QB | Stephen Calvert, Junior | |
WR | Antonio Gandy-Golden, Junior | |
WR | Damian King, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Juwan Wells, Senior | |
LB | Brandon Tillman, Junior | |
CB | Jeremy Peters, Junior |
RB | Quadraiz Wadley, Junior | |
T | Ruben Guerra, Junior | |
G | Derron Gatewood, Senior | |
- | ||
CB | Kalon Beverly, Senior | |
CB | Nik Needham, Senior | |
S | Kahani Smith, Senior |
RB | Anthony Taylor, Junior | |
WR | Tyler Watts, Senior | |
T | Aaron Brewer, Junior | |
- | ||
DT | Jordan Mittie, Junior | |
LB | Frankie Griffin, Senior | |
LB | Bryan London, Junior |
WR | John Ursua, Junior | |
WR | Dylan Collie, Senior | |
C | Asotui Eli, Senior | |
- | ||
DL | Viane Moala, Junior | |
LB | Jahlani Tavai, Senior | |
LB | Solomon Matautia, Junior |
126. New Mexico Lobos |
#11 in Mountain West |
QB | Tevaka Tuioti, Sophomore | |
RB | Tyrone Owens, Senior | |
T | Aaron Jenkins, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | Alex Hart, Senior | |
LB | Rhashaun Epting, Sophomore | |
CB | Jalin Burrell, Senior |
Not a good sign when you are the worst team in a state that also contains the Red Aggies.Coming off a bowl game Aggies
Coming off a bowl game AggiesSolid point.
125. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers |
#9 in Sun Belt |
QB | Kilton Anderson, Senior | |
WR | Malcolm Williams, Senior | |
G | Trey Carter, Sophomore | |
- | ||
LB | Silas Kelly, Sophomore | |
S | Fitz Watley, Senior | |
P | Evan Rabon, Senior |
124. Ball State Cardinals |
#12 in MAC |
QB | Riley Neal, Senior | |
RB | James Gilbert, Senior | |
WR | Justin Hall, Sophomore | |
- | ||
LB | Jacob White, Junior | |
LB | Brandon Martin, Sophomore | |
S | Bryce Cosby, Sophomore |
Wow the Mountain West has fallen off the past few years... two teams in the bottom 10? I'm not even sure it's the 3rd-best G5 conference this year.Man I was thinking the same thing....About 5 years ago I thought the MW had a legit argument to be the 6th power conference.
123. Rice Owls |
#13 in Conference USA |
RB/WR | Austin Walter, Senior | |
WR | Aaron Cephus, Sophomore | |
T | Calvin Anderson, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Roe Wilkins, Junior | |
S | Martin Nwakamma, Senior | |
P | Jack Fox, Senior |
Rice could go two ways:He actually made a pretty interesting hire, bringing in Jerry Mack, who had done a really good job as head coach at NC Central. He was RB coach for Bloomgren when Bloomgren was OC at Delta State.
1) Bloomgren, despite his Stanford history, might bring in a more "sling it all over the field" offensive coordinator. If he's a good coach, he'll adapt to what talent level and skill sets he has in his recruiting base. That's what good coaches do.
2) Bloomgren, by recruiting to a niche that currently is perhaps underserved, will manage to grab players that don't fit the "sling it all over the field" mold, much like Wisconsin does.
Either way, the results will probably depend on whether he's a good coach. Good coaches figure out what it will take to win where they're at, even if it's not their core idea, and implement it.
122. Charlotte 49ers |
#12 in Conference USA |
QB | Hasaan Klugh, Senior | |
RB | Benny LeMay, Junior | |
G | Nate Davis, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | Juwan Foggie, Senior | |
LB | Jeff Gemmell, Junior | |
S | Ben DeLuca, Junior |
121. San Jose State Spartans |
#10 in Mountain West |
QB | Montel Aaron, Sophomore | |
RB | Tyler Nevens, Sophomore | |
K | Bryce Crawford, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | Jamal Scott, Senior | |
CB | Dakari Monroe, Senior | |
S | Ethan Aguayo, Junior |
120. UTSA Roadrunners |
#11 in Conference USA |
RB | Jalen Rhodes, Senior | |
T | Josh Dunlop, Junior | |
K | Jared Sackett, Sophomore | |
- | ||
DT | Kevin Strong, Senior | |
S | Carl Austin, Senior | |
S | C.J. Levine, Senior |
119. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers |
#10 in Conference USA |
RB | D'Andre Ferby, Senior | |
WR | Lucky Jackson, Junior | |
C | Dennis Edwards, Senior | |
- | ||
CB | DeAndre Farris, Senior | |
S | Drell Greene, Senior | |
P | Jake Collins, Senior |
Wow the Mountain West has fallen off the past few years... two teams in the bottom 10? I'm not even sure it's the 3rd-best G5 conference this year.You know who else has similarly fallen off the last few years? The MTW's geographic partner, the PAC 12.
118. Georgia State Panthers |
#8 in Sun Belt |
WR | Penny Hart, Junior | |
TE | Ari Werts, Senior | |
G | Shamarious Gilmore, Sophomore | |
- | ||
DE | Marterious Allen, Senior | |
DT | Dontae Wilson, Sophomore | |
LB | Michael Shaw, Senior |
There sure are a lot of recent FCS call ups that have failed to make the jump successfully.I think in a lot of cases, the 20-schollie difference between FCS and FBS is a lot to overcome. I'm guessing a lot of these FBS newbies are probably finding any live body they can find and put them on scholarship. And even the weak conferences are stiffer competition than any FCS conference.
117. UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns |
#7 in Sun Belt |
RB | Trey Ragas, Sophomore | |
TE | Chase Rogers, Sophomore | |
G | Kevin Dotson, Junior | |
- | ||
DE | Joe Dillon, Junior | |
LB | Jacques Boudreaux, Junior | |
S | Corey Turner, Senior |
116. Bowling Green Falcons |
#11 in MAC |
RB | Andrew Clair, Sophomore | |
WR | Scott Miller, Senior | |
K | Jake Suder, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | David Konowalski, Senior | |
LB | Brandon Harris, Senior | |
S | Fred Garth, Senior |
I prognosticate that the Golden Flashes will be the first Ohio team to find their way onto this list.You throw a pretty mean curve ball my friend.
Man, the Sunbelt is basically an FCS all star league at this point. The only teams I can think of that aren't FCS/1AA call ups are stAte and the Ragin Cajuns. And I'm not even sure that they didn't have a brief stint in the FCS before joining the Big West back in the 90s.
Of course there are FCS call ups that jumped the Sunbelt and went straight to CUSA. There are others (WKU) who used the Sunbelt as a stepping stone to CUSA.
Hell, how many current CUSA teams have been 1A/FBS since the 78 split? Rice, obviously, and UTep. Southern Miss, Tulsa and Tulane, iirc. Pretty sure the entire East Division are FCS call ups.
115. Kent State Golden Flashes |
#10 in MAC |
QB | George Bollas, Senior | |
RB | Justin Rankin, Junior | |
WR | Trey Harrell, Junior | |
- | ||
LB | Jim Jones, Senior | |
S | Mandela Lawrence-Burke, Junior | |
P | Derek Adams, Junior |
114. Old Domininon Monarchs |
#9 in Conference USA |
WR | Isaiah Harper, Senior | |
T | Isaac Weaver, Junior | |
C | Nick Clarke, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Oshane Ximines, Senior | |
DT | Miles Fox, Senior | |
LB | Marvin Branch, Senior |
113. UL Monroe Warhawks |
#6 in Sun Belt |
QB | Caleb Evans, Junior | |
WR | R.J. Turner, Junior | |
WR | Marcus Green, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | David Griffith, Senior | |
CB | Corey Straughter, Sophomore | |
S | Wesley Thompson, Senior |
ELA, completely agree with you on ODU shoulda/woulda having the better footing when transition up to FBS. Coaching was stable, Norfolk/VaBeach (Tidewater Area) is great for high school football talent, and they are able to schedule home-&-homes with bigger regional names like VA Tech, UNC, & NCSt.To be perfectly honest, of all of the recent programs to transition into the FBS, Old Dominion was the one that I thought had the best chance for success. They had an established basketball program that had made 7 NCAA tournament appearances over the past two decades prior to their jump. While the program was just re-created in 2009, in their only two seasons of FCS competition where they were postseason eligible, they finished ranked in the top 10, and reached a Sweet 16 and an Elite 8. The jump to FBS hasn’t been nearly as seamless as I would have assumed. While it hasn’t been nearly a disaster, they followed what I thought was going to be their breakout 2016 season with a 5-7 clunker in 2017.
