The SDS way-too-early Top 25 for 2021
We’re all in agreement, right?
No, I’m not referring to the pre-pre-preseason ranking that you’re about to dissect. I’ve done this long enough to know that anyone reading this will have at least 1 gripe. That’s to be expected.
We’re all in agreement that the faster we can turn the page from 2020 to 2021 is a good thing. At least I’d hope so. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer not to spend my summer trying to figure out if a season can/will/should happen. I’d much rather get big mad about preseason rankings, award list watch lists and coaching hot seat rumors.
That, my friends, is what we’ve been built to handle as college football fans. In the same way that a tiger would be lost roaming the middle of the suburbs on a hot summer day, we found out just how lost we were trying to figure out football during a pandemic. Granted, we got through it. But there were still some moments in which we, the tigers in the suburbs, had to learn how to dodge oncoming traffic.
The good news is that hopefully, we can get back to our natural habitat for all of 2021. With that in mind, the goal will be to treat this as a somewhat normal way-too-early Top 25 for 2021. That’s based on a few things.
Yes, even in a pandemic season, the body of work from 2020 is the most significant factor. I can’t tell myself that a 2-8 team turned the calendar and instantly became one of the best 25 teams in the sport.
Speaking of that, this is not a projection of where a team will finish. There are a lot of teams that I think should improve greatly by season’s end that have no business starting in the Top 25 (Mississippi State, Illinois, Florida State, etc.). This is about where teams deserve to start the 2021 season based on how they would look in Week 1. I’m not guessing how the year will finish; I’m predicting how the first ranking of 2021 should look.
That’s based on 2020, returning production, coaching moves, recruiting classes, transfers, etc. For what it’s worth, that can change throughout the offseason. Shoot, it could change by next week with some of these NFL Draft announcements.
So with that being said, let’s all agree on this way-too-early Top 25 for 2021:
25. Liberty
Wait, you wanted to see Coastal Carolina here? You mean after the Flames beat the Chants on a neutral site and went 2-1 in road games against ACC teams? Nah. As long as Hugh Freeze is still at Liberty and not taking the Tennessee job, Liberty is legit. Liberty finished ranked in the top 25 in scoring offense and scoring defense. Former Auburn backup Malik Willis was a revelation in Freeze’s offense. That combination with the return of leading tailback Joshua Mack will make Liberty a potent offense yet again in 2021.
24. Ole Miss
I know, I know. Ole Miss doesn’t have a defense. Well, it certainly did in the Outback Bowl when it contained (and beat) a legitimate top-15 team. Ole Miss was a defensive disaster in Year 1 of the Lane Kiffin era, yet it was within 2 scores of all 10 opponents it faced. If Ole Miss can just flirt with defensive mediocrity — that seems possible with a full season of Otis Reese and the return of MoMo Sanogo — then Kiffin’s squad is even scarier in 2021. Matt Corral is back as one of the top returning quarterbacks in America. Jerrion Ealy, Snoop Conner, John Rhys Plumlee, Braylon Sanders, Dontario Drummond and a promising group of young skill players from Kiffin’s first 2 classes all return, as well. Replacing Elijah Moore will be a challenge, but Ole Miss’ present and future are bright.
23. Louisiana
Is Billy Napier back? Yep. Then pencil the Ragin’ Cajuns in for a Top 25 spot. Yeah, they lose their prolific running back duo of Trey Ragas and Elijah Mitchell. They still return quarterback Levi Lewis, who took advantage of the free year of eligibility. It’s defensively where Louisiana should take another step. Napier’s squad returns leading tackler Lorenzo McCaskill, talented nose tackle Tayland Humphrey and starting linebacker Chauncey Manac. If third-team PFF All-American Bralen Trahan and sacks leader Ferrod Gardner return, this defense will be an even better than the group who stymied Iowa State in Ames.
22. Northwestern
So the Fightin’ Rece Davises lose their leader on each side of the ball (Paddy Fisher is off to the NFL and Peyton Ramsey is off to the transfer portal) and they lose longtime defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz. So what? The Cats won the Big Ten West and gave Ohio State a better game than Clemson did. Pat Fitzgerald loses a lot — he also has to replace defensive starters Blake Gallagher, Earnest Brown, Grant Newsome and JR Pace — but he just boasted a top-5 defense with a bunch of 2- and 3-star recruits. Nobody had more interceptions in America than Brandon Joseph, who will return with promising defensive linemen Adetomiwa Adebawore and prolific senior linebacker Chris Bergin is taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility. Northwestern should again be in the Big Ten West hunt.
21. Oklahoma State
Chuba Hubbard’s departure is huge, but the bowl win against Miami was a nice little glimpse of the future. Spencer Sanders got much better as the season progressed, and freshman Brennan Presley went off against Manny Diaz’s defense. Mike Gundy figured out his offense, albeit a little bit later than fans were hoping for. The Cowboys aren’t on the level of Oklahoma or Iowa State to start the season — I realize that Oklahoma State beat Iowa State in 2020 — but getting to 8 wins with a relatively young team was an impressive feat. That bodes well for an offense that should actually take a step forward without Hubbard.
