sanders.

2. WR Devontez Walker, North Carolina: A scary combination: the best wide receiver in the portal (Walker, 11 TDs, 15.9 ypc., at Kent State in 2022) and superstar Tar Heels QB Drake Maye.

3. CB Zy Alexander, LSU: He’s not the thickest corner, but he’s tall (6-3, 185), long and has elite cover skills. Alexander had 3 INTs in 2022 at Southeastern Louisiana, and returned 2 for touchdowns.

4. C Matt Lee, Miami: Canes coach Mario Cristobal wants tough, nasty offensive linemen who play with attitude. Lee was the best center in the game in 2022 at UCF and has changed the culture in the offensive line room at Miami.

5. WR Keon Coleman, Florida State: The late steal of the transfer portal. Coleman wanted to play at FSU as a high school senior but chose Michigan State because he believed coach Mel Tucker would prepare him for the NFL. He’s NFL-ready now, but wants 1 more season in college to play for the Noles.

20. Who are the top 5 NFL Draft eligible prospects for the 2023 season?

1. QB Caleb Williams, USC

2. QB Drake Maye, North Carolina

3. Edge Jared Verse, Florida State

4. OT Olu Fashanu, Penn State

5. Edge Bralen Trice, Washington

19. Who are the top 5 coaches on the hot seat?

1. Neal Brown, West Virginia: Until 2021-22, WVU hadn’t had consecutive losing seasons since 1978-79. The $16 million buyout looms, but it’s not dealbreaker considering the changing face (for the better) of the Big 12 in 2024.

2. Dino Babers, Syracuse: He almost had it saved last season with a 6-0 start — before it tanked with 1-6 finish. That was Babers’ 1st winning season since 2018. Offense is Babers’ specialty, and the Orange have been pedestrian for most of his 7 seasons.

3. Tom Allen, Indiana: You can live only so long on the feel-good 2020 season, and 2 winning seasons in 6 years. A winning season (7 wins) could be enough to save his job. IU doesn’t want to pay a $20 million buyout if Hoosiers struggle again.

4. Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri: The Board of Curators curiously extended Drinkwitz in November of 2022, despite his 17-19 career record. He’s a perfect fit for the program, but Missouri may not have another option but to part ways if the Tigers can’t put together a winning season.

5. Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: If any program is willing to stroke a goodbye check for $80 million, it might just be the deep pocket boosters at Texas A&M. Nobody wants it, but with Texas surging and entering the SEC in 2024, the Aggies can’t slog through another average season without taking a long look at a new vision.

18. Does the Pac-12 go out with a bang … or a thud?

There are 4 legitimate Pac-12 championship contenders: USC, Washington, Oregon and 2-time defending champion Utah. But Playoff contenders?

Maybe USC and Washington. A big maybe.

The Trojans may be able to sustain a loss, and win the Pac-12 with a few high-profile victories (at Notre Dame, Washington, at Oregon).

Washington could do the same (Oregon, at USC, Utah) but needs to win at Michigan State and hope the Spartans play like 2021 — not 2022.

There’s a lot to like (and watch) in what could be the final year of the conference, including the rising Arizona schools with offensive-minded coaches Jedd Fisch (Arizona) and Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State), and realignment losers Oregon State and Washington State with teams good enough to beat anyone in the league.

17. Can Clemson QB Cade Klubnik become elite under new Clemson OC Garrett Riley?

This would assume that Klubnik — heralded as the latest “generational” quarterback at Clemson after Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence — didn’t already show elite tape.

He was an elite quarterback in the ACC Championship Game, but not so much in an Orange Bowl loss to Tennessee. Then again, the entire Clemson team didn’t play well.

Riley will do for Klubnik what he did in 2022 for TCU QB Max Duggan — who went from serviceable with flashes of potential, to an elite Heisman Trophy candidate under Riley and his quarterback-friendly offense.

Think USC (and former Oklahoma) coach Lincoln Riley (Garrett’s brother) and his development of Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts and Caleb Williams. The offense stresses defenses while highlighting a quarterback’s strengths.

Garrett Riley has been an OC/QB coach and play-caller for 3 seasons — 2 at SMU and 1 at TCU. In those 3 seasons, his quarterbacks (Shane Buechele and Tanner Mordecai at SMU, and Duggan) had 107 total TDs (13 rush) and 26 INTs.