114. Old Domininon Monarchs #9 in Conference USA
QB WR WR LB CB S
It's really (past) time for the P5 to just move on and be its own thing - or just blow up and start over somehow.I think it's coming. Like I said, absent going to a 12 or 16 team tourney, with auto bids, what's the point of being in the Group of 5?
112. UNLV Rebels |
#9 in Mountain West |
QB | Armani Rogers, Sophomore | |
RB | Lexington Thomas, Senior | |
T | Nathan Jacobson, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Jameer Outsey, Senior | |
CB | Jericho Flowers, Junior | |
S | Dalton Baker, Senior |
111. Georgia Southern Eagles |
#5 in Sun Belt |
QB | Shai Werts, Sophomore | |
RB | Wesley Field, Senior | |
C | Curtis Rainey, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Raymond Johnson, Sophomore | |
DT | Logan Hunt, Senior | |
CB | Monquavion Brinson, Junior |
There aren't going to be very many Sunbelt teams in the top 100.For comparison purposes, in the final composite computer rankings last year there were 5, but #4 and #5 were #98 and #99. So there were only 3 in the top 97.
110. Southern Miss Eagles |
#8 in Conference USA |
T | Drake Dorbeck, Junior | |
G | Arvin Fletcher, Sophomore | |
K | Parker Shaunfield, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | LaDarius Harris, Senior | |
LB | Paxton Schrimsher, Junior | |
LB | Racheem Boothe, Sophomore |
109. FIU Panthers |
#7 in Conference USA |
WR | Anthony Gaiter, Junior | |
T | Daquane Wilkie, Senior | |
K | Jose Borregales, Sophomore | |
- | ||
DE | Fermin Silva, Senior | |
DT | Anthony Johnson, Senior | |
LB | Sage Lewis, Junior |
108. New Mexico State Aggies |
Independent |
WR | O.J. Clark, Junior | |
WR | Anthony Muse, Junior | |
T | Isaac McClain, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Cedric Wilcots, Junior | |
CB | Shamad Lomax, Junior | |
S | Ron LaForce, Senior |
107. Eastern Michigan Eagles |
#9 in MAC |
RB | Ian Eriksen, Senior | |
G | Jimmy Leatiota, Senior | |
K | Paulie Fricano, Junior | |
- | ||
DE | Jeremiah Harris, Senior | |
DT | Maxx Crosby, Junior | |
S | Brody Hoying, Junior |
publisher updated... I finally got around to it. I won't let it get so far behind again!Ha, thanks! Decided to make things hard on you, and immidiately post a new one
https://www.cfb51.com/pub/?p=41956
106. East Carolina Pirates |
#12 in American |
RB | Hussein Howe, Junior | |
WR | Trevon Brown, Senior | |
G | Garrett McGhin, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | Aaron Ramseur, Junior | |
LB | Cannon Gibbs, Senior | |
S | Devon Sutton, Junior |
105. South Alabama Jaguars |
#4 in Sun Belt |
WR | Jamarius Way, Senior | |
T | Noah Fisher, Senior | |
K | Gavin Patterson, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | Bull Barge, Senior | |
S | Nigel Lawrence, Senior | |
P | Corliss Waitman, Senior |
104. Cincinnati Bearcats |
#11 in American |
QB | Hayden Moore, Senior | |
RB | Gerrid Doaks, Sophomore | |
WR | Khalil Lewis, Senior | |
- | ||
DT | Marquise Cooper, Senior | |
LB | Perry Young, Junior | |
P | James Smith, Sophomore |
I'd lost track of how depleted the Bearcats had become. Still used to the years of them dependably winning 8 - 10 games/season under Dantonio, Kelly, and Butch Jones. Maybe they could go back to hiring from Central Michigan?After spending every year but two since 1993 at Ohio State, Luke Fickell isn’t used to losing. So you know 4-8 is not sitting well with him. Problem is that he may want to get used to it, because the Riverboat Gambler left the cupboard totally bare.
104. Cincinnati Bearcats #11 in American
103. Nevada Wolfpack |
#8 in Mountain West |
QB | Ty Gangi, Senior | |
RB | Kelton Moore, Junior | |
C | Sean Krepsz, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Malik Reed, Senior | |
S | Asauni Rufus, Senior | |
S | Dameon Baber, Senior |
102. Massachusetts Minutemen |
Independent |
QB | Andrew Ford, Senior | |
WR | Andy Isabella, Senior | |
T | Jack Driscoll, Junior | |
- | ||
LB | Bryton Barr, Senior | |
CB | Isaiah Rodgers, Junior | |
CB | Lee Moses, Senior |
101. Kansas Jayhawks |
#10 in Big XII |
WR | Steven Sims, Senior | |
T | Hakeem Adeniji, Junior | |
K | Gabriel Rui, Senior | |
- | ||
DT | Daniel Wise, Senior | |
LB | Joe Dineen, Senior | |
S | Mike Lee, Junior |
100. Colorado State Rams |
#7 in Mountain West |
RB | Izzy Matthews, Senior | |
WR | Olabisi Johnson, Senior | |
T | Ben Knox, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | Josh Watson, Senior | |
CB | Anthony Hawkins, Junior | |
P | Ryan Stonehouse, Sophomore |
99. Central Michigan Chippewas |
#8 in MAC |
RB | Jonathan Ward, Junior | |
T | Clayton Walderzak, Senior | |
G | Shakir Carr, Senior | |
- | ||
LB | Alex Briones, Senior | |
LB | Malik Fountain, Senior | |
CB | Sean Bunting, Junior |
98. Akron Zips |
#7 in MAC |
QB | Kato Nelson, Sophomore | |
WR | Kwadarrius Smith, Senior | |
T | Trevor Brown, Junior | |
- | ||
DE | Jamal Davis, Senior | |
LB | Ulysses Gilbert, Senior | |
CB | Alvin Davis, Junior |
97. Arkansas State Red Wolves |
#3 in Sun Belt |
QB | Justice Hansen, Senior | |
WR | Justin McInnis, Senior | |
T | Lanard Bonner, Senior | |
- | ||
DE | Ronheed Bingham, Senior | |
CB | Justin Clifton, Senior | |
P | Cody Grace, Junior |
96. Oregon State Beavers |
#12 in Pac 12 |
WR | Timmy Hernandez, Senior | |
TE | Noah Togiai, Junior | |
T | Blake Brandel, Junior | |
- | ||
LB | Jonathan Willis, Senior | |
S | David Morris, Sophomore | |
S | Jalen Moore, Junior |
95. BYU Cougars |
Independent |
RB | Squally Canada, Senior | |
TE | Matt Bushman, Sophomore | |
T | Thomas Shoaf, Junior | |
- | ||
DE | Corbin Kaufusi, Senior | |
DE | Sione Takitaki, Senior | |
CB | Dayan Ghanwoloku, Junior |
94. Connecticut Huskies |
#10 in American |
RB | Kevin Mensah, Sophomore | |
WR | Hergy Mayala, Senior | |
T | Matt Peart, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Marshe Terry, Junior | |
LB | Omar Fortt, Sophomore | |
CB | Tyler Coyle, Sophomore |
93. Tulsa Golden Hurricane |
#9 in American |
WR | Justin Hobbs, Senior | |
G | Evan Bowling, Senior | |
C | Chandler Miller, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Cooper Edmiston, Junior | |
LB | Diamon Cannon, Junior | |
S | McKinley Whitfield, Senior |
92. Illinois Fighting Illini |
#14 in Big Ten |
RB | Mike Epstein, Sophomore | |
WR | Mike Dudek, Senior | |
G | Nick Allegretti, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Del'Shawn Phillips, Senior | |
S | Stanley Green, Junior | |
P | Blake Hayes, Sophomore |
UCONN's uphill battle when it comes to recruiting is nearly hopeless. They just don't have the facilities or fan support (half of whom wear Patriots gear to the home games) to impress outsiders and within their own Northeast region they are at the bottom of the pecking order when facing local battles against Boston College, Rutgers, and Syracuse (though they do better than UMASS). Even though they are in a tweener conference the best they can usually hope for is a better than average MTN West or Conf USA signing class. It's not all hopeless though; if they can exercise patience they'll do very well with a coaching staff that emphasizes slowly developing a well rounded roster.