20. Penn State
James Franklin’s team was a mess in 2020. Just an absolute mess. Micah Parson’s opt-out didn’t help, but basically getting nothing from Journey Brown and Noah Cain proved costly. Franklin fired decorated offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca after just 1 ugly 4-5 season and plucked Mike Yurcich from Texas, where he ran a top-10 offense. So what’s to like moving forward? Penn State ended the year on a 4-game winning streak thanks to Sean Clifford’s much-improved play. He’s back, as is Cain, top receiver Jahan Dotson and No. 2 receiver Parker Washington. A young defense, led by likely preseason All-Big Ten linebacker Brandon Smith, got much better down the stretch. Franklin’s squad took some gut punches in 2020, but it’ll be much better for it in 2021.
19. Wisconsin
Even though the Graham Mertz hype train got rolling a little too fast for its own good in 2020, Wisconsin will still be a Big Ten West contender in 2021. Mertz will benefit from not having a herky-jerky season that decimated Wisconsin’s skill positions. If Wisconsin retains defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, the Badgers should again boast a top-10 defense. Jack Sanborn will return to lead a group that has significant experience at all 3 levels. Wisconsin needs to figure out some help at cornerback, and Mertz’s upside is limited if Danny Davis and Kendric Pryor leave, but it’d be foolish to bet against Paul Chryst to roll out a Top-25 team from the jump.
18. Texas
Steve Sarkisian doesn’t have Sam Ehlinger at his disposal, and the Longhorns lost a lot of production in the coaching transition. So what’s there to like? Well, Sarkisian just led the 2 most prolific offenses in Alabama history. That, coupled with the potential of longtime Ehlinger backup Casey Thompson with the returns of leading rusher Bijan Robinson and leading receiver Joshua Moore, bodes well for an offense who finished in the top 10 in 2020. Texas might not be back in Year 1 of the Sarkisian era, but we’re still talking about a program who was 6-3 with all 3 of those losses coming by 1 score. It’s defense where Sarkisian faces major questions, especially with the NFL Draft departure of Joseph Ossai. The good news? DeMarvion Overshown is set to return for a group who was the Achilles’ heel far too often during the Tom Herman era.
17. Indiana
Yes, for the first time in 52 years, the Hoosiers will start off ranked in the AP Top 25. Getting a healthy Michael Penix Jr. back is huge behind what should be a veteran offensive line with 4 starters back, but so is the return of Ty Fryfogle, who was the Big Ten Receiver of the Year. Tom Allen is a yearly lock to crank out prolific defenses, despite the fact that he lost his defensive coordinator Kane Wommack. Getting the likes of Tiawan Mullen and All-American Micah McFadden back would be monumental. Marcelino Ball should provide a major lift after his 2020 was lost to a torn ACL. In other words, no, Indiana’s 2020 wasn’t a flash in the pan.
16. Iowa
What a weird year it was in Iowa City. An offseason plagued by racial injustice issues within the program was followed by an 0-2 start … and then a 6-game winning streak to end the season. So weird. Not weird was Iowa cranking out one of the nation’s top defenses, which will lose breakout star Daviyon Nixon and Chauncey Golston but will return Zach VanValkenburg to anchor that defensive line. Spencer Petras and Tyler Goodson will provide stability on offense, and in the least shocking news of 2021, Iowa should again have an elite offensive line with Tyler Linderbaum likely starting as a preseason All-American. Kirk Ferentz’s squad should be the Big Ten West favorite.
15. LSU
Yes, this is perhaps the weirdest ranking in the Top 25. LSU wasn’t a team with a championship hangover. That would imply it bounced back after a couple of games. Nope. LSU didn’t bounce back until December, when it beat a pair of quality foes, including top-10 Florida. I suppose that shouldn’t have been a surprise given the way they celebrate in the Bayou. That’s over now. What’s promising is that LSU recruited extremely well the last 3 years with a trio of top-5 classes, and the blessing of 2020 was that it gave a young squad a chance to get meaningful reps. New offensive coordinator Jake Peetz will look to bring Joe Brady’s brand of offense to a group that’ll be led by Max Johnson or Myles Brennan. Either way, they’ll throw to SEC record-holder for the most receiving yards in a game, Kayshon Boutte. Oh, and remember Derek Stingley? He’ll be back in 2021, as well as the extremely talented corner Eli Ricks. Fortunately for them/all LSU fans, Stingley and Ricks won’t be in Bo Pelini’s defense.
14. Oregon
The Pac-12 champs return defensive lineman Kayvon Thibodeaux, who could be the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. It’s not just him, though. Joe Moorhead will get a full offseason to work with Tyler Shough, who showed promise in a limited season. He’ll throw to what should be a deep group of pass-catchers. What gets lost in the shuffle of Oregon’s return to national relevance under Mario Cristobal is the fact that he recruited 3 consecutive top-11 classes. There’s loads of talent in Eugene to replace longtime staples CJ Verdell and Penei Sewell (he opted out of the 2021 season). The biggest question will be if the Ducks can improve defensively after losing Andy Avalos to Boise State.
13. USC
USC was a touchdown away from capping off an undefeated season. Granted, it was only 6 games and the Trojans trailed in the 4th quarter in 4 of them. So what’s there to like? Well, preseason Heisman contender Kedon Slovis is back, and he’ll throw to promising wideout Drake London. So is offensive coordinator/play-caller Graham Harrell, who was reportedly in the market for some bigger jobs. USC just signed the No. 8 class in 2021, highlighted by No. 1 overall player Korey Foreman. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Marlon Tuipulotu, Amon-ra St. Brown, Talanoa Hufanga, Olaijah Griffin and Alijah Vera-Tucker are all off to the NFL. Still, USC could have as many as 15 starters back after going 13-3 in Pac-12 play over the last 2 years.