On that average, Klubnik will be somewhere around 36 TDs and 9 INTs.

16. Florida State: Playoff contender or pretender?

Contender — and only because there’s too much talent to not be.

Because if we’re looking at what FSU has done on the field, those 10 wins from 2022 are deceptive. The best win was against LSU in Week 1, when the Tigers were but a fraction of what they would become — and missed an extra point on the last play of regulation to lose the game.

Other than that, there was a(nother) loss to Wake Forest, a loss to NC State without its starting quarterback for the 2nd half, and another loss to Clemson — which even at its lowest of lows under Dabo Swinney can still beat FSU.

But the Noles added Coleman, and the best cornerback from the transfer portal (Fentrell Cypress), 2 starters on the offensive line, 2 impact starters on the defensive line (Braden Fiske, Gilber Edmond) and another weapon for dangerous QB Jordan Travis (TE/Flex Jaheim Bell).

If Travis takes another step in his development and is more accurate as a thrower, FSU will reach the Playoff.

15. Can Matt Rhule’s turnaround template at Temple and Baylor stick at Nebraska?

It can, and for 1 reason only: recruiting. He got players at Temple and Baylor, and the recruiting classes had a Jimmy Johnson feel to them.

When Johnson arrived at Miami in the 1980s, he told his staff to recruit the fastest players. Period. They’ll find a spot for them, or grow them into another spot.

Safeties became linebackers, linebackers became defensive linemen, defensive linemen became offensive linemen. There was speed all over the field.

That’s Rhule’s recruiting philosophy, but it doesn’t immediately connect. Because unlike Johnson, Rhule isn’t recruiting in the middle of the most fertile area in college football.

It’s going to take time, and it begins with the No. 25-ranked class in 2023, according to the 247Sports composite, and the growing class for 2024 (currently ranked No. 21).

14. Tennessee and coach Josh Heupel? A gimmick — or the next big thing in the SEC?

Just look at the numbers. In 5 years as a head coach, Heupel’s teams are 46-16, including 18-8 in the SEC — despite inheriting a mess at Tennessee.

His quarterbacks in those 5 seasons have combined to throw 168 TD passes against just 25 INTs. More impressive: In 2 seasons against the best defenses in college football in the SEC, Heupel’s quarterbacks have thrown all of 6 INTs.

Six.

And 71 TDs passes.

Anyone who thinks this is a gimmick — after the Vols’ 11-win season in 2022 — isn’t watching what has been playing out everywhere Heuepel has led an offense. From Oklahoma, to Missouri, to UCF to Tennessee, his offenses are rare and cutting edge. So are his teams.

13. Can Chris Klieman do at K-State what he did at North Dakota State?

No, and yes. K-State won’t win multiple national titles like Klieman did at North Dakota State.

But the Wildcats could win multiple Big 12 titles and advance to multiple Playoffs. He’s that good of a coach, and his players deeply believe in his system and his style.

But for the 4-win hiccup in the COVID season of 2020, Klieman’s K-State teams have been steadily climbing — 8 wins in 2019 and 2021, and last year’s Big 12 championship. They’re not going to recruit at an elite level, but they’ll develop players as well or better than any other program.

12. Who are the sleeper teams for each Power 5 conference?

SEC: Ole Miss. Another surge of impact players from the portal and a Year 2 jump for QB Jaxson Dart under QB coach guru Lane Kiffin.

Big Ten: Minnesota. The Gophers have finished 4th and 6th the past 2 seasons in total defense. Now they have a quarterback in talented sophomore Athan Kaliakmanis.

ACC: NC State. DC Tony Gibson’s defense gets better every season. Former Virginia QB Brennan Armstrong reunites with his OC from 2021 Robert Anae, when Armstrong had 40 total TDs (9 rush).

Pac-12: Oregon State. Beavers won 10 games in 2022 and lost by 3 points to USC and Washington.

Big 12: UCF. Playoff access has officially arrived for UCF. How far can they go with QB John Rhys Plumlee and a group of talented receivers?

11. Can QB Drew Allar do what Trace McSorley and Sean Clifford couldn’t and finally get Penn State to the Playoff?

But for the Playoff selection committee choosing Ohio State over a team it lost to, and a team that won the Big Ten, McSorley would’ve had the Lions in the Playoff in 2016.