94. Connecticut Huskies #10 in American
Randy Edsall built UConn up from nothing once, and it's amazing how quickly it fell back to being nothing once he left. The talent simply isn't there. All 5 classes comprising the current UConn roster ranked in the bottom 3 of the AAC, and the highest ranked one nationally peaked at #99. The have exactly one player on the roster who ranked among the top 1000 nationally in his class, sophomore guard Cam DeGeorge.
91. Baylor Bears |
#9 in Big XII |
QB | Charlie Brewer, Sophomore | |
FB | Kyle Boyd, Junior | |
WR | Denzel Mims, Junior | |
. | ||
DT | Ira Lewis, Senior | |
LB | Clay Johnston, Junior | |
CB | Harrison Hand, Sophomore |
90. Air Force Falcons |
#6 in Mountain West |
QB | Arion Worthman, Senior | |
WR | Marcus Bennett, Senior | |
G | Griffin Landrum, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Lakota Wills, Sophomore | |
S | Kyle Floyd, Senior | |
S | James Jones, Junior |
89. Western Michigan Broncos |
#6 in MAC |
QB | Jon Wassink, Junior | |
G | Luke Juriga, Junior | |
C | John Keenoy, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Tony Balabani, Junior | |
CB | Sam Beal, Senior | |
S | Stefan Claiborne, Sophomore |
88. North Carolina Tar Heels |
#14 in ACC |
RB | Jordon Brown, Junior | |
WR | Anthony Ratliff-Williams, Junior | |
T | Charlie Heck, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Malik Carney, Senior | |
LB | Cole Holcomb, Junior | |
S | Myles Dorn, Junior |
87. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders |
#6 in Conference USA |
QB | Brent Stockstill, Senior | |
WR | Ty Lee, Junior | |
T | Robert Behanan, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Walter Brady, Senior | |
LB | Khalil Brooks, Junior | |
S | Jovante Moffatt, Senior |
86. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs |
#5 in Conference USA |
WR | Teddy Veal, Senior | |
WR | Rhashid Bonnette, Junior | |
G | O'Shea Dugas, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Jaylon Ferguson, Senior | |
LB | Dae'Von Washington, Senior | |
CB | Amik Robertson, Sophomore |
85. Marshall Thundering Herd |
#4 in Conference USA |
WR | Tyre Brady, Senior | |
WR | Marcel Williams, Senior | |
C | Levi Brown, Junior | |
. | ||
DT | Ryan Bee, Senior | |
LB | Chase Hancock, Senior | |
S | Malik Gant, Junior |
I have hopes for UNC to get back into the bowl season. Besides injuries last year the Tar Heels couldn't get a break with the schedule. This year's schedule has a lot more winnable games, the type of trap teams that can be counted on to get baited and dragged down if the Tar Heels coaching staff can be more assertive.
88. North Carolina Tar Heels #14 in ACC
No team in college football last year, hell no team from my memory banks has ever been hit harder by injuries than North Carolina was last year. The result was North Carolina’s worst season in over a decade, a 3-9 finish. But where that leaves them going into 2018 is tough to determine.
Considering the schedule opens with a cross country trip to Cal, then a game against defending national champion* Central Florida two weeks later, before opening ACC play the following week, they do not have the luxury of allowing the competition to continue into the fall.
Key Players
RB Jordon Brown, Junior WR T Charlie Heck, Junior . DE Malik Carney, Senior LB Cole Holcomb, Junior S
84. Miami(Ohio) RedHawks |
#5 in MAC |
QB | Gus Ragland, Senior | |
WR | James Gardner, Senior | |
T | Jordan Rigg, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Doug Costin, Junior | |
LB | Brad Koenig, Senior | |
S | Josh Allen, Senior |
The MAC's most prestigious program? I guess I wouldn't guess Miami-OH if asked. I'm partial to Central Michigan.After a 6 game winning streak to finish the 2016 regular season, to go from 0-6 to a bowl game, everything seemed in place for Miami(Ohio) to take another step forward. Instead, the MAC's most prestigious program limped along to another mediocre year, falling short of a bowl game primarily due to back to back midseason losses to the worst teams in the East Division, Bowling Green and Kent State.
84. Miami(Ohio) RedHawks #5 in MAC
Key Players
QB Gus Ragland, Senior WR James Gardner, Senior T Jordan Rigg, Senior . DE Doug Costin, Junior LB Brad Koenig, Senior S Josh Allen, Senior
The MAC's most prestigious program? I guess I wouldn't guess Miami-OH if asked. I'm partial to Central Michigan.Miami has the most conference championships, more than twice as many as CMU, who is 4th. They also have the whole Cradle of Coaches thing. Going Sid Gillman, Woody Hayes, Ara Paraseghian, John Pont, Bo Schembechler, Bill Mallory, is a run of home run coaching hires that no mid-major will ever touch. Plus academically they are well out in front of the field in the conference.
83. UAB Blazers |
#3 in Conference USA |
QB | A.J. Erdely, Senior | |
RB | Spencer Brown, Sophomore | |
WR | Andre Wilson, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Stacy Keely, Senior | |
DE | Garrett Marino, Junior | |
CB | Broderick Thomas, Senior |
82. Utah State Aggies |
#5 in Mountain West |
TE | Dax Raymond, Junior | |
T | Roman Andrus, Senior | |
K | Dominik Eberle, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Suli Tamaivena, Senior | |
LB | Chase Christiansen, Senior | |
S | Gaje Ferguson, Senior |
81. Rutgers Scarlet Knights |
#13 in Big Ten |
RB | Jon Hilliaman, Senior | |
TE | Jerome Washington, Senior | |
T | Tariq Cole, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Trevor Morris, Senior | |
LB | Deonte Roberts, Senior | |
CB | Damon Hayes, Junior |
80. Troy Trojans |
#2 in Sun Belt |
WR | Deondre Douglas, Senior | |
C | Deontae Crumitie, Senior | |
G | Tristan Crowder, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Hunter Reese, Senior | |
LB | Tron Folsom, Junior | |
CB | Blace Brown, Senior |
Utah State's Matt Wells is a good unfolding case study in how Utah State see itself ( or should.) Going 6-7, 3-9, & 6-7 in the last three seasons, I am glad USU didn't fire him and evidently realizes - hey we're Utah State, not Ohio State, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Unfortunately Wells is unsurprisingly enemy #1 on the main Aggies board I found, by fans who have seemingly forgotten how bad the program was before Gary Anderson showed up.Gerry Andersen is available to resurrect it, once again. He wouldn't even have to move too far. It would be just like old times.
It's worth pointing out the obvious - that sports fans will overlook a lot when their teams are doing well and conversely will forget the good past memories brought on by a coach who suddenly hits a rough patch; it's worth pointing that out as a fortunate point of consistency of sports fans as opposed to fans of TV shows or entertainments like Star Wars where in the case of "winning," i.e. putting out a latest hit movie or episode, entertainment fans can suddenly turn on what they're a fan of.
79. Appalachian State Mountaineers |
#1 in Sun Belt |
RB | Jalin Moore, Senior | |
WR | Thomas Hennigan, Sophomore | |
T | Victor Johnson, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Anthony Flory, Senior | |
CB | Clifton Duck, Junior | |
CB | Tae Hayes, Senior |
77. Houston Cougars |
#8 in American |
QB | D'Eriq King, Junior | |
T | Josh Jones, Sophomore | |
K | Caden Novikoff, Senior | |
. | ||
NT | Ed Oliver, Junior | |
LB | Emeke Egbule, Senior | |
S | Garrett Davis, Senior |
I had a few drinks with Gary Anderson in LaCrosse when he was in fall camp with the Saints
Gerry Andersen is available to resurrect it, once again. He wouldn't even have to move too far. It would be just like old times.Given the way Gary Anderson huffed away from TWO P5 gigs, burning a world of goodwill, Logan Utah is likely the last place that'll have anything to do with Gary Anderson. Maybe offer him an assistant position?
Gary Anderson was an excellent kicker for a long, long time.
I'm a bit surprised #1 in the Sun Belt would be #79 overall. Usually they have a team that is about as good as a poor P5 team, or better, compared to say Vandy or Duke.Yeah, this is lower than I usually have one as well. The problem is the top 3 was so far ahead of the rest of the pack, and all 3 lost a lot in the offseason. There's really nobody else ready to jump up into that spot right now.
