Saturday Down South's Preseason Top 25: Alabama once again at the top
Like Ric Flair would say, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” Most every year, Nick Saban is the man.
Yet again, the rest of the college football world is gunning for Saban and Co., as Alabama is coming off a fourth national title in seven seasons. A fifth isn’t unreasonable, not with all those five-star recruits.
With the Crimson Tide comfortably at No. 1, the rest of the Top 5 features blue bloods that have made it to the two-year-old College Football Playoff already: Clemson, Oklahoma, Florida State and Ohio State. The Tigers, Sooners and Buckeyes have Heisman-caliber QBs, but the Seminoles are yet to divulge their starter.
As for the rest of the SEC, LSU and Tennessee crack the Top 10. Ole Miss, Georgia and Texas A&M are each a part of the Top 25, but they have some work to do if the conference championship game is a realistic goal.
Here is Saturday Down South’s preseason Top 25, with deeper analysis for all 14 member schools of the SEC.
1. Alabama
The defending national champions, the Tide get the benefit of the doubt and start at the top of the polls.
Even with the loss of Jake Coker under center, ‘Bama has proven it can win with a fresh quarterback just about every season. Cooper Bateman likely gets the nod and will be surrounded with blue-chip pieces.
Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry may be a memory, but the two top ball carriers on the depth chart, Bo Scarbrough and Damien Harris, were five-star signees. Calvin Ridley and ArDarius Stewart both return in the receiving corps, as does tight end O.J. Howard. The offensive line will be stout, too.
Several standouts are back on defense, including Jonathan Allen at end, Tim Williams at linebacker, Minkah Fitzpatrick at corner and Eddie Jackson at safety. New coordinator Jeremy Pruitt has plenty of experience.
No matter how much NFL talent is produced in Tuscaloosa at this point, more is on the way every February.
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida State
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
The Tigers started and finished 2015 strong, but a three-game losing skid in November proved to be fatal.
Needless to say, the offense will revolve around the otherworldly ability of tailback Leonard Fournette, who is as good a bet as anybody to win the Heisman. He’s a genuine threat to crack the 2,000-yard plateau.
Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
The passing game in Baton Rouge remains a question mark, though. Quarterback Brandon Harris has to take the next step. With dangerous receivers Malachi Dupre and Travin Dural returning to the lineup, there are plays to be made downfield. But if Harris can’t get them the ball, that will take a toll on Fournette.
The defensive line is productive with Davon Godchaux, Arden Key and Lewis Neal, plus Kendell Beckwith is a tackling machine at linebacker. The secondary is always chock full of future NFL Draft picks.
The season likely comes down to Nov. 7 at Death Valley. ‘Bama has defeated Les Miles five consecutive times.
7. Notre Dame
8. Tennessee
It is Year 4 for Butch Jones, and everything is lined up in his favor for it to be a breakthrough season.
The Volunteers return 17 starters, more than any team in the SEC East. It’s fair to say that all the other squads in the division are in some stage of the rebuilding process. Three have new coaches for 2016.
Running the football won’t be a problem. Jalen Hurd is a beast between the tackles. Alvin Kamara is an experienced change of pace. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs can make defenders miss, too. But until Dobbs becomes more consistent in the passing game, this offense will be lacking something. He has the weapons out wide.
On the other side of the ball, Derek Barnett is the most feared pass rusher in the conference not named Myles Garrett. Jalen Reeves-Maybin is an All-SEC linebacker. The kick- and punt-return games are electric, too.
There are simply no excuses left on Rocky Top. A 12th consecutive loss to Florida would be catastrophic.
9. Stanford
10. Michigan
11. Michigan State
12. Washington
13. UCLA
14. Baylor
15. Louisville
16. Houston
17. Ole Miss
While the Rebels will feature the best quarterback in the SEC, his supporting cast is a bit of a mystery.
Unquestionably, Chad Kelly is the premier player in the conference at the game’s most important position, as he is coming off a campaign that saw him crack the 4,000-yard and 30-TD barriers. He can light it up.
Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
But his top running back, Jaylen Walton, is gone. So is his No. 1 receiver, Laquon Treadwell. As is his blind-side pass protector, Laremy Tunsil. Even if five-star recruit Gregory Little turns out to be Tunsil 2.0, he’s a true freshman left tackle preparing to face some of the most gifted pass rushers in the land.