12. Florida
A ton of production is gone. As we saw in the Cotton Bowl, not having your top 4 receivers makes it difficult on anyone, even someone who put together a historically prolific season like Kyle Trask. That’s going to shape a lot of the preseason discussion with the Gators, who for some reason retained Todd Grantham as defensive coordinator. Having said that, it’s still a team that’s riding a streak of 3 consecutive New Year’s 6 bowl appearances during the Dan Mullen era. Emory Jones is the first true Mullen quarterback, and there’s young talent at the skill positions who will be better with a full offseason. Zachary Carter, Brenton Cox and Kaiir Elam will be huge for Florida’s defense, which simply has to get better if it wants to return to Atlanta.
11. Miami
I’ll admit this ranking is subject to change based on the progress of D’Eriq King’s rehab after tearing his ACL in the Cheez-It Bowl. If the star signal-caller is a go for the start of the year in that opener against Alabama, you’ll see a lot of preseason momentum in favor of the Canes. Rhett Lashlee modernized that offense in a way that was long overdue. Defensively, Diaz’s defense loses a lot. After losing Gregory Rousseau in the preseason, former No. 1 overall recruit Jaelan Phillips cashed in on his breakout year, as did fellow defensive lineman Quincy Roche (they combined for 30 tackles for loss in 2020). Still, Diaz will have leading tackler Bubba Bolden back to lead that unit. Year 3 of the Diaz era should be the best yet … as long as King makes a full, speedy return.
10. UNC
Sam Howell is a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite, and deservedly so. We’re talking about someone who threw for 68 touchdown passes in his first 2 years as a college quarterback. After a slow start, he became a more efficient player in 2020. He’ll give UNC a chance against any ACC team, and that includes Clemson. So why only No. 10? Well, Mack Brown’s squad lost a ton of production. Dynamic running back duo Javonte Williams and Michael Carter are gone, as is leading receiver Dyami Brown and top defensive player Chazz Surratt. The good news? A whopping 10 defensive starters are back. On top of that, Brown signed a pair of top-15 classes with 13 defensive players rated 4-stars or better.
If Howell can take another step as a more mobile quarterback, another New Year’s 6 Bowl is certainly in the cards.
9. Cincinnati
Hopefully, the Playoff selection committee won’t sleep on Cincinnati in 2021 like it did in 2020. The Bearcats are a force, especially now with 3-year starter Desmond Ridder and star defensive end Myjai Sanders back for their senior seasons. Of course, replacing the highly coveted defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman won’t be easy (that matchup against Notre Dame is suddenly all the more intriguing). That was a top-10 defense in 2 of the last 3 years, which is no small feat in an offensive-focused conference like the AAC.
Here’s the thing. Cincinnati could best 2016 Houston as the highest-ranked Group of 5 team in the preseason AP Top 25 during the Playoff era. Why is that significant? The Bearcats have that aforementioned matchup vs. Notre Dame and they get Indiana. There’s a Playoff path in there, albeit an extremely difficult one.
8. Notre Dame
Ian Book is finally gone after roughly 18 years in South Bend, but his successor has a lot of promising weapons to work with, mainly tailback Kyren Williams and 247sports true freshman All-American tight end Michael Mayer. As for who will replace Book, the Irish just added Wisconsin grad transfer Jack Coan, who will compete with Brandon Clark, 2020 backup Drew Pyne and decorated true freshman Tyler Buchner. The good news for the Irish, who replace a ton of talent in the front 7, including Butkus Award winner Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, is that it just brought in Marcus Freeman to replace new Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea. He cranked out top-10 defenses at Cincinnati without blue-chip recruits, which bodes well for a year of transition in South Bend.
The Irish just won double-digit games for the 4th year in a row. Kelly also earned Notre Dame’s 4th consecutive top-12 finish, which hasn’t happened in 50 years. Another Playoff loss doesn’t mean the Irish are suddenly a borderline Top 25 team.
7. Texas A&M
On one hand, the Aggies must replace a lot. They’re set to lose the majority of the starters on the Joe Moore Award finalist offensive line, and replacing the underrated Buddy Johnson and Bobby Brown from that front 7 won’t be easy. Also, replacing Kellen Mond, AKA the guy who started at quarterback in every game of the first 3 years of the Jimbo Fisher era, isn’t automatic.
But man, there’s still a ton to like in College Station. Like, 10 of the 11 guys who caught a pass in 2020 are back. That doesn’t even include former No. 1 overall tight end Baylor Cupp and veteran wideout Camron Buckley, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries before the start of 2020. Two-time 1,000-yard rusher Isaiah Spiller, Orange Bowl MVP Devon Achane and versatile Ainias Smith are also back to lead one of the most exciting backfields in America. The Aggies have to answer key questions at quarterback and in the front 7, but it’s hard not to love the potential of 2021 with how well that team played to its strengths after the Alabama game.
6. Iowa State
To be clear, I’m the one who said Iowa State was overrated throughout 2020. This isn’t coming from the crowd who pretended that a 3-score home loss to a Group of 5 team didn’t happen. So why all the love?