77. Colorado Buffaloes |
#11 in Pac 12 |
QB | Steven Montez, Junior | |
T | Isaac Miller, Junior | |
K | Jay Stefanou, Sophomore | |
. | ||
LB | Rick Gamboa, Senior | |
LB | Drew Lewis, Senior | |
S | Evan Worthington, Senior |
76. Vanderbilt Commodores |
#14 in SEC |
QB | Kyle Shurmur, Senior | |
WR | Kalija Lipscomb, Junior | |
T | Justin Skule, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Dare Odeyingbo, Senior | |
LB | Charles Wright, Senior | |
S | LaDarius Wiley, Senior |
Surprised Colorado falls all the way to the bottom of the PAC 12 South given how iffy I feel about the Arizona schools and how blahh I feel about SC, UCLA, Utah. It's a division that's truly wide open to the point the Buffs have as good of a shot as anybody. Even with SC I'm expecting them to take a big step back without Darnold holding the program together (he was much more than an effective QB; Darnold provided an onfield and sideline stability not seen in the Coliseum since before the days of Kiffin/Sark).The Pac South's MTZ teams are basically there for USC and UCLA to pad their records.
I'm a little confused by your review though - wasn't it after 2016 the Buffs lost most of their starters, went into 2017 as an expected rebuilding year (shouldn't've been ranked) and are now poised to trend up this year with a lot returning experience?
I'm predicting a 7 or 8 win season and a top 3 division finish for Colorado.
EDIT: I looked up returning starter rankings and Colorado is 123rd Nationally, only returning 47% going into 2018. This after ranking 102nd returning only 53% going into 2017. I figured the percentage figure would correct itself this year, but instead it's worse. (65%, or 2/3rds, is a safe median percentage for returning starters and for 2 years in a row Colorado is more than 10 percentage points below that figure.)
75. Wyoming Cowboys |
#4 in Mountain West |
RB | Kellen Overstreet, Junior | |
WR | Austin Conway, Junior | |
T | Zach Wallace, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Carl Granderson, Senior | |
DT | Youhanna Ghaifan, Junior | |
S | Andrew Wingard, Senior |
The Pac South's MTZ teams are basically there for USC and UCLA to pad their records.You're relying on UCLA's brand too much. They only won the division once under Mora Jr, despite fielding the talent to win every year. The MTZ collective did better than that. Good news is that I'm betting on big things from Chipsters.
Even with a paper tiger USC and a really down UCLA, those two teams went a combined 6-2 against the rest of the division.
Now you have Chip Kelly at UCLA, while RichRod is out at Arizona, and ASU has hired Herman Edwards....
Sure one of the MTZ quadruplets is going to win one here and there, but that division is going to go to the USC-UCLA winner most years.
74. SMU Mustangs |
#7 in American |
QB | Ben Hicks, Junior | |
RB | Xavier Jones, Junior | |
T | Chad Pursley, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Kyran Mitchell, Senior | |
CB | Jordan Wyatt, Senior | |
S | Mikial Onu, Junior |
73. Tennessee Volunteers |
#13 in SEC |
QB | Jarrett Guarantano, Sophomore | |
WR | Brandon Johnson, Junior | |
T | Trey Smith, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DE | Darrell Taylor, Junior | |
LB | Daniel Bituli, Junior | |
S | Nigel Warrior, Junior |
I don't follow Tennnessee closely (though I'm planning on attending one of their road games this coming season) but they must have suffered a lot of transfers and non-quals under Botch Jones because there's no way their roster should be as underwhelming as it is. Vols recruited well under Jones: 2018 #20, 2017 #17, 2016 #14, 2015 #4, 2014 #7.Those recruiting numbers of course put them in the middle of the SEC. That means you might expect a 4-4 conference record leading to an 8-4 or 7-5 overall record. Pruitt has his work cut out clearly to reestablish a level of toughness lost.
72. Buffalo Bulls |
#4 in MAC |
QB | Tyree Jackson, Junior | |
WR | Anthony Johnson, Senior | |
C | James O'Hagan, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Chuck Harris, Senior | |
LB | Khalil Hodge, Senior | |
LB | Jordan Collier, Senior |
71. Arkansas Razorbacks |
#12 in SEC |
WR | Jonathan Nance, Senior | |
T | Colton Jackson, Junior | |
K | Connor Limpert, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | De'Jon Harris, Junior | |
LB | Dre Greenlaw, Senior | |
S | Santos Ramirez, Senior |
It was also the first time he took over a situation that hadn't been improved prior to his arrival. You get a head job one of two ways (aside from retirements). Either the previous coach did such a good job, he got a better one. Or he did such a bad job he got fired and left a mess. Butch got his first two jobs the former way. Brian Kelly set up CMU for him; and Dantonio and Kelly set up Cincinnati for him. It does take skill to keep something going, but he had never had to galvanize a broken team. It's a different skill set.Yeah, but before last year it looked like he had galvanized the program. Back to back 9 win seasons and ranked finishes for the first time in a decade. I don’t know what happened last year but I seem to remember they had a rash of injuries as well.
A problem for ANY Vol coach is that "back to back 9 win seasons" will get you fired, even without a following 4-8 clincher. Jones had to do more than win 9 games.But the fact is back to back 9 win seasons didn’t get him fired or even have him on the hot seat prior to last year. I get that expectations in Knoxville are loftier than that but UT hadn’t those kind of seasons in almost ten years. Last year was a really bad look and I expected him to be fired but now UT is in on its sixth coach since letting Fulmer go at the end of 2008.
And those are really 8 win seasons with a minor bowl victory, so 4 losses, and to teams that are "rivals" in a sense plus that last 9 win season was supposed to be the "breakthrough" Vol fans wanted, e.g., an 11+ win season.
Mark Richt was fired after successive 10 win seasons, so this is not unique.
Pruitt of course catches a bit of a break coming off 4-8 where anything is likely better. They open with WVU in a likely loss and catch Auburn (away) from the West (with Bama) and play at Georgia and USCe. I can see a 6-6 record this year, mebbe 7-5 if they can edge Florida.
The problem for Pruitt starts in 2019 when Vol Fans will be expecting an SEC East title, at least. UGA did that after an 8-5 year.
But the fact is back to back 9 win seasons didn’t get him fired or even have him on the hot seat prior to last year. I get that expectations in Knoxville are loftier than that but UT hadn’t those kind of seasons in almost ten years. Last year was a really bad look and I expected him to be fired but now UT is in on its sixth coach since letting Fulmer go at the end of 2008.Oh, he was absolutely on a very hot seat prior to last year. VERY hot. Expectations were for at least winning the East in 2016, at least, and they didn't, and they had a couple lucky wins in that nine.
9 wins isn't what it used to be. With 12 games on the schedule now, the stick is 10 wins or better.Yeah, 8-4 with a minor bowl win is just a so-so season for upper level programs. 10-3 gets you into "OK", but you'd better not do that routinely while losing to major rivals. Fans of programs like Tenn and Florida and LSU just don't put up with 9 win seasons for very long unless there are some 11-12-13 win seasons salted in somewhere.
9 wins isn't what it used to be. With 12 games on the schedule now, the stick is 10 wins or better.I think 9 wins looks pretty good when the previous 7 years your win totals were 5,7,6,5,5,5,7. Like I said, I get it. Last year was a bad look and I don’t follow UT closely enough to know what the rumors were surrounding the program. From the outside looking in it looked like Jones was getting them back on track before last year hit. I would have liked to have seen them him another year but in arms race that is the SEC I know why they didn’t.
Oh, he was absolutely on a very hot seat prior to last year. VERY hot. Expectations were for at least winning the East in 2016, at least, and they didn't, and they had a couple lucky wins in that nine.Fair enough. I’ll take your word for it. He may have been in bigger trouble than I realized.
Jones would have been fired had the Vols been 8-5 in 2017, he was on very thin ice.
70. Ohio Bobcats |
#3 in MAC |
QB | Nathan Rourke, Junior | |
RB | A.J. Ouellette, Senior | |
WR | Papi White, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Evan Croutch, Senior | |
CB | Jalen Fox, Senior | |
S | Javon Hagan, Junior |
69. Virginia Cavaliers |
#13 in ACC |
RB | Jordan Ellis, Senior | |
WR | Joe Reed, Junior | |
HB | Olamide Zaccheaus, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Chris Peace, Senior | |
CB | Juan Thornhill, Senior | |
P | Lester Coleman, Senior |
Usually, the "University of State" is the flagship, Ohio State being an obvious exception with LSU, Penn State, and Boise State.I'd argue that Purdue and Indiana are co-flagship schools, by design. The state has very deliberately split the emphasis of each university so that they are both the flagships within the state within their individual expertise.