The situation isn’t quite so dire defensively, as linebacker DeMarquis Gates and end Marquis Haynes return as the leading tackler and sacker, respectively. DBs Trea Elston and Mike Hilton are both in the pros, though.
It remains to be seen if the off-the-field drama in Oxford can be quieted with more on-the-field success.
18. Iowa
19. TCU
20. Georgia
Quarterback Greyson Lambert is back for his senior year, and absolutely, positively nobody cares in Athens.
From the moment five-star signal caller Jacob Eason signed on the dotted line, UGA fans have been begging for new coach Kirby Smart to make him the Week 1 starter. A solid showing in the G-Day Game then followed.
If Nick Chubb can return from the injury that cost him the second half of his sophomore season, then there is reason to believe that the Bulldogs have a fighting chance in the East. Not to take anything away from Sony Michel, who is a fine runner, but Chubb is special. He can shoulder some of the load placed on Eason.
Smart’s influence should add another dimension to the defense between the hedges, as he spent nine years at Alabama under Saban. Replacing the pass-rushing duo of Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins is a priority.
The Dawgs host Tennessee on Oct. 1. The winner probably takes the lead in the division.
21. Nebraska
22. Miami
23. USC
24. Oklahoma State
25. Texas A&M
With all the comings and goings at QB in College Station, it’s difficult to keep up with the depth chart.
Gone are Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray, who shared the starting job a year ago. The new No. 1 is Oklahoma transfer Trevor Knight. He already owns one of the league’s most prized possessions: a win over Alabama.
Expecting Knight to show up and be another Johnny Manziel — on the field, of course, not off the field — may be unfair, but he’ll have an enviable array of pass-catching options at his disposal. Christian Kirk, Speedy Noil, Josh Reynolds and Ricky Seals-Jones make for a fearsome foursome when in formation together.
Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
The D is led by the aforementioned Garrett, a terrorizing edge rusher who can’t be blocked consistently. The rest of the defensive line is also pretty good, including Daylon Mack inside and Daeshon Hall outside.
If there’s an under-the-radar team in the West that can take top billing away from ‘Bama, it’s the Aggies.
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Florida: Finished 2015 with three awful losses, so take Jim McElwain’s 10-win debut with a grain of salt.
Auburn: Gus Malzahn is likely to start John Franklin III, a Florida State reject and JUCO transfer, at QB.
Arkansas: Little brother Austin Allen isn’t nearly as talented as big brother Brandon Allen, who is gone.
Kentucky: Year 4 for Mark Stoops means he can no longer finish under .500 and must take the ‘Cats bowling.
Missouri: We know Mizzou can play D, but Barry Odom’s offense simply can’t resemble what it was last year.
Mississippi State: There isn’t a bigger loss in the SEC than Dak Prescott, who did it all in Starkville.
Vanderbilt: Ralph Webb pairs nicely with an underrated defense, but quarterback play needs a major uptick.
South Carolina: Will Muschamp’s debut in Columbia could be rocky, as Steve Spurrier left a bare cupboard.
John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South. You can send him an e-mail directly at jcrist@saturdaydownsouth.com or follow him on Twitter @SaturdayJC.
Dang, tell us how you really feel about John Franklin.
It’s no secret that Franklin had little to no chance as a quarterback at Florida State — Fisher runs as much of a pro-style system as any coach in the country. JF3 was always a topic of conversation to move to receiver. But that’s the kind of guy Malzahn can work his magic with, so we’ll see.
Don’t forget that Coker was 3rd string at FSU and was never going to see the field either.
But at least Fisher kept Coker at quarterback. The fact that he tried to switch JF3 to receiver indicates to me he never took him seriously as a passer — or at least tried to utilize his athletic ability somehow. Still, Malzahn doesn’t ask his QB to do nearly as much in the passing game.
While he was at FSU they had a heisman winning qb, then a senior transferred in. Almost no qb would have started in that position.
“Reject” is a negative term. If you were trying to be objective, you could have said “…former FSU QB.”
I’m not allowed to write something negative? Why do readers always think everything in the media is personal? As a quarterback prospect, JF3 was indeed rejected by Fisher and Florida State — hence his decision to transfer — so the comment is appropriate.
I still think White is the likely starter with Franklin in for some special packages.