Matt Campbell, Brock Purdy and Breece Hall are all back. That feels, um, significant after winning a New Year’s 6 bowl. Fresh off the best season in program history, the Cyclones will head into 2021 with more hype than they’ve ever had. It’s more than those 3 household names, though. The Cyclones, who return their entire starting offensive line, boast offensive balance with Purdy and Hall that few teams in America have to go along with preseason Mackey Award candidate Charlie Kolar, who also returned for another season. And defensively, Iowa State got a huge lift with returning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Mike Rose (29 career tackles for loss), first-team All-Big 12 defensive end Will McDonald and 2-time first-team All-Big 12 safety Greg Eisworth. The Cyclones are loaded in a way that they’ve never been. There are 2 legitimate Playoff contenders in the Big 12.
5. Ohio State
Is some of this a bit of a blind ranking without knowing which elite players are off to the NFL? Yeah, but when you finish in the top 5 in 4 consecutive seasons, you earn the benefit of the doubt. It’s no secret the Buckeyes are expected to lose a ton to the NFL Draft. Justin Fields, Trey Sermon, Chris Olave, Haskell Garrett, Wyatt Davis, Shaun Wade, Baron Browning and Pete Werner are just a few of the expected NFL Draft departures.
But Ohio State is still loaded at receiver with possible preseason All-American Garrett Wilson, and Zach Harrison will headline that improved significantly in the latter half of the first post-Chase Young season. Plus, Ryan Day signed a pair of top-5 classes. The post-Fields era should still have no shortage of talent in Columbus.
4. Oklahoma
Lost in the shuffle of that Cotton Bowl drubbing of Florida was the fact that Oklahoma’s defense finally showed it can hang with a high-powered offense. Granted, it was a Florida offense missing its 4 best receivers, but it was a key statement to make for Alex Grinch in Year 2 in Norman. Spencer Rattler figured things out after his benching and is now the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite. He’ll have leading receivers Marvin Mims and Theo Wease back. The Sooners have some ground game questions to figure out with Rhamondre Stevenson off to the NFL, but the offensive line is seemingly never a liability at Oklahoma. Nik Bonitto’s return will be huge for a defense that actually rushed the passer extremely well in 2020. The ability to replicate that defensive success down the stretch will be what determines the upside of Lincoln Riley’s 2021 squad.
3. Georgia
Yep. Get the Georgia hype train rolling. What a difference a month makes. We went from talking about passing the SEC East torch to Florida having just wasted one of the best Georgia defenses ever because of the quarterback situation, to talking about the Dawgs as a worthy top-3 team to start 2021. Why? In case you missed it, the Dawgs got a ton of huge returning announcements.
- QB JT Daniels
- NT Jordan Davis
- RB James Cook
- WR Kearis Jackson
- DT Devonte Wyatt
That’s for a group that already had promising underclassmen returners like Nakobe Dean, George Pickens, Jermaine Burton, Darnell Washington, Travon Walker and Nolan Smith. Add to that group nothing but top-3 recruiting classes and yeah, it’s not crazy to see why the Georgia hype train is off and running. A lot of that is Daniels, who lifted Georgia’s offense to a completely different place once he took over the starting gig. That’ll make the Dawgs a popular preseason pick to finally upend Alabama and end the 1980 jokes.
2. Alabama
Is it boring or fair to say that Alabama should be No. 2 in America to start the 2021 season? I’ll go with the latter. While we shouldn’t underestimate the loss of all that offensive production, including Steve Sarkisian, it’s worth noting that Alabama just had its best offensive season in program history after losing 4 offensive players in the first 15 picks of the NFL Draft. The future is bright with 5-star talent galore. Assuming Mac Jones is off to the NFL Draft, former 5-star quarterback Bryce Young is going to be surrounded by a ton of talent. John Metchie will be a preseason All-SEC receiver, Slade Bolden will return after stepping up in 2020 and the Jahleel Billingsley hype train will be off and running by media days. The ground game will be a question mark with a lot of new pieces, especially with the return of oft-injured former 5-star back Trey Sanders.
It’s defensively where Alabama should unquestionably thrive. Excluding the upcoming NFL announcements, we know that Christian Harris, Will Anderson, Jordan Battle and Malachi Moore are all back. Combine that with Alabama’s loaded classes and yeah, even with a slew of NFL talent gone, Alabama will be just fine there. All signs point to Alabama earning its 12th consecutive top-3 start in the AP Poll.
1. Clemson
We’re talking about a program with 6 consecutive Playoff berths. That’s silly. Go figure that Clemson could lose likely No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence and all-time ACC leading rusher Travis Etienne, and yet it could be better in 2021. That’s a testament to Dabo Swinney, who signed a pair of top-4 classes. It’s also a testament to D.J. Uiagalelei, who averaged nearly 9 yards per attempt and passed for just shy of 400 yards per game against a pair of elite defensive minds in Clark Lea and Jeff Hafley. Besides Uiagalelei and the promising young group of skill players around him is what Clemson returns in the front 7. Brent Venables has all sorts of key contributors, especially with “Bruise Brothers” James Skalski and Baylon Spector both back. Sophomores-to-be Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy completely lived up to their 5-star billing (combined for 17 TFLs and 8 sacks as true freshmen) and K.J. Henry looked the part when healthy.
The skill players might be a bit new, but the difference between Clemson now compared to 2017 when it lost Deshaun Watson is the recruiting. Love him or hate him, Swinney has done a remarkable job of keeping pace — and even setting it — during the last half decade-plus. Don’t expect that to change in the post-Lawrence era.
I know we are just having fun today, but Alabama should be ranked ahead of Clemson. They sucked against OSU, which sucked against Bama. They are losing their 2 biggest offensive weapons. Nick is still Nick.
