There’s good news and bad news.

I was always taught to tell a person bad news first, so I’ll stick with that school of thinking. The bad news is that spring football is over, as is the NFL Draft. That means we’re essentially football-less for the next 3 months. It’s a sad reality that we as college football fans will get through. I promise.

And hey, there’s still good news! The good news is that we have post-spring top 25s galore. USA Today, ESPN, CBS Sports and Sporting News all compiled their post-spring rankings now that we’ve seen a couple random injuries, the early enrollees and ever-hyped transfers.

Instead of reacting to the spring events and doing my own (I’ll do that in August), I decided to react to the reactions. Yes, I’m going to break down their top 25s based on where they had SEC teams. By the way, 8 SEC teams cracked at least one of the rankings.

I had thoughts on all of them.

Too Low

Mississippi State — USA Today (21), ESPN (16), CBS Sports (11), Sporting News (24)

Props, Dennis Dodd. The CBS Sports writer is the only one who has a clue about how good Mississippi State can and will be in 2018. The team that returns more production than the rest of the SEC needs to be more in the 10-15 range, and not barely in the top 25 as USA Today and Sporting News suggested. I know I sound like a broken record, but Joe Moorhead is one of the game’s best offensive minds and he has more talent in Starkville than people realize. I honestly believe that if you put the Bulldogs in Florida or LSU jerseys, more people would be talking about them as a possible top-10 team to start the year.

OK, that’s enough MSU ranting for the day.

Too High

Auburn — USA Today (11), ESPN (19), CBS Sports (10), Sporting News (8)

Yeah, I’m not at the point where I’m going to pencil in Gus Malzahn’s squad as a yearly top-10 team. I believe this will absolutely be a top-10 defense, despite the fact that it lost guys like Jeff Holland and Carlton Davis. But I still question how Auburn can get back to the level it was at last year with all the questions in the running game.

Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

The offensive line depth took a hit in the spring, and while there are a bevy of capable backs, none of them are on Kerryon Johnson’s level yet. Besides, I can’t go all in on Malzahn when his teams have been pretty average on the road since that 2013 season.

I’m thinking more 15-20 range like ESPN had for the Tigers.

Texas A&M — USA Today (NR), ESPN (23), CBS Sports (21), Sporting News (NR)

If you’re ranking the Aggies in a preseason poll, it’s because you believe that Florida State’s 2017 season wasn’t Jimbo Fisher’s fault. Either that or you’re under the impression that Texas A&M underachieved wildly under Kevin Sumlin last year. Either way, I’m siding with USA Today and Sporting News on this one.

Because he’s never had to do it in a new place before, I’m not convinced Fisher will rebuild Texas A&M overnight. While that roster is indeed talented — that Alabama game said a lot — I’m not convinced that A&M has the pieces in place to suddenly improve a run defense that was 70th in FBS last year. For now, I’ll hold off on calling the Aggies a top-25 team.

Florida — USA Today (NR), ESPN (NR), CBS Sports (22), Sporting News (NR)

Boo, Dennis Dodd. While I liked the CBS Sports writer’s slot for MSU, I didn’t like that he put a 4-win team in his preseason top 25. It’s a bit early to suggest that Dan Mullen deserves to be in the top 25 to start the season. Even though Jim McElwain taught us that you don’t need a passing game to be a top-25 team, it would help if we saw some resemblance of that in Gainesville before we called the Gators a top-25 squad. I did say, though, that I think Florida could rank in the top 25 in total defense and in rushing.

If I see Mullen’s squad have some sort of aerial attack coupled with those things in the first few weeks of the season, I’ll change my tune.

LSU — USA Today (NR), ESPN (NR), CBS Sports (25), Sporting News (18)

I like Bill Bender. I’ve talked to the Sporting News national college football writer at a couple different events, and he’s a good follow on social media. Perhaps I have an overdue tweet to send him.

Like, “why in the world do you have LSU at No. 18 ranked 6 spots ahead of Mississippi State?!?!”

Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

I try and steer clear from talking too much about the schedule in preseason polls because I don’t think that’s a fair factor from a rankings standpoint, so I won’t fault LSU for that daunting slate. But in Year 2 of the Ed Orgeron era (or 2.5), I’m not sure what suggests that this team deserves to start exactly where it finished 2017. Derrius Guice’s early departure? The uncertainty at quarterback? The third offensive coordinator in as many years? The No. 90 ranking in terms of defensive production returning?

There are far too many questions to answer with an unproven head coach for LSU to start the season ranked as a top-25 team.

Just Right

South Carolina — USA Today (24), ESPN (25), CBS Sports (NR), Sporting News (23)

That’s about what I expected to see for the Gamecocks, who return a wealth of production on the offensive side of the ball. That actually doesn’t include much from Deebo Samuel, who of course went down early in 2017. Even without Skai Moore, it’s hard not to be optimistic about what Will Muschamp can do with that defense in Year 3. I have no problem with South Carolina starting in the back end of the top 25 because of Muschamp’s track record of producing formidable defenses. While I’m not in the camp saying that South Carolina will upset Georgia in Week 2, I am in the camp that believes a preseason ranking is totally justifiable.

Georgia — USA Today (6), ESPN (4), CBS Sports (3), Sporting News (3)

I was thinking about where I’d probably have Georgia if I had to make a poll today. Honestly, it’d probably somewhere in the 3-6 range. The things that I feel really, really good about are Jake Fromm in Year 2, the uberly-talented running game and the improved secondary. The things that I’m not quite as sure about are the move-the-chains receivers, the linebacker experience and the defensive line depth.

Oh, I forgot. There’s one more thing I feel good about. Kirby Smart.

If last year was any indication, he knows what it takes to produce a yearly title contender. He gets the benefit of the doubt for having some holes to fill on the defensive side. This year is going to be the real indicator if he’s really got Georgia on Alabama’s level of reloading. But before we find that out, yes, the team that went to overtime in the national title game absolutely deserves to start in the top 5.

Alabama — USA Today (2), ESPN (1), CBS Sports (1), Sporting News (1)

If you aren’t including Alabama in your preseason top 2, you’re probably just doing it for attention. Enough said.