68. Temple Owls |
#6 in American |
QB | Frank Nutile, Senior | |
WR | Isaiah Wright, Junior | |
C | Matt Hennessey, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DE | Quincy Roche, Sophomore | |
LB | Shaun Bradley, Junior | |
S | Delvon Randall, Senior |
67. Indiana Hoosiers |
#12 in Big Ten |
QB | Peyton Ramsey, Sophomore | |
WR | Luke Timian, Senior | |
G | Wes Martin, Senior | |
. | ||
DT | Jacob Robinson, Senior | |
S | Jonathan Crawford, Senior | |
P | Haydon Whitehead, Junior |
I hear that Illinois just doesn't care about football, which is fine. But Wisconsin does, and whatever Wisconsin "State" is is a forgotten team in foosball.UW and Wisconsin State merged a long while ago - early '70's I think.
UW and Wisconsin State merged a long while ago - early '70's I think.There were some changed to the management of the UW system as a whole that were passed last year that were somewhat controversial right? Obviously I didn't pay super close attention, but something about centralizing power? I imagine is was a cost cutting/efficiency improving change that universities tend to try and fight against.
It is now the Wisconsin System, period.
66. UCLA Bruins |
#10 in Pac 12 |
RB | Soso Jamabo, Senior | |
RB | Bolu Olorunfunmi, Senior | |
K | J.J. Molson, Senior | |
. | ||
CB | Darnay Holmes, Senior | |
CB | Nate Meadors, Senior | |
S | Adarius Pickett, Senior |
65. Tulane Green Wave |
#5 in American |
QB | Jonathan Banks, Senior | |
WR | Terren Encalade, Senior | |
T | Tyler Johnson, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Zachary Harris, Junior | |
CB | Donnie Lewis, Senior | |
S | Chase Kuerschen, Sophomore |
64. North Texas Mean Green |
#2 in Conference USA |
QB | Mason Fine, Junior | |
WR | Jalen Guyton, Junior | |
T | Jordan Murray, Senior | |
. | ||
NT | Roderick Young, Senior | |
LB | E.J. Ejiva, Senior | |
S | Khairi Muhammad, Junior |
Did North Texas officially change their name from the Eagles to the Mean Green? Or is it like the Black Knights/Cadets thing?They officially switched from Eagles to Mean Green. Not sure what you mean about the other. Army also officially changed from Cadets to Black Knights.
63. Minnesota Golden Gophers |
#11 in Big Ten |
RB | Rodney Smith, Senior | |
WR | Tyler Johnson, Junior | |
K | Emmit Carpenter, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Thomas Barber, Junior | |
LB | Carter Coughlin, Junior | |
S | Jacob Huff, Senior |
62. Nebraska Cornhuskers |
#10 in Big Ten |
WR | Stanley Morgan, Senior | |
WR | J.D. Spielman, Sophomore | |
G | Jerald Foster, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Dedrick Young, Senior | |
LB | Ben Stille, Sophomore | |
S | Aaron Williams, Senior |
I don't follow Tennnessee closely (though I'm planning on attending one of their road games this coming season) but they must have suffered a lot of transfers and non-quals under Botch Jones because there's no way their roster should be as underwhelming as it is. Vols recruited well under Jones: 2018 #20, 2017 #17, 2016 #14, 2015 #4, 2014 #7.i'm a little late to this thread, but anyway...
63. Minnesota Golden GophersIt's like Bowling Green and Kent all over again. ;D
#11 in Big Ten
62. Nebraska Cornhuskers
#10 in Big Ten
did you see the Gophers ramble for over 400 yards rushing vs the hapless Huskers a few months ago?
Helmet factortough rowing in Lincoln
Helmet factorOne has a real-life football coach and the other has a real-life ass clown.
Claiming a NC at UCF may have been a little bit cheesy, but I wouldn't go so far as to call the man an ass clown. :great:(https://forums.rivals.com/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia3.giphy.com%2Fmedia%2FdACqNmvAfY12M%2Fgiphy.gif&hash=3c63cab8291d032511231437d2dac801)
61. Maryland Terrapins |
#9 in Big Ten |
RB | Ty Johnson, Senior | |
T | Derwin Gray, Senior | |
T | Damian Prince, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Isaiah Davis, Junior | |
CB | Antoine Brooks, Junior | |
S | Darnell Savage, Senior |
The B1G seems to have little middle, if you will, some really good teams and really bad teams and not much in the 20-40 category. Good stuff.That's what it was last year too
Also, I'll be travelling the next few days, so this will go on hiatus until Monday.Have fun (I hope).
Have fun (I hope).Brother's bachelor party in Denver. Should involve mostly brewery tours, with a spattering of grilling and golfing. So yes, hopefully.
The B1G seems to have little middle, if you will, some really good teams and really bad teams and not much in the 20-40 category. Good stuff.My opinion, which is worth the amount I am being paid to write this, is that the only really bad Big Ten team is Illinois. This is supported by the 8-1 2017-18 bowl record, among other things, and I believe the same will hold true for the 2018 season. The Big Ten has the best coaches in NCAA football not named Saban. This has not always been the case.
The B1G seems to have little middle, if you will, some really good teams and really bad teams and not much in the 20-40 category. Good stuff.I think this has been the knock on the B1G for some time now.
o fer in conference will get a coach cannedMaybe at "Vandy" in year one he'd survive.
Whence goeth Purdue? They showed signs of life last year. One time deal or real improvement?I'm sure they're coming up soon. The schedule does no favors this year. And the defense, which was a strength, graduated quite a bit. I could see a regression this year since the talent level hasn't come in for Brohm yet.
60. Toledo Rockets |
#2 in MAC |
WR | Diontae Johnson, Junior | |
G | Bryce Harris, Junior | |
K | Jameson Vest, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Richard Olekanma, Senior | |
S | Kahlil Robinson, Junior | |
S | Josh Teachey, Senior |
59. Navy Midshipmen |
#4 in American |
QB | Malcolm Perry, Junior | |
WR | Zach Abey, Senior | |
T | Jake Hawk, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Josh Webb, Senior | |
LB | Hudson Sullivan, Senior | |
S | Sean Williams, Senior |
58. Army Black Knights |
Independent |
RB | Darnell Woolfolk, Senior | |
RB | Kell Walker, Junior | |
C | Bryce Holland, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | James Nachtigal, Senior | |
LB | Kenneth Brinson, Senior | |
S | Gibby Gibson, Senior |
57. Texas Tech Red Raiders |
#8 in Big XII |
T | Travis Bruffy, Junior | |
T | Madison Akamnonu, Junior | |
C | Paul Stawarz, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Dakota Allen, Senior | |
CB | Justus Parker, Junior | |
S | Jah'Shawn Johnson, Senior |
56. Northern Illinois Huskies |
#1 in MAC |
QB | Marcus Childers, Sophomore | |
WR | Spencer Tears, Junior | |
T | Max Scharping, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Sutton Smith, Junior | |
DE | Josh Corcoran, Senior | |
S | Mykelti Williams, Senior |
55. Syracuse Orange |
#12 in ACC |
QB | Eric Dungey, Senior | |
RB | Dontae Strickland, Senior | |
RB | Moe Neal, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Alton Robinson, Junior | |
CB | Christopher Fredrick, Junior | |
S | Evan Foster, Junior |
54. Ole Miss Rebels |
#11 in SEC |
QB | Jordan Ta'amu, Senior | |
WR | A.J. Brown, Junior | |
T | Greg Little, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Josiah Coatney, Junior | |
CB | Javien Hamilton, Senior | |
S | C.J. Moore, Senior |
Speaking of Patterson, did the finalizing of his transfer status have any bearing on precisely where you will rank Michigan?I don't edit the rankings once I finalize them, because it leads to too many inconsistencies, so no.
53. Pittsburgh Panthers |
#11 in ACC |
RB | Darrin Hall, Senior | |
WR | Rafael Araujo-Lopes, Senior | |
G | Alex Bookser, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Oluwaseun Idowu, Senior | |
LB | Saleem Brightwell, Junior | |
CB | Dane Jackson, Junior |
Speaking of Patterson, did the finalizing of his transfer status have any bearing on precisely where you will rank Michigan?I'll bet that he ranks them ahead of at least one of MSU, Wisconsin or PSU.
I don't edit the rankings once I finalize them, because it leads to too many inconsistencies, so no.Just as well. In the Michigan offseason thread MDot had some good info that the new WR & OL coaches might be a more significant addition but Patterson is obviously more buzz worthy.
Patterson still needs to be developed, which is something Harbaugh has not done a good job with, while at Michigan.Would be fun to guess where our teams are going to end up here. I'm going with #4.
I'm guessing ELA will have UM in the 20ish range here.