The more apt comparison is Clifford, who was the ultimate try-hard guy. Allar, everyone, is not a try-hard guy.

Allar is closer to former Penn State mega recruit Christian Hackenberg — but with a much more complete supporting cast around him. Frankly, Penn State is loaded and has zero questions — other than the most important position on the field.

Allar is uber-talented, but the unknown is how he’ll respond to adversity in Big Ten games. If he protects the ball, and doesn’t try to force too much, Penn State shouldn’t be pressed until the Ohio State and Michigan games.

At that point, we’ll see the difference between Allar and Clifford.

10. Is this Brian Kelly’s best chance to win a national title at LSU?

It’s tempting to say the uncertainty with the Alabama QB position, and with Georgia’s new quarterback and new offensive coordinator, that LSU may be the safest pick to win the SEC.

This may be the first time under Kelly that LSU has an opportunity to win the SEC and maybe the national title. It most certainly won’t be the last.

There’s too much to like about Kelly’s coaching style and his ability to recruit at a high level — both high school and transfer portal. He has reshaped the roster in 2 seasons and has a team primed for a huge season.

He has turned it quicker than anyone could have imagined, especially considering LSU had less than 40 scholarship players dressed for its last game prior to Kelly.

An elite coaching career (Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Notre Dame) will land more championship trophies before Kelly is finished at LSU.

9. Wisconsin and the Air Raid. Can it work in bad weather?

Are we still debating this? Mike Leach’s offense worked for years in the cold and snow of The Palouse in Eastern Washington.

The easy retort is the Pac-12 doesn’t play defense, and a combination of Big Ten defenses and inclement weather will be a significant problem for Wisconsin and new offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

Longo’s response: Yep, we throw it. We also run it. A lot.

In the past 4 years at North Carolina, Longo’s offense ran the ball nearly 56% of the time. Last season, with top NFL QB prospect Drake Maye, was the first time the Tar Heels threw the ball (526) more than they ran it (508).

In the previous 3 seasons, North Carolina ran the ball 1,533 times, or an average of 39 times a game.

8. Are we panicking too quickly with Mario Cristobal at Miami?

Have you seen the way Cristobal is recruiting? It’s only a matter of time before it turns in Coral Gables.

Cristobal’s first 2 recruiting classes were ranked Nos. 16 and 7 in the 247Sports composite, with 26 blue-chip signees (4- and 5-star players).

The Canes will make a turn this season with new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson (a Mike Leach disciple), and a rebuilt (and healthy) QB Tyler Van Dyke.

7. Florida QB Graham Mertz: Rejuvenation … or replay?

If Florida coach Billy Napier just hadn’t said those words, just hadn’t sold it the way he did, maybe the idea of signing Mertz this offseason wouldn’t have seemed so odd.

Napier declared that Florida scouted 24 quarterbacks in the transfer portal — and chose Mertz. The Gators, of course, were in on numerous other players — most notably Tulane’s Michael Pratt, before he pulled out at the 11th hour and decided to return to Tulane.

But Napier’s decision to publicly back Mertz with the statement of scouting “24 quarterbacks” put another target on the back of a quarterback who has has dealt with similar issues his entire career.

He was the highest-ranked quarterback recruit in Wisconsin history, and threw 7 TD passes in his first 2 career starts. Then it all went downhill.

Over the next 3 years and after the 7 TDs, he had a TD/INT ratio of 31/26. He never threw for more than 2,136 yards in a season and his best completion percentage was 61.1 in the COVID season.

His highest average yards per attempt was a measly 7.5 in 2022, a number that placed him 56th in the nation.

Napier believes a new team, a new environment and new teammates will change Mertz and allow him to reach his potential. At this point, Florida simply needs a quarterback who protects the ball, and can steer clear of trouble — while the Gators run the ball and play defense.

6. Is Ryan Day in must-win mode vs. Michigan?

How in the world have we gotten to this point?

How are we questioning a coach who is 45-6 and led Ohio State to the Playoff in 3 of the past 4 seasons?

How are we questioning a coach who was a missed 50-yard field goal from advancing to the 2022 national championship game — and likely whipping overmatched TCU?

The wins, the unparalleled quarterback development, the devastating offenses, the elite recruiting.