I hope that a new team or two sneaks into the playoffs. It is getting a little boring. Best bests would be Texas A&M or Iowa State.
Y’all have to please let the transitive property go. It does NOT work in football.
It’s not the transitive property. Bama has looked like a more dominant team than Clemson all season long despite the struggles on defense.
Aw, its the property of transitivity all you remember from geometry? How long have you waited to use the verbiage? Hope it wasnt as long as it took me to use verbiage.
This is next season, not this past season CFB
Ok now we know you’re a Tech grad in Ute clothing
if your wife went to UGA, there’s your proof
1. Bama
2. Ohio St.
3. Clemson
4. Oklahoma
Wow a Georgia fan that isn’t delusional and hasn’t placed Georgia in the top 4 nor jumped in the usual Georgia pre-season hype train. I appreciate that.
He is obviously confused lol
As a Bama fan, I hope Georgia whips Clemson. They get to play in the easiest conference in the country and skate through the season. Glad they had to travel to South Bend this year. Even if they beat UGA, at least it will be a legit win rather than say boat race NC State or someone.
Georgia and Clemson will both be in the top 4 because they want to hype up that game as much as they can. Preseason rankings mean nothing but it will look like a much larger game if it is 1 vs 3 than it would if it was 3 vs 6. Still big but 1 vs 3 gets more hype
You lost all credibility when you put Ohio St at #2.
Since UGA and Clemson play the first game of the season, it’s not likely they will stay 1 and 3 for long. Someone will be going away.
The loser won’t fall far but they will lose their wiggle room for cfp playoffs. Fortunately for the Dawgs, after consecutive years of LSU, TEXAS, and Bama, our crossover opponent is Ark. So Fla will be the biggest game. Again. As it should be.
Texas a m
Man stop. The douche is only writing this to generate clicks. Don’t give him the attention he is prompting for.
At only 50 bucks an article, I wonder if they get a bonus for number of comments.
oh come on, its the first week of talking season. Let it rip
Alabama won’t open the real poll behind Clemson. Any returning champion (that isn’t a guaranteed disaster, like 2020 LSU and 2011 Auburn) is going to be #1 by default.
It’s crazy how they do this every year. I suppose you could argue that Sarkisian and a number of staff members are leaving, but Saban goes through that seemingly every year and it never phases him. Alabama should 100% be in the #1 spot until proven otherwise.
One small problem Venables is done he is a product of sign stealing once lost that advantage you have muschump.
cola…It’s amazing when you take that advantage away from Clem’s defense. I posted all season that their defense was not the fire-breathing monster of a few years ago(they had a D-line loaded with 5th year guys)…plus Clem’s DB’s this year were subpar. Ohio State sure blew em out…twas a thing of beauty. They do not deserve to be ranked #1 in 2021. I believe a sense of complacency has set in at Clem.
the subpar def line play by Clemson is surprising when you look at the recruits they’ve brought in there.
Top 5
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Georgia
4. Texas A&M
5. Ohio State
I like Oklahoma as well if Lincoln Riley doesnt leave for the Philadelphia Eagles
Agreed
Their defense is certainly not great, but it’s light years ahead of where it was a few years ago.
Hmmmm. Could Freeze go to Oklahoma because Tennessee is taking time searching for a firing with cause to avoid the payout?
Maybe. But I’d think if Riley leaves they go with someone from the Bob Stoops tree again
Freeze may be letting the furor die down for another season. He is quoted as saying that he isn’t thrilled about his daughter(s??) being exposed to what he’ll get when he runs on to the field in a SEC stadium.
and he thinks 2022 would be any better? He should know, in the SEC, the needle just means more :)
I cannot imagine anyone wanting to coach a bad team in the city of Philadelphia. Their fans are worse than Euro soccer hooligans.
They should probably just have the Semi’s and NC at the beginning of the year. Bama, Clemson, Ohio State and OU. Just get that over with so their players have an opportunity to opt out the rest of the way for the NFL draft. Then have everyone play the regular season followed by Bowl Season.
Once again Slowhio State and Notre Dame get overranked, then their opponents get overranked too so when Slowhio State and Notre Dame barely beat them, it won’t look bad and they retain their overrankings, then they get in the playoffs and get creamed. Wash, rinse, repeat.
With Sermon going out on the first play we basically got Ted Ginned lol.
I’m half-joking because I don’t think we would have won either way but without missing key guys to Covid it would have been a more competitive game. I’m not going to cry over a potential moral victory over the best offense in CFB history
I agree with everything you said. OSU losing the hottest player in the country not playing for Bama on the first play was a death knell. Also missing guy on the defensive front mattered. Winner wouldn’t have changed. But may not have been four td’s.
While I don’t like Ohio St, they did beat Clemson, and beat them good.
And that says all that need be said about anyone who thinks Clemson is a #1 consideration.
“Emory Jones is the first true Mullen quarterback”
I hope not. His extremely limited playing these past two seasons tells me there is a “learning the system” problem. No QB hyped like him (4-star) would get so little playing time unless there was an issue. He also throws a lot of dirt balls. I’m afraid he’ll be another Treon Harris (4-star too).
The “issue,” was a record breaking heisman canidate in front of him. He will be fine and brings a lot to the table with his ability to make plays with his legs. Only time will tell if he can slow the game down to make reads like Trask. Unfortunatly, you can teach and coach that all day but the player must have the ability to do so. Take Franks and Beans for example.