52. Florida Gators |
#10 in SEC |
QB | Feleipe Franks, Sophomore | |
RB | Jordan Scarlett, Junior | |
T | Martez Ivey, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Cece Jefferson, Senior | |
LB | David Reese, Junior | |
CB | C.J. Henderson, Sophomore |
Who can correctly guess the remaining two teams that will be squeezed out of the Top 50?Florida and some other team.
Florida and some other team.(https://www.cfb51.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi0.kym-cdn.com%2Fphotos%2Fimages%2Fnewsfeed%2F000%2F616%2F605%2F697.jpg&hash=50b6a815931bcac43648a7b97215d267)
Arizona State's # must be coming soon.Surprised there haven't been more PAC 12 teams at this point.
Has he covered Arkansas and Ole Miss yet?Yes, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt were already hit among SEC teams.
51. California Golden Bears |
#9 in Pac 12 |
QB | Ross Bowers, Junior | |
RB | Patrick Laird, Senior | |
T | Patrick Mekari, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Jordan Kunaczyk, Senior | |
LB | Alex Funches, Senior | |
CB | Camryn Bynum, Sophomore |
Yes, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt were already hit among SEC teams.Interesting to list P5 teams by conference with this dubious distinction I muse.
Michigan is in a LOT better shape than UF or Tenn. I think UF might be an 8-5 kind of team.Didn't Michigan go 8-5 last year?
Didn't Michigan go 8-5 last year?Yes, and Florida went 4-7. So Florida needs a 4 game improvement just to reach the level of Michigan's disappointing 2017. If Michigan also has a 4 game improvement, they'll be in really good shape.
but, Michigan is a LOT better this year(https://www.cfb51.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmimispeaks.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F11%2Flee-corso.png&hash=b5a681229d2d9805f4379adf32720b5a)
they have a QB
I don't edit the rankings once I finalize them, because it leads to too many inconsistencies, so no..
Yes, and Florida went 4-7. So Florida needs a 4 game improvement just to reach the level of Michigan's disappointing 2017. If Michigan also has a 4 game improvement, they'll be in really good shape.A four game improvement?
A four game improvement?That's not the point. He said Michigan is in better shape than Florida, and you said Michigan went 8-5 last year. My only point was that Florida would need a 4 win improvement just to get to that level. And then my Michigan example was that if Michigan improved by the amount Florida would have to just to be 2017 Michigan, then Michigan would be in really good shape.
I suppose that they could win the bowl game this year, sure, but they have to play all four of the other teams that beat them; each of which has been much better than Michigan as of late.
MSU, PSU, OSU, Wisconsin... those are all teams that have been right on the doorstep of the playoffs, and have been TCB vs the Wolverines.
They might steal one of those four. Maybe even two. But three?
Toss in the fact that they'd also have to beat the Domers, and a four game improvement seems extremely improbable, imho.
50. South Florida Bulls |
#3 in American |
WR | Tyre McCants, Senior | |
WR | Darnell Salomon, Junior | |
T | Marcus Norman, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Nico Sawtelle, Junior | |
LB | Greg Reaves, Junior | |
CB | Ronnie Hoggins, Senior |
but, Michigan is a LOT better this yearAs they do every year. Development has been the issue. Plenty of 4* talent in the house.
they have a QB
49. Kentucky Wildcats |
#9 in SEC |
RB | Benny Snell, Junior | |
T | George Asafo-Adjei, Senior | |
T | Landon Young, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Josh Allen, Senior | |
S | Mike Edwards, Senior | |
S | Darius West, Senior |
48. San Diego State Aztecs |
#3 in Mountain West |
QB | Christian Chapman, Senior | |
T | Tyler Roemer, Sophomore | |
G | Keith Ismael, Sophomore | |
. | ||
LB | Ronley Lakalaka, Senior | |
S | Tariq Thompson, Sophomore | |
S | Parker Baldwin, Senior |
47. Texas A&M Aggies |
#8 in SEC |
QB | Nick Starkel, Sophomore | |
RB | Trayveon Williams, Junior | |
WR | Jhamon Ausbon, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DE | Landis Durham, Senior | |
LB | Tyrell Dodson, Junior | |
LB | Otaro Alaka, Senior |
46. Missouri Tigers |
#7 in SEC |
QB | Drew Lock, Senior | |
RB | Larry Roundtree, Sophomore | |
TE | Albert Okwuegbunam, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DT | Terry Beckner, Senior | |
LB | Cale Garrett, Junior | |
CB | Adam Sparks, Sophomore |
One thing I try to do each year is choose the most under rated and over rated teams. I had NCSU last year as under rated, and that was a so so pick. I forget now who I had as OR. Somebody else here did really well.I had LSU as overrated, which looked great for a while, but then they mildly recovered. I had Colorado as underrated, and that pick was awful
45. Memphis Tigers |
#2 in American |
RB | Darrell Henderson, Junior | |
RB | Tony Pollard, Junior | |
TE | Joey Magnifico, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Curtis Akins, Senior | |
LB | Austin Hall, Junior | |
CB | T.J. Carter, Sophomore |
44. Arizona State Sun Devils |
#8 in Pac 12 |
QB | Manny Wilkins, Senior | |
WR | N'Keal Harry, Junior | |
WR | Kyle Williams, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Jay Jay Wilson, Senior | |
CB | Chase Lucas, Sophomore | |
CB | Kobe Williams, Junior |
I think there is a slim margin between 40th and 70th. That probably is one game lost or won? 6-7 versus 5-7 perhaps for P5 teams? Maybe 4-8.Yeah I don't factor in schedule here, this is 100% on paper. But yes, the margins (IMO) are smaller the farther down you go. Depending on schedule, I could see a team I have around #40 having a worse record than a different P5 team I have around #60.
My general guess is that top ten means you finished with 10 wins minimum.
Top 20 = 8-9 wins (counting bowl outcomes.
Top 30 = 7-8 wins, etc.
You can be 8-5 and make the top 25 if you win the bowl game and have a couple decent wins. So, 40th projects something like 7-6 or 6-7 if I'm close here.
Granted those September trips to Pac 8/10/12 schools seem to frequently go poorly for Big Ten schools.MSU should demand Big Ten or neutral (and not Pac-wanna-be MWC) officials. Maybe Big 12.
Yeah I don't factor in schedule here, this is 100% on paper. But yes, the margins (IMO) are smaller the farther down you go. Depending on schedule, I could see a team I have around #40 having a worse record than a different P5 team I have around #60.That makes a lot of sense, since I haven't seen Purdue yet. I think Purdue is definitely trending up, they'll have a better OL than last year (and better than any under Hazell), but lose a lot on defense. But the schedule does no favors, so I can see them finishing at least 1-2 wins below what they would against the same slate if all games were on neutral fields. They get their easier opponents away, and their toughest opponents at home.
43. West Virginia Mountaineers |
#7 in Big XII |
QB | Will Grier, Senior | |
WR | David Sills, Senior | |
WR | Gary Jennings, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Reese Donahue, Junior | |
LB | David Long, Junior | |
S | Dravon Askew-Henry, Senior |
I’m basically in agreement with this. There are a lot of WVU fans who are basically taking the approach if Dana can’t win the conference with this group then he never will, but I think that is really optimistic and a little naive. Although I think this team is going to be more like the 4th or 5th best team in the league as opposed to the 7th.This might be the first one where I am absurdly low compared to the consensus. No surprise when cincy rolls out his Overrated/Underrated poll, who I'm going with in the Overrated. Will Grier is back, and should be healthy. He has a dynamic pair of WRs who will both be playing on Sundays in 2019. But what exactly did West Virginia do last year? They lost to all 3 Big XII teams who finished ranked. They lost their bowl game. They lost to the only decent non conference team they played. Their best win was probably a 20-16 win at home over 8-5 Iowa State. Yes, they really tanked once they lost Grier, but it's not like they were even competative without him. They lost by 14 and 16 to mediocre Texas and Utah teams, and lost by 28 to Oklahoma. The Mountaineers put up 31 points in that loss to Oklahoma. Scoring wasn't the problem. They gave up 39 ppg over those final three games, and I don't see the quick fix on defense to suggest West Virginia will be anything more again than a decent, middle of the pack Big XII team. Jabril Robinson will be immediately eligible as a grad transfer from Clemson, but he wasn't exactly an impact player there. Granted he was also largely blocked on playing time by arguably the most talented defensive line in the nation. They also add USC grad transfer Kenny Bigelow, although he was previously planning on a medical retirement, so it's unclear where he's at. They in turn lost along the line, freshman all-American Lamonte McDougle. The Mountaineers gave up 4.9 ypp on the ground (worst in the Big XII) and 7.7 ypp through the air (3rd worst in the Big XII). The mental mistakes need to change too. They were the 3rd most penalized team in the conference a year ago, and had the most turnovers. Just in the category of weird stats, West Virginia had the 3rd worst 3rd down conversion rate in the Big XII (33.5%) but the best 4th down conversion rate (76.2%). They had the 3rd best 3rd down defense (66.7%) but the worst 4th down defense (28%). Not sure what that means, but I found it interesting. Offensively they lose Justin Crawford, who finished 2nd in the Big XII in rushing, from a rushing offense that still largely struggled. Kennedy McCoy showed flashed, namely against Oklahoma, but also finished below 3.5 ypc in 4 of their final six games, including 9 carries for 18 yards in the Senior Day loss to Texas. I think ultimately people buying in on West Virginia are all in on Will Grier. That's not a bad bet, I've seen him on plenty of Heisman short lists. If he winds up in New York City, my pick is going to be off. It will be interesting to see him transform from gritty kid trying to make the most of a second chance, to Baker Mayfield heir apparent, as the Big XII stud quarterback that everyone else loves to hate.