Lol please tell me where youre getting your info that little bro austin isnt near as talented as big bro brandon .
Every recruiting expert in the country.
Well, that can’t be right because (per ESPN) Austin was ranked higher coming out of high school in the recruiting rankings. Austin is considerably more mobile and has a better arm. Decision making would be the only thing that he possesses less of than his brother, however, only slightly.
By no means do I think Arkansas should be a top 25 team this preseason, but your reasoning is flawed. And to say that “every recruiting expert in the country” influenced your decision to write such a thing is ambiguous and adds to the lack of credibility that the article already seems to have.
If you insist on making generalizations about teams instead of using sheer facts (like above), then a more relevant description for why the Hogs are on the “outside looking in” would be something along the lines of this:
Being forced to reload on offense coupled with a suspect defense holds the Razorbacks out of the preseason top 25.
But, then again, I am no journalist. I only say it as I see it, and your level of professionalism is lacking when you make less than accurate generalizations about teams and then respond to critics with 6 words.
Well said sir!!
Well said! I’ve seen little brother play and he’s no joke. I see a higher ceiling for him than Brandon imo
Name one recruiting expert that said austin had less talent! That’s such a lazy comment. Austin won more state championships, was more highly recruited, has always been highlighted by the coaching staff as being better under pressure and having by far the better arm. The only thing that separated brandon was experience. Not talent!
The composite rankings at 247Sports — they take all recruiting rankings into consideration, not just their own — had Brandon as the No. 7 pro-style quarterback recruit in the country. Allen was No. 19 a few years later.
Quite simply not true.
Brandon was an 87 on 247, composite 87. Rivals had him as a 4 * but 247, Scout and ESPN had him as a 3*.
Austin was a 90 (4*) on 247, .89 composite (4*). Rivals had him as a 5.7 3*, but Scout and ESPN both had him as 4*s.
Austin also had a better offer list, including Alabama, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, TN, UNC, Ok St & Az St.
You seem to be hanging your hat on the fact that Brandon was the #7 PRO QB while Austin was #19. That is true, but it says more about the strength of the QB field in 2013 than anything. 2013 had 34 4* QBs according to 247 position rankings. 2011 only had 14. The top _8_ QBs in 2013 were PRO and the year was overall full of some very good PRO QBs.
I think it is fair to say that Austin may be *more* talented than Brandon. It is also fair to say that he may be equally talented.
Add to all this the fact that people who know both of them well say that Austin probably has the stronger arm, a bit more of a gunslinger mentality and on the field he surpassed everything Brandon did in HS (stats, wins, championships).
Clearly Brandon worked out in a big way to finish out his career and there is no way to know if Austin will do better or worse than his brother, but you are hanging your statement that he “isn’t nearly as talented” upon a very thin branch.
So if Austin is so much more gifted, then why was he permanently affixed to the bench behind Brandon? Yes, Brandon had a terrific senior season. But up until that point, it’s not like he was irreplaceable or anything.
Your not benching a senior field general for a sophmore gunslinger.
1) Obviously the coaches had to know that BA was gonna have a big season. The kind of numbers he put up could not have been all surprise.
2) You don’t replace the starter with his little brother, lol. Especially since he (Brandon) probably knew he was gonna have a pretty big season.
Let all the other teams read that stuff and file it away. It is what it is. If Austin fails you win, I guess. Lol, Now I’m just bein nasty. Move on hogs.
Well, let’s see. AU plays six of those in the regular season, including #1, #2, and # 6 and then will, of course, probably play one of those in the SEC Championship game and who knows about the playoffs!
Sounds about right!
I really just don’t see the Ohio State hype this year. I understand next man up but come on, they lost a ton to the draft.
It’s a safety pick, no knock on the article, every publication has them ranked this high. They have four tough games but all others should be wins. They are the team that even if they split those 4 games the will still end up hovering around the top 10. Michigan and Michigan State are the same way.
In the east I’m not a fan, but I wouldn’t sleep on FL or GA, and I know every publication has TN winning the East and ranked higher, but until they can prove it on the field (and the stats are not in their favor), it is all just hype.
I agree about UGA but not the gators. They just don’t seem like they have all of their ducks in a row yet. UGA wins the East this year with 1 loss (This is on the assumption that Eason is the QB and he is as good as I think he will be). UT loses to UGA and Bama and goes to the Capital One bowl.