Also, the worst defense Florida has fielded EVER. Allowing teams to keep games close enough that Trask had to stay in the game until close to the end.
Well one thing I think we can all assume is that the Florida defense will significantly improve. This year was mostly a soft group of freshmen and sophomores who will be a veteran group of defensive players next year especially after a full spring and summer practice. On top of that Florida has recruited some studs on defense this last couple of years. The return of Cox and Carter is also huge.
Offensively I think we’re going to look completely different but not necessarily in a bad way. Florida will not be near as much of a vertical threat as it was this year that much is clear. How could we be, we lost 3 stud receivers and a Heisman finalist pro-style qb. Nonetheless, a improved veteran o-line along with 2 5 star running backs (Bowman and Lingard) as well as a dual threat QB will make the 2021 Florida Gators perhaps the most balanced offense in a while.
In regard to Emory Jones. I think people are nitpicking him for no reason. We’ve frequently seen him be used as a backup to Trask and Feleipe back in 2018 because he was the backup and those guys simply had more experience. These guys were the starters for a reason. On top of that, Emory had barely played or practiced with the receivers from the Cotton Bowl, people don’t realize it takes weeks for quarterbacks to develop relationships with their receivers. On top of that, yes Emory is a inferior passer to Trask, but I think with our 2 new 5 star running backs as well as Emory’s ability to scramble, the Florida offense could nullify that weakness. Anyway we will see. Worst case scenario Florida finishes the season 9-4. Best case scenario, Florida shocks the world, and upsets Bama at home, and maybe Georgia in Jacksonville, and wins out to make it into the playoffs. Sometimes you just never know. Many of us thought Alabama this year was not going to be as good because they lost all that talent. Look at how Devonta Smith, who at best looked mediocre in the prior years, stepped up and won them a natty.
So bad it made EJ lose his lunch on the field.
Every time these past two seasons that Jones went in and faced a pressure situation – third and long for instance – out he went and in went Trask. Every time.
Move LSU up about 3-5 spots. I think florida will experience a lot of what LSU did this year. I would move them down about 3 spots. Georgia really should go thru the east on cruise control. Just no threats there. havent looked at their schedule so they need to play a good OOC team to gain some experience against quality opponents. Should be a pretty good match up between them and bama most likely though I sure hope someone else from the west can find the magic formula. A&M looks a little high to me as well. They lose a lot too. Not sure they are to a point of restocking just yet, especially at the QB spot.
We open against Clemson which will be a really tough with such a young, green secondary. But our rotating SECW game is Arkansas and the other non-SEC opponents are UAB, Charleston Southern and GT.
No injuries, no drama, if team develops and grows throughout the season – UGA has a good chance at going 11-1 or 12-0 before the SECCG.
I wish we were playing a tougher schedule, especially towards the end of the season.
i think clemson is a tough enough opponent to make a our schedule difficult and assuming we win the east we would probably play bama too
Dawg fans…I am picking you guys in Red to defeat Dabo’s “choirboys”…In that game=Go Dawgs !
And you get Vanderbilt too? Well Merry Christmas, again.
“UGA has a good chance of going 11-1 or 12-0 before the SECCG” hahaha oh @TDOHTheDipSh*t you’re comedic relief never disappoints. 2021 is finally the pups year!! Lol.
UFGATOR92, you just have to let them have it, its all they have! Off season and recuriting is their time to shine!
Florida will make gains on defense through the transfer portal and will have an extremly efficient rushing offense as long as we get some O-line to return. Uness Emory has unexpected growing pains, it will be nothing like LSU this year.
“Florida will make gains on defense through the transfer portal …”
“UnLLLLess Emory has unexpected growing pains, it will be nothing like LSU this year” (Emory Jones couldn’t carry Myles Brennan’s or Max Johnson’s jock strap)
ROTFLMAO, now that was entertaining, where do I send the check!
Mister2Bits, I would be looking for a seasoned transfer QB.
E Jones is a career 56% passer. Maybe he grows into a better passer? If not what’s behind him, a true freshman?
It depends. Look none of us know the Florida QB room better than Mullen. Hate Mullen or love him, he turned a terrible Feleipe Franks into a good quarterback in his first year at Florida. Mullen knows his way around a quarterback. If Richardson beats Emory to the job, then Mullen will put him in. If Emory beats him, than Emory is likely better. Mullen put Trask ahead of Emory, and I think we can all agree that was the right decision, even if at first a large chunk of the Florida fanbase disagreed. Mullen knows what his quarterbacks are capable of, and he knows if they are capable of leading him to at least a NY6 bowl or not.
Except the same Dan Mullen started Franks willingly over Trask. That was a mistake (a very obvious one made clear very quickly after Franks’ injury last year). I don’t discount Mullen is a good QB coach, but I don’t think he is quite as good as Florida fans want everyone to believe.
Lol – what happened to mullet’s SECE “dynasty?????????”
Just think – mullet’s best season ever, finally beats Kirby and UGA, wins SECE and what happens …
the wheels come of the clown show cart and UGA finishes #7 in the AP finial season poll while the turds finish #13
Can’t wait until 2021 in Jacksonville, get some Emory Jones and 3rd and Grantham
Another pre season Natty for the Dawgs. lol. The most delusional fanbase in football.