43. West Virginia Mountaineers #7 in Big XII
Key Players
QB Will Grier, Senior WR David Sills, Senior WR Gary Jennings, Senior . DE Reese Donahue, Junior LB David Long, Junior S Dravon Askew-Henry, Senior
Ela loves him some Acc this summer.Fascinating indeed. I think FSU will show a lot of improvement (duh) and Clemson seems to be almost like Bama. There is a large drop after that though Miami has garnered interest and NCSU and VT had a decent team last year. Nobody else has caught my eye in the ACC though. BC? GT? UNC? UVA? Nope, in my mind. Wake? Maryland? Oops. QQQz? Pitt sort of maybe.
There is still ten left on the board, and there hasn't been one since Pitt at 53.
So nearly one quarter of the top 40 will be from that league. Plus Notre Dame.
42. Arizona Wildcats |
#7 in Pac 12 |
QB | Khalil Tate, Junior | |
WR | Shun Brown, Senior | |
C | Nate Eldridge, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Colin Schooler, Junior | |
LB | Tony Fields, Sophomore | |
CB | Lorenzo Burns, Sophomore |
Everything for Arizona comes down to Tate staying healthy. That'll be the overarching theme again this season. Hard to think of a team that will be more dependent on a single player going into the season.I think it's more about Tate being able to throw the ball. As ELA says, Sumlin's offense utilizes a mobile QB, but he expects a lot more through the air than RichRod.
I'm also wondering how much Sumlin will get out of the current talent. In this rare case I think he'll be fine with a more laid back approach as opposed his past aggressiveness to try to force things during his volatile times at A&M that led to blown leads, poor player development, falling off in November, and rocky QB transitions.
41. LSU Tigers |
#6 in SEC |
TE | Foster Moreau, Senior | |
G | Garrett Brumfield, Senior | |
K | Connor Culp, Sophomore | |
. | ||
LB | Devin White, Junior | |
CB | Greedy Williams, Sophomore | |
S | John Battle, Senior |
The idea that ten ACC teams including such stalwarts as Wake Forest, Syracuse, Duke, BC, and Virginia are better than LSU challenges credulity. LSU may be down and is no longer a challenger for the SEC West, they are still loaded from a personnel stand point and should be around 20th place. They did lose their bowl game to Notre Dame thanks to a miracle play at the end, but they were competitive and they did beat Auburn. They should be much higher than 40.Syracuse was #55 and Virginia was #69
40. Washington State Cougars |
#6 in Pac 12 |
RB | James Williams, Junior | |
WR | Kyle Sweet, Senior | |
T | Andre Dillard, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Jahad Woods, Sophomore | |
LB | Jalen Thompson, Junior | |
S | Hunter Dale, Senior |
They lost a ton of playmakers, are entertaining a transfer QB (not Russell Wilson), they ran off a top offensive coordinator and they have a doofus head coach.eSECpn has LSU preseason hyped at 18. But on their FPI they have them slated to lose 6 games.
The main positive is Dave Aranda.
40 might be generous.
To start with they could lose all those games and finish 6-6, which they haven't done in 20 years, and there still will not be ten ACC teams better than them. That is ridiculous. I seriously doubt they will lose to Miami and Texas A&M hasn't beaten LSU since they joined the conference. Mississippi State and Florida are toss ups. I am not so hung up on the final record which I think will be 7-5 or 8-4, but the asininity that teams like Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Duke are better when LSU has more and better athletes at virtually every position.That makes three teams you have now named that I don't actually have ahead of them
To start with they could lose all those games and finish 6-6, which they haven't done in 20 years, and there still will not be ten ACC teams better than them. That is ridiculous. I seriously doubt they will lose to Miami and Texas A&M hasn't beaten LSU since they joined the conference. Mississippi State and Florida are toss ups. I am not so hung up on the final record which I think will be 7-5 or 8-4, but the asininity that teams like Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Duke are better when LSU has more and better athletes at virtually every position.It's likely LSU is worse than even projected here. Their heavy personnel losses can be overlooked to a point, because LSU holds such strong tendency to reload no matter what, but I have zero faith in the current coaching staff. And I predict Miami will handle them easy enough on mainly their coaching advantage.
Yeah, I'd probably move them up to the mid 30s with an actual QBAs we noted before, that isn't enough of a move to matter, at all. That is a 7-6 team and another 7-6 team in any final rankings (P5). It would be easier obviously to rank teams in larger groups, like deciles perhaps, until you get to the top 20.
39. Louisville Cardinal |
#10 in ACC |
WR | Jaylen Smith, Senior | |
WR | Dez Fitzpatrick, Sophomore | |
K | Blanton Creque, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Dorian Etheridge, Sophomore | |
LB | Jon Greenard, Junior | |
S | Dee Smith, Senior |
38. Fresno State Bulldogs |
#2 in Mountain West |
QB | Marcus McMaryion, Senior | |
WR | KeeSean Johnson, Senior | |
T | Christian Cronk, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Jeffrey Allison, Junior | |
CB | Jaron Bryant, Junior | |
S | Mike Bell, Junior |
Cincinnati and Laville once were rivals and about on par, then UC got into the Big East and attracted better recruits and did well, and then the BE disappeared and they were left hanging while Laville got into the ACC (somehow, the academic fit isn't good at all). A P5 program has huge recruiting advantages, and UL of course has large checkbooks as well.Yeah, it's weird how that worked out. The ACC passed on WVU due to academics, then panicked and took Louisville later. WVU would be better off of the Big XII hadn't wanted them, they would've backed into the ACC like Louisville did.
UC seems fated to be a rather distant also ran program akin to Miami (O) and Ohio U. and Akron.
Cincinnati and Laville once were rivals and about on par, then UC got into the Big East and attracted better recruits and did well, and then the BE disappeared and they were left hanging while Laville got into the ACC (somehow, the academic fit isn't good at all). A P5 program has huge recruiting advantages, and UL of course has large checkbooks as well.The dynamic between Cincinnati and Miami was interesting, as they are in neighboring counties and play every year. Before Cincy went to the Big East, they were out recruited by Miami, who had a strong foothold in the burbs, and the Catholic schools while Cincy recruited mostly urban players. When the Bearcats moved up to the Big East all of a sudden everyone wanted to go there instead of Miami. The Redhawks had some really lean years, to put it mildly, while Cincy was just rolling through the Big East. Now that the Bearcats have had the P5 rug yanked out from under them, the recruiting paradigm is slowly returning back to equilibrium.
UC seems fated to be a rather distant also ran program akin to Miami (O) and Ohio U. and Akron.
I wouldn't say UL is any better at academics than WVU. The ACC can lay claim to having rather good academics especially at the undergrad level, to the extent that is relevant in an athletic conference (I never really saw that personally but I live in SECland of course).No, that's my point. When the ACC wasnt desperate they could reject WVU on academic grounds, and WVU went to the Big XII. Then, after the Big Ten took Maryland, they were a little more uneasy and suddenly the academic concerns weren't such a big deal in adding Louisville. That WVU kind of got screwed out of ACC membership by being more desirable than Louisville. That because they were, the Big XII took them, not Louy, so when the ACC circled back, they were off the table, but Louisville was sitting there.
Does it help UL academically to be in the ACC versus the Big 12? Does it hurt Vandy to be in the SEC?
The Rutgers/UMd move was predicated on money from athletics, and perhaps recruiting a bit.