Count me in on UGA. They’ve always had the talent, now they will have a fire from having a new coaching staff. Smart might not be able to maintain it long term, but most coaches get that motivation bump in the first year. I’m not sold on the Gators. I think their defense will start to fall off and McElwain could be on the hot seat next year.
Gators will only lose two games all year…. FSU and as much as I hate to say it….. UT, which will probably be enough to lose the east next year… Eason will struggle and running game can’t do it all teams will load the box and press receivers. Eason will be a top qb in the conference and country but not in 16
I see us beating Florida and Georgia then being gassed and losing to the Aggies and possibly again to Alabama the next week. Then we win out. But that’s two sec losses. I see Florida beating Georgia but maybe dropping Arkansas. And Georgia obviously from above I think will drop UT and Florida. But I still have a bad feeling Florida will win the East but not the head to head with UT.
I think y’all are overestimating Ohio State and underestimating Oklahoma State. The Buckeyes are only returning 6 starters, which I think is the least of all teams in the FBS. Granted, one of those starters is J.T. Barrett, a potential All-American Quarterback and Urban Meyer is great at developing talent. Yet, Ohio State faces 4 very strong opponents on the road. They match up with Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Penn State, and Michigan State on the road, while squaring off with other tough teams like Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan at home. Even last season, with a team that included multiple NFL draft picks, they only beat both Indiana on the road and Northern Illinois at home by a touchdown. They’ve got plenty of hurdles to pass.
And on the other hand, Oklahoma State could potentially be representing the Big 12 in the Playoffs next year. They return almost 20 starters. They have a mostly favorable road schedule, taking on a badly depleted Baylor in Waco, Kansas who didn’t win 1 game last season, and middle of the road K-State, with two road games that will probably be the Cowboys’ two toughest games against TCU and Oklahoma. At home they get Pitt, Texas, West Virginia, and Texas Tech, which should give them a leg up.
I know you guys probably went with the safe picks, and I can understand that and know you probably looked at this differently than I did, but I think Ohio State should probably be put around #8, while Oklahoma State should be promoted to #14 at least.
Michigan should be top 4 IMO.I’ve got a prop bet for them to win it all.Their D will be just nasty & the kooky Harbough’s 2nd year as coach.
If the Big Ten sends a team to the Playoffs, it could very well be Michigan. They’ve got a favorable OOC schedule, and they get tough games against Penn State and Wisconsin at home. Like Ohio State though, they’ve got a few tough road games. Michigan State and Ohio State are the giants they’ll have to slay this year on the road, and they’ve got a game in Kinnick Stadium against Iowa. Unlike Ohio State, they don’t return a starting QB. But there’s several starters coming back on offense, and they’re already used to Harbaugh’s style. But I think this year it might end up being the Big Ten’s turn to sit out the Playoffs.
Dang it, SDS. Ole Miss is the best at every sport in both men’s and women’s sports. Having them at 17 is an outrage. We are clearly number 1 in every poll ever and that’ll never change. Stop being so biased and let’s see a fair poll with Ole Miss at #1 then we can talk.
Haha thank you for this laugh TClark. Looking forward to playing y’all this year and experiencing the grove. Gonna be fun!
The only thing you got is RBs and both are out (hope that they recover), but the GA game is going to look like the LSu game from last year.
Why come in with that statement when they were having a laugh? It’s not like he said were gonna beat the hell out of you in Oxford this season. You’ll love the grove Jonathan and glad to have you in Oxford, should be a great game.
He’s related to GA Trucker !
Haha glad people understood it was a joke. It should be fun. Come on down to Oxford and enjoy.
‘Clack’, the only joke is you, that’s why everyone calls you a ‘Moron’.
~You’re Welcome
What’s funny is that you misspelled his name once and continue to try to play it off. Dependapotamus the liar. Your grammar makes people laugh as well…
Washout, getting kick out of the Army, LOL
Dependapotamus….
12. Washington again ???
I promise Im not hating but Ohio St plays: Bowling Green, Tulsa, Rutgers and Indiana at home 4 out of 5 games to start the season throwing in a trip to Oklahoma the 3rd game.. They’re preseason ranked #5.. Somehow they beat Oklahoma, I see them sittingbthe rest of the year no lower than 6 almost primed for a CFP Berth…. Smh…while Teams like you know Auburn, LSU, Bama, Ole Miss and Tenn have games like you know………
8-team playoff, best thing ever for the SEC !!!