The idea that Ryan Day has to beat Michigan this season to keep his job is utterly laughable.

5. Does Jim Harbaugh stick around Michigan after 2023?

Harbaugh isn’t happy about the NCAA and what he thinks is its ham-handed investigation of the Michigan program.

If he’s still bothered by how it all ended with the 49ers of the NFL — and specifically, with GM Trent Baalke, whom he refuses to speak of — you better believe he can and will hold a grudge against the NCAA, which has suspended him and branded him a cheater.

So yes, this absolutely could be Harbaugh’s last season at Michigan, especially if it comes with another spot in the Playoff (and maybe a championship).

He has made it clear that he’s interested in returning to the NFL, and the clunky NCAA rules may just push him there.

4. Texas or Oklahoma: Which is in better shape — heading into the SEC — after 2023?

Right now? Texas. Talk to me again at the end of 2023.

Texas is ahead, if for no other reason, because coach Steve Sarkisian has the quarterbacks and skill players to score big and win. The Longhorns have 3 quarterbacks who could play for a majority of Power 5 teams (Quinn Ewers, Maalik Murphy, Arch Manning), and the defense has significantly improved since Year 1 under Sarkisian.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, took a big step back in Brent Venables’ 1st season. QB Dillon Gabriel could be the answer, but there are limitations at the skill positions, and the offensive line is sketchy.

The defense was horrific in 2022, finishing 99th in the nation in scoring defense (30 ppg.), and 122nd in total defense (461 ypg.).

Both teams are recruiting at a Top 5-10 level, and both need a big 2023 to set the tone for the move to the SEC.

3. Can Caleb Williams become only the 2nd repeat winner of the Heisman Trophy?

Barring injury, there’s a high percentage chance that Williams will have better numbers than any other quarterback (the history of Lincoln Riley offenses proves it) in college football.

But as all underclassmen Heisman winners have learned, those who have won the award are judged differently than those who haven’t. In other words, Williams may have to lead USC to the Playoff to win another Heisman — and become the 1st (and only) repeat winner since Ohio State’s Archie Griffin (1974-75).

Is it fair? Of course not. But Heisman voters are not unlike the Playoff selection committee.

The winner may not be the best, but the most deserving.

2. Are we witnessing the slow end of Alabama?

There are 2 ways to look at this:

1. If Alabama doesn’t win the national title this season, it will be the 1st time since Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2007 that the Tide has gone 3 years without a national title.

2. How utterly absurd is that bar?

We’re now at the point where the idea of slippage at Alabama is losing 2 games in 1 season — both on the last play of the game. As crazy as that sounds, there is 1 small crack that can’t be denied.

Saban and his staff are the best recruiters in college football, consistently landing the highest-ranked classes. Yet somehow this offseason, there was Saban — rummaging around in the spring transfer portal bin, desperately looking for a quarterback.

Somehow Saban and his staff either missed on 4 quarterbacks who were all blue-chip recruits — Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Eli Holstein, Dylan Lonergan — or new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees simply wanted his guy when Saban signed former Notre Dame QB Tyler Buchner from the spring portal.

Buchner wasn’t going to beat out Sam Hartman (who Alabama also tried to sign) at Notre Dame, and needed a place to play. Why not play for the greatest coach and dynasty in the history of the game? All you have to do is stop the decline.

Or be part of it.

1. Can Georgia be the first 3-peat national champion since the 1930s?

Minnesota was the last team to do it, winning national titles in 3 consecutive seasons from 1934-36. The Gophers gave up 116 points over 24 games in those 3 seasons, for an average of 4.8 points per game.

Now that’s defense.

Georgia, by comparison in a significantly different era where the vertical passing game rules and points are plenty, has given up an average of 12.2 points per game over the past 2 national championship seasons.

That number, all things considered, may be more impressive than what Minnesota accomplished — considering the Gophers were dealing with the single wing formation and virtually no passing game.

How does Georgia defend its national championship, you ask? Defense.

New quarterback Carson Beck will be important, as will new OC Mike Bobo. But the Georgia championships were built on defense, and a spunky, overachieving former walkon quarterback.

If Beck can stay out of trouble and not throw game-turning interceptions, there are plenty of skill players around him to score enough points that Georgia’s defense can clean up the rest.