Yeah, UC is a great example of how being P5 helps recruiting a lot. Duh. I suppose if you are P5 and lose consistently it diminishes the advantage, but you're still much more often on ESPN etc. than an Akron.Yeah, we had that debate with regards to Purdue recruiting a couple years ago, when someone said they were recruiting at a mid MAC level. It wasn't true. I think over a four year period they never placed higher than #12 in the Big Ten. But even that was the best class in the MAC 3 of those 4 years, and #2 the other year. So even being the worst Big Ten recruiting team is still better than being in the MAC. Granted, the Big East, by the time Cincinnati got there was probably a tier below in recruiting.
I knew a big UC fan who told me two years ago that the Big 12 was definitely going to offer UC a slot, but of course that did not happen. I think the UL offer by the ACC was from desperation.
37. Purdue Boilermakers |
#8 in Big Ten |
QB | David Blough, Senior | |
QB | Elijah Sindelar, Junior | |
C | Kirk Barron, Senior | |
. | ||
DT | Lorenzo Neal, Junior | |
S | Jacob Thieneman, Senior | |
P | Joe Schopper, Senior |
36. Texas Longhorns |
#6 in Big XII |
WR | Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Junior | |
G | Patrick Vahe, Senior | |
K | Joshua Rowland, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Breckyn Hager, Senior | |
DE | Charles Omenihu, Senior | |
CB | Kris Boyd, Senior |
35. Iowa State Cyclones |
#5 in Big XII |
QB | Kyle Kempt, Senior | |
RB | David Montgomery, Junior | |
TE | Chase Allen, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DE | JaQuan Bailey, Junior | |
LB | Marcel Spears, Junior | |
CB | Brian Peavy, Senior |
Interesting analysis. Purdue popped out last year, it will be fun to see if they can build on that, or drop to 3-9. That early game with Mizzou might show something.ELA nailed it. Purdue wasn't where they needed to be offensively last year, and better than anyone expected defensively.
Go Clones!!!Been waiting to see where/when Iowa State shows up. 35th is a fair start but I fully expect them to spend a lot of time in the Top 25 once the season gets rolling with a predicted win over Iowa. Campbell has upgraded the roster to the competitive likes of the bigger Big 12 names and after last year taught them how to win I expect more mental toughness and consistency. This is a good team that will contend for the conference title.
34. Florida Atlantic Owls |
#1 in Conference USA |
RB | Devin Singletary, Junior | |
TE | Harrison Bryant, Senior | |
T | Reggie Bain, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Azeez Al-Shaair, Senior | |
CB | Shelton Lewis, Senior | |
S | Jalen Young, Senior |
33. Duke Blue Devils |
#9 in ACC |
QB | Daniel Jones, Junior | |
RB | Brittain Brown, Sophomore | |
WR | T.J. Rahming, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Joe Giles-Harris, Junior | |
CB | Mark Gilbert, Junior | |
S | Jeremy McDuffie, Senior |
32. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
#8 in ACC |
QB | TaQuon Marshall, Senior | |
RB | KirVonte Benson, Junior | |
G | Parker Braun, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Victor Alexander, Senior | |
LB | Brant Mitchell, Senior | |
P | Pressley Harvin, Sophomore |
31. Oregon Ducks |
#5 in Pac XII |
TE | Jake Breeland, Junior | |
C | Jake Hanson, Junior | |
G | Calvin Throckmorton, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Jalen Jelks, Senior | |
LB | Troy Dye, Junior | |
S | Ugo Amadi, Senior |
30. NC State Wolfpack |
#7 in ACC |
QB | Ryan Finley, Senior | |
WR | Kelvin Harmon, Junior | |
C | Garrett Bradbury, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Germaine Pratt, Senior | |
S | Jarius Morehead, Junior | |
P | A.J. Cole, Senior |
29. TCU Horned Frogs |
#4 in Big XII |
RB | Darius Anderson, Junior | |
WR | KaVonte Turpin, Senior | |
WR | Jalen Reagor, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DE | Ben Banogu, Senior | |
LB | Ty Summers, Senior | |
CB | Jeff Gladney, Junior |
Both Oregon and NCSt don't have the horses to finish as high as they are ranked here. Both shed too much production to count on reloading and for Oregon, I know bowl performances don't dictate the offseason, but topping off an unimpressive hire was a minimal Las Vegas Bowl showing. It's hard to put such a lifeless effort out of mind and puts in question how hard the Ducks even want to play for their new coach.Key Players
31. Oregon Ducks #5 in Pac XII
TE Jake Breeland, Junior C Jake Hanson, Junior G Calvin Throckmorton, Junior . DE Jalen Jelks, Senior LB Troy Dye, Junior S Ugo Amadi, Senior Key Players
30. NC State Wolfpack #7 in ACC
QB Ryan Finley, Senior WR Kelvin Harmon, Junior C Garrett Bradbury, Senior . LB Germaine Pratt, Senior S Jarius Morehead, Junior P A.J. Cole, Senior
28. Wake Forest Demon Deacons |
#6 in ACC |
WR | Greg Dortch, Sophomore | |
T | Justin Herron, Senior | |
C | Ryan Anderson, Senior | |
. | ||
CB | Essang Bassey, Junior | |
S | Cameron Glenn, Senior | |
P | Dom Maggio, Junior |
I clearly don't follow the ACC well enough so can someone explain when and how Wake Forest became good?They didn't really "become good" so much as they are capable of being pretty good every once in a while. They were 11-2 I think and won the ACC like a decade ago. Picture that except there is a legit boss waiting at the end in Clemson, instead of an equally decent-ish Georgia Tech like they lucked into in 2006.
27. Utah Utes |
#4 in Pac 12 |
QB | Tyler Huntley, Junior | |
C | Lo Falemaka, Senior | |
K | Matt Gay, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Bradlee Anae, Junior | |
CB | Julian Blackmon, Junior | |
P | Mitch Wishnowski, Senior |
26. Kansas State Wildcats |
#3 in Big XII |
QB | Skylar Thompson, Sophomore | |
RB | Alex Barnes, Junior | |
T | Dalton Risner, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Reggie Walker, Junior | |
DT | Trey Dishon, Junior | |
CB | Duke Shelley, Senior |
So his top 25: 7 Big Ten, 5 Sec, 5 Acc, 3 Pac Twelve, 2 Big XII, 1 Notre Dame, 1 Aac and 1 Mwc.Wait... there's more than 1 Notre Dame now?
Wait... there's more than 1 Notre Dame now?Seems like there are at least 8 of them, since they have the same spot at the table as the other 5 conferences. It takes 8 to make a conference, so yeah. 8. I'm sure they would like to get to 10, so they can play with themselves in a Dr. Pepper game.
Wait... there's more than 1 Notre Dame now?There is the Notre Dame Falcons, out of Euclid Ohio.
So his top 25: 7 Big Ten, 5 Sec, 5 Acc, 3 Pac Twelve, 2 Big XII, 1 Notre Dame, 1 Aac and 1 Mwc.
One of those is too low.
Like how Lindy's Mag breaks down the conference rankings by P5 divisions:
14. Sun Belt
13. MAC
12. CUSA
11. MTN W
10. AA
9. PAC 12 South
8. B10 West
7. PAC 12 North
6. Big 12
5. ACC Coastal
4. SEC East
3. ACC Atlantic
2. SEC West
1. Big Ten East
How last season ended, based on average composite computer rankingSeems more reasonable. Is this after bowl games?
1. ACC - Atlantic (32.571)
2. SEC - West (35.000)
3. Big Ten - East (39.857)
4. Big XII (47.000)
5. Big Ten - West (48.000)
6. Pac 12 - North (50.333)
7. ACC - Coastal (50.714)
8. Pac 12 - South (51.833)
9. SEC - East (54.571)
Seems more reasonable. Is this after bowl games?Yes
25. Oklahoma State Cowboys |
#2 in Big XII |
RB | Justice Hill, Junior | |
WR | Dillon Stoner, Sophomore | |
K | Matt Ammendola, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Jordan Brailford, Junior | |
LB | Justin Phillips, Senior | |
LB | Calvin Bundage, Junior |
24. Stanford Cardinal |
#3 in Pac 12 |
RB | Bryce Love, Senior | |
WR | J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Senior | |
G | Nate Herbig, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | Bobby Okereke, Senior | |
LB | Jordan Perez, Senior | |
P | Jake Bailey, Senior |
23. Boise State Broncos |
#1 in Mountain West |
QB | Brett Rypien, Senior | |