What is the mullet high-water mark:
Win the SECE, have Heisman finalist for a QB, an All-American for a TE, throw a shoe, get curb stomped by OU, finish 13th
If UF can get past UK and Mizzou, UF has a solid chance to finish #2 in the SECE
Should have replied with “1980” or “44-28” while you can
@2$H1Ts, enjoy your one season of glory….oh, wait, still ended with 4 losses and a bowl beat down. So all you really got to crow about is your 1 out of 4 yr win over the Dawgs. Enjoy that bit of glory till Oct. Who knows, maybe in the offseason you’ll get more UGA castoffs like B. Cox….he really showed out setting the edge against OU.
Mister2Bits, time for your afternoon nap sir.
WHAT!!!! Tennessee isn’t ranked?!?!?! Say it isn’t so.
The b10 really fell flat on its face this season. OSU drilled by Bama, their other top teams wrecked by midlevel SEC teams, the circus at the start of the season (we might play, we won’t play, we will play), changing the rules to benefit OSU, etc. Hopefully they now realize the CFB runs through the SEC, and everyone else is just renting space.
Tennessee is ranked. You just didn’t scroll down far enough. UT is ranked 86th.
Meh, I’ve got no real problem with this meaningless projection.
I think I’ll just keep that ready to cut and paste until meaningful games start being played.
I wouldn’t say it’s meaningless. ESPN already released one too and has good reason to try and manipulate next years CFP committee as early as possible.
Booches..I actually agree with you on this. The College Playoff “Committee” is a total farce. I say let’s return to the BCS. I trust computers more than these slanted-committee members.
Georgia may be a bit high at 3, with them losing 3/4 the secondary.
Then again, what team doesn’t have question marks at this point.
Throw in the transfer portal – free agency – Poaching shuffle, and these teams could look a lot different in short order.
Regarding O’Gara’s take on Aggie front 7, yes we will miss Buddy Johnson and Bobby Brown, but that defense is coming back largely intact. I expect the defense as a whole to be as good or better. If the O-line and QB get it going by the Arky game, 2021 could be a very good year.
I am looking forward to having OOC games again. The teams don’t show up to bowl games as they used to see they tell you anything. Another thing about bowls is when you have weeks to prepare for a game it gives the more talented team even more of an advantage. That’s why you rarely see upsets in the playoffs and big bowl games unlike in the regular season.
So*
Not sure Clemson will be in the top 3 (Bama, OU and UGA).
As long as Dabo has a premium QB (and it appears he does) and the ACC remains wet-paper-sack weak, he is almost a shoo-in for the playoffs. Notre Dave gave him a challenge this season, but that was a one-year oddity. I’m not buying the rise of NC just yet, and FSU is a tire fire. Miami imploded in their bowl and is suspiciously unpredictable. Virginia Tech’s great years are a distant memory. Satterfield hasn’t figured out P5 ball yet and the Mendenhall hire in Charlottesville looks to have peaked. Take out Clemson and you’ve got a really good G5 conference.
Fortunately, we’ll see a handful of UGA-Clemson matchups over the next dozen years, starting with next season’s kickoff.
I suppose this pre-preseason list is as good as any. Though I’d prefer UGA to be lower and avoid the rat poison that attends such lofty SDS rankings.
“Lofty SDS rankings” – that’s pretty funny.
Let’s hope that this actually gets published as the season gets closer. Saban needs the motivation. The overhyped game of the year will be Clemson and Georgia.
Anytime Clemson plays a team with a pulse is must see TV…it happens so rarely with their schedule.
UGA at #3, eh we’ll see. A ton of good announcements in recent weeks for returning guys. We’ll see how the back end of the defense is built and if JT can continue to improve.
But why on God’s green earth is Klempson ranked above Bama, OSU or Oklahoma? OSU spanked em, Bama is supposedly returning just as many guys (but who cares, they just reload anyway) and Klempson is losing the entire production from offense with Etienne, Lawrence and WRs. And as the great philospher Rick Flair says, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man….. whooooo”!
I think BYU will be in the top 25 again.
Who cares? They played no P5 games this past season. They are playing 7 P5 games this coming season and will end up with several losses.
The problem with preseason polls is it basically already puts some team at a great advantage to finish high in the final polls. A team starting at 21 who ends up with 2 losses versus a team that starts top 5 and gets 2 losses will still be ranked behind the initially higher ranked team.
OSU is ranked too high as is notre dame. Both also play nobody during the year.
1. Oklahoma – returning QB and plenty on offense and defense. They also don’t have to play against SEC teams.
2. Georgia – tons of talent on both sides. Lots of returners and JT is coming back.
3. Bama – reloading with 5 star young as their QB.
4. Texas A&M – Mond is gone but all WR’s and RB’s coming back and defense should be good.
The rest are a question mark. Clemson, LSU, Florida, Cincy, UNC all have talent but missing pieces. The best result of the CFP is that they don’t rank teams till well into the season. They need to move to an 8 game playoff however.
Not really. I get your point but any team in the SEC will get the benefit of the doubt. And the SEC champion will almost always be in the playoffs. It washes out in the end.
CBS Sports’ way-too-early has Bama at 4. That is absolutely ludicrous.
moving on, I personally think Clemson could be due for a little regression. They were exposed by Ohio State and lose some good pieces, similar to OU this past year, where OU lost Jalen Hurts (a Heisman finalist like Lawrence) and got beat a couple times early. Clemson’s schedule is weaker than OU’s but I could see DJ have a rough go with UGA’s D.
excited for LSU though. I think Atlanta is probably out of the question but I think we can contend with A&M for 2nd in the West. Brennan/Max Johnson with Emery at HB and Boutte at WR is the beginning of a good core, and hopefully the DC can take advantage of the talent we have on D to change what went wrong last year.
It’s hard to not put Bama at the top, although they’re losing a bunch. It may be more open than it has been in a while–2021 could be pretty interesting.
tigersforlife…I am with you on your thoughts on Clemson. Clemson merely assumes that they will waltz into the Playoffs every year, after playing in the Always Cushy Conference. Some complacency has set in in Dabo-world I believe.
No mention of Clemson’s offensive line, huh? Well, it wouldn’t be SDS if you acknowledged the existence of an offensive line. (Oh look, another column about Kyle Pitts)
If Dabo is recruiting at an “elite level”, it’s not showing in that unit.
It’ll be fun defeating the #1 team in the season opener.
I guess we’ll just wait till midseason to get ranked…
LSU probably gonna be better than a 15th ranking I believe ..should be a great year next year with a lot of sec teams improving & kiffin & leach both being in there second year..
You’re a pot stirrer aren’t you? So I have read numerous times this incoming recruiting class of Alabama’s is the best ever, but you have Clemson 1st. Well, that’s your opinion which has been proven wrong time and again so there you go
You don’t get ranked first based off of a recruiting class.
Preseason rankings are based more on returning production and program continuity than recruiting
Every year its the same thing with these way too early rankings: they essentially rehash how the final season rankings looked. The writers never go out on a limb with a “big move” (up or down) team. It might appear that LSU fits that mold this time, but not really since in any given year LSU is a preseason Top 15.
I’m excited about LSU. We will have 18-19 returning starters (one is still undecided). And whether Brennan is 100% or not, we should have a decent QB. The DC is still unknown, but he can’t be any worse than Pelini.
It’s a complete joke to have Clemson as #1. They got a beat down from OSU who got a beat down by Bama. The only reason that Clemson has been in the CFP six years in a row is that they play in a joke of a football conference. These SDS writers are imbeciles.
This article is complete click bait for SEC fans. Ranking Clemson #1 after the beatdown they took to OSU AND they’re losing their “generational” QB? That’s a complete joke and the writer knows it. Every season Bama is #1 until proven otherwise.
Clemson 2
Iowa no
Iowa State no
Penn State no
Indiana no
Miss St yes
Mizzou yes
Boise State yes
The Onion gave the exact same Top 25 list.
So SDS is just cutting and pasting? Probably.
UNC, Cincinnati and Iowa State … it would be nice to see these refreshing faces in the top krewe.
listen here it goes like this….
1-Mizzou
2-Bama
3-Georgia
87-Florida
99-Tennesee
everyone ese just falls between 3 and 87
This is a actually a multiple choice question on the SAT: Which in this series is not a fit?
Georgia fans ought to check out the St Louis Post-Dispatch’s way-too-early Top 25 in this morning’s paper (Jan 13). Our local writer, Dave Matter, has UGA #1!
While I get the daily paper I think the STL P-D online is subscription only.
Not legit until UGA proves it on the field.
Yes, we get players back, but we are gutted in precisely the wrong unit to deal with current CFB offenses (secondary).
We have also done nothing to prove over past 40 years we should deserve the benefit of the doubt. We should be around 8-10.
Clemson loses a lot of skill talent on offense besides Trevor that don’t really have clear replacements in waiting. Their mediocre o-line will probably return more or less the same guys.
Georgia’s secondary has been absolutely decimated. One returning starter. That seems to go unnoticed amidst the hype train building around the front 7 and offensive passing corps. Still, if Kirby could go to a natty with a walk-on, two 3-stars, and a 2-star transfer manning his secondary in 2017, he can probably scrape something together.
Ranking Clemson is nothing short of a huge joke, and I dont say that simply as a Bama fan. Its just stupid to put them in the top spot coming off a season in which they had only one “quality” win, after losing to that same “quality” win school. The ACC is at the moment pretty weak and it was proven in the bowl games. Beaten badly by a team that beaten even worse by Bama is just silly, stupid.
I should have just skipped down to the bottom of his list. I would have just clicked off and moved on. I hate wasting time on a writer who knows less than me. Its not why I’m here. I’m here to get info, to form an opinion based on reasonable thought. That is totally void in O’Gara and he adds nothing. Just stick to reporting, no more opinions please from you.
I’m not really sure why the love for Notre Dame. They’re losing the starting QB and other important starters. They might be good, but not top 10 good.
#7 seems pretty high for A&M as well, considering the losses. They or Ole Miss are likely to finish 2nd in the west, but A&M seems more like top 15 than legit top 10.
You might have the O to contend, but I’ve got to see more on D to think that you separate from the pack. I think we’ll be about as good as y’all as we’ll have more talent on D. I’ll add that I respect that both of our HC’s have helped some of our fans mellow the bad behavior a bit…
Cracking me up
This is all for clicks. No real reason why this should be serious. Just something to comment on.
I have always thought that the National Champs should always start out the next year as No 1. Just out of respect if nothing else. Besides that what Bama did to OSU they deserve it.
Harbaugh finally got what every Coach not named Debo and Nick wants: low expectations. 6 ranked B1G teams plus Golden Gophers, Spartans, Rutgers, Purdue & Cornhuskers will be “tough outs”. I wonder who will take Harbaugh’s place as National overreaction? Georgia? Florida? Texas A&M? Penn St?