Amen brother!
Not for the SEC… they would end up sending at least 4 teams to the playoff (Bama, LSU, Ole Miss and Tennessee/Georgia..)
Then the Tenn-Ga, Bama-LSU, LSU-Ole Miss regular season games wouldnt mean anything..
Would you really wanna possibly see Tenn vs Bama/LSU 3 times?? Tenn could play LSU or Bama twice this season..and because if LSU or Bama gets to the SECCG at #3/4 and they lose to Tenn, there could be upsets in other conference championship games vaulting either Bama or LSU in that top 8 playoff seeding….Not a good thing
So, Ole Miss was ranked last year @ 17 without a QB ?
And now ranked #17 with a Heisman candidate QB with 4000/yrd back to back season (41 TDs).
Ok, Washington ???
I think that will change after the fsu game. I think Kelly is an awesome gutsy qb and I think y’all win it. At least I hope so.
I really think the FSU game will look like the LSu (Houston) game from last year.
Ya’ll better beat Bama & FL (without PEDs) !!!
Ole miss losses by two scores…
Loses…
God I hope so!
I mean I hope we beat fla and bama. Good luck with fsu.
Believe it or not, there are more factors at play when coming up with a preaseason Top 25 that considers all 128 FBS programs than who Ole Miss plans to start at quarterback.
Sure, but even with a new OL we should only give up 3-4 more sacks and about 120 less rushing yards if you run the numbers.
Kelly spread it out to 5 WR with about the same stats (yes we need one to step to replace #1).
And OM plays nine or so teams QB issues or just play #12 Washington.
A team with a “QB issue” has won the SEC back to back.
And they lost, LOL, point made.
~You’re Welcome
What point? So Ole Miss didn’t have a QB issue right? Ole miss lost 3 games. Bama had this QB issue you continue to make up and won the NC……Just because a team hasn’t named a starter it doesn’t mean there is an issue…
There was and there is an issue with your QBs for ’14, 15. and now 16, that’s why you lost (and in ’13 &14 it seems like ya’ll got rolled).
Now if you’re talking about NC, that’s on the article with odds, get it together washout.
~ You’re Welcome
You still can’t put it together dependapotamus. The team that you said has a QB issue lost less games and won the SEC both years and the NC last year. Ole miss who has their starting QB lost 3 games. I know you can’t understand the ignorance applied to your logic but it is clearly flawed.
Three-peat !!!
It would be nice to win 3 SEC championships in a row. Going to be tough though. Try not to lose to Memphis….Uneducated Dependapotamus.
Posting from work again, washout ???
Uneducated Dependapotamus ^^^
Washout !
Dependapotamus ^^
Tennessee/Miami but not Florida? lol.
Yes, not Florida. The Gators were crushed in their final three games last season when actually playing quality opponents. A two-time transfer is the presumptive starting quarterback. This past year’s quality defense sent five draft picks to the NFL. I like Coach Mac a lot, but UF could have lost the East Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Florida Atlantic games in 2015 if not for some fortunate bounces.
See you’re taking those games as face value and forgetting we beat Tennessee albeit in last 2 minutes luckily but the way your portraying it Tennessee and Georgia didn’t run into any flares with the lesser east teams Tennessee was threatened by South Carolina and Georgia barely beat Missouri 9-6 while we beat down the #3 team ole miss 38-10 we took a seemingly unbeatable lsu team at the time to the brink at Death Valley and demolished Georgia although they were starting a third stringer the difference being that lambert was a game manager and we bulldozed their defense with the worst o line in the country, plus Georgia has a new coach, new coaches usually have a substantial learning curve, I remember muschamp going 7-6 in his first season with the most talented team recruiting wise in the country at the time I’m not saying smart is muschamp but you shouldn’t be expecting them to be better than Florida this year
Looking back at FL last year, isn’t a great gauge of where we should project this year.
We barely won against ECU, @KY, TN (got lucky, again), VAN, @USCe, MIZZ, FAU.
We could have won, but didn’t, against LSU.
UGA showed up without Chubb or any kind of QB.
And we all know how embarassing the last 3 games were.
We won a lot, but we weren’t a solid team. This year, we have a lot of question marks that need to be answered. Potential is there, but until we see it on the field all coming together, we are no better than the Vols believing they are back every year and proving otherwise. I know we have a lot of talent on FL because I read about my team, but I don’t know about UGA. I believe their coach will get that first year motivational bump, but I don’t know how much he’ll be changing the system or have players for what he wants to run – simply don’t know.
East is wide open. Again.
SDS needs an edit function. Only solid win we had last year of any merit was @OM. Held them to 10 pts, at their house and with their team at full strength. The rest of our record…..not as impressive.
Woah there TLB. The ole miss game was in the swamp. Without preseason Bednarik watch S Conner, NT Gross, LT Tunsil, and rotating LG Morris was harboring injuries. Ole Miss did get beat down fair and square, but chill on the elaboration. Would’ve been much closer had Grier not played if I can give my 2 cents, possible offensive struggle game.
But Tlb it doesn’t matter how last year looked my argument is that we should not be 3rd in the east with now no truely proven starting half back and a freshman quarterback and no number one receiver proven in the spring And.a first time coach not a new coach A first time coach we are being picked constantly against Georgia for no other reason than perceived talent it grinds my gears to see that Mcelwain getting 10 wins in his first year is nothing short of miraculous why expect Kirby smart to do it
Why would you expect Kirby to get 10 wins this year? Because Mark Richt just did it the last two years and last year did it with zero impressive wins. If you look at the schedule this year there are 8 should wins on the schedule with 4 toss ups. Go 2-2 and there is your ten wins before a bowl game. I don’t see where you are getting “no truely proven starting half back” from. Chubb will be 100% game one and Sony will be in a soft cast and just fine. Georgia doesn’t need Eason to start game one but I do think he gives you the best chance to win. We have seen Glambert and he is certainly serviceable enough to beat UNC. Florida lost a ton on D and will be depending on QBs less talented than Georgia I’d argue. That’s why you are seeing the dawgs preseason over the gators.
@rebel92
You are right, I got the wrong venue. I was grateful we didn’t face LT, but didn’t know of the other line issues you were facing. We can debate how (in)effective our Offense would have been without Grier, but our Defense was where I was hanging our collective hat in keeping OM limited. Later in the season, our Defense might have given up and let you score a lot more.
Bottom line – FL didn’t impress me a whole lot despite their record. And on that record only the OM game felt like a solid win.
We consistently beat your favorite of Tennessee/Georgia yet we get no respect no matter what?
Miami hasn’t been relevant in years.
Stay off the PEDs, would be good start.
This looks about as reasonable as any other pre-season crystal ball. I’m definitely in the group that thinks the Flair philosophy should rule – as long as Saban keeps the black-belt recruiting in place, he should get the benefit of the doubt. UGA landing between 15 and 20 in most polls is fine with me. Eason has a learning curve, as does Smart. The question is how steep Smart’s curve really is. I don’t think he’s your average first-year head coach, but we’ll find out soon enough. The only real concerns I have about the team at this point is D-line depth and kicking. There will be growing pains but the talent keeps flooding in to Athens and the future is bright.
Nationally, it appears Oregon is a huge question mark. They’ve had a lock on the top 5-10 the past few years, but you see their projections all over the board for 2016. Washington’s rise has something to do with that (it took Peterson longer than I expected, but it appears he’s now getting it done), but the Ducks have some serious concerns at QB and on defense. Oregon always seems to be in a ton of blue-chip final school lists, but Helfrich is just not closing the deal. Texas is another school I have no clue what to expect from. Strong needs to get it in gear this year or begin planning the next phase of his career.
My opinion: why are SEC teams so low after UT? I get the “beat each other up” gaff, OM and UGA should definitely be at least behind Michigan St or Washington. Sorry but I’m not even sold on those two. Also Pac12 will beat each other up, and Baylor will be down without Briles. So just my own opinion but I’d have 5 SEC teams in the top 25. Maybe A&M and/or auburn in the 20-25 range
By seasons end, Ole Miss should have at least 4 losses.
John Franklin should have came to bama. He could have won championships. What a shame.
Saying that Kelly’s supporting cast is a mystery is just stupid. And defensively OM is loaded, especially on the DL.