Fitz On Sports: Dissecting the College Football AP Top 25
The college football is fast approaching, meaning the Associated Press released the only Top 25 rankings that matter until the College Football Playoff committee starts up.
Let’s dive into some of the teams I thought were too highly ranked or too low. We’ll go from the top to the bottom.
Too High
No. 4: Notre Dame
Really? Notre Dame in the Top 5 AGAIN?! The Fighting Irish are a decent regular season team but are not on the level of Ohio State, Georgia or Alabama. Rank them No. 10 until Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish show the college football fandom they can win a playoff game.
No. 5: Clemson
DJ Uiagalelei didn’t impress last year. He had two great games replacing Trevor Lawrence two years ago. I frankly don’t see what everyone else sees with the Clemson quarterback.
Dabo Swinney is a heckuva coach, no doubt there. Clemson should have been at the bottom of the Top 10 or just outside.
No. 9: Oklahoma
You lose your quarterbacks and Lincoln Riley. I don’t think this is going to be as big of a bounceback season for the Sooners as voters might expect.
No. 13: North Carolina State
Full disclosure: I finally got to dig into the Wolf Pack late this week and why they got a No. 13 ranking.
The takeaway is they return a lot of starters. The issue here is what have they been able to prove over a longer period of time? If there’s anything that sticks out, it’s North Carolina’s preseason ranking last year, and how NC State seems similar. Put them in the back end of the Top 25, but if I’m wrong, I’ll gladly be put in my place and show humility.
No. 16: Miami (FL)
Every year, we ride the Hurricane bandwagon before they crash and burn. Has there not been a lesson learned here? Can we not vote them up based on name brand (and this is before they somehow wreck everyone) and actually on merit?
No. 17: Pittsburgh
Not too much to gripe about with this ranking, though it seems a little too high after losing a Heisman Trophy finalist. Are they Top 25 worthy? Yes, though I think Pitt is three or four spots above where they should be.
Too Low
No. 7: Utah
Utah looked pretty good last year outside of the Rose Bowl. If I had a ranking, I’d have slotted them ahead of Notre Dame. Then again, the Pac-12 hasn’t been a major player in recent years.
No. 11: Oregon
I’m usually a bit higher on Oregon than most. I view them as a Top 10 squad. While they lost some key pieces, the Ducks still have talent. It’s a matter of not choking when it matters most.
No. 15: Michigan State
I get it. Kenneth Walker left, and there’s a little bit of turnover. However, the Spartans can’t be counted out in the Big Ten race.
No. 20: Kentucky
Rarely do I say an SEC squad is under-ranked. Kentucky has been putting good teams on the field the past few seasons, and I don’t see anything different for this campaign. The only question is: Can they shock a team or two that we normally wouldn’t expect them to beat?
Just Right
Texas: Unranked
This was a fun extra. Thank you voters for not voting Texas into the Top 25! This is where the Longhorns belong until they show an actual consistent product. They passed over the name brand here, and that’s where I’ll give the credit.
___________________________________________________________
Sean Fitzgerald is an award-winning journalist, writer, sports reporter, voice over talent and co-host of The Weekenders Podcast with Mitch Spinell. Follow him on Twitter @fitzonsportsbsr for insights, articles and occasional livestreams, as well as weekly columns here on medium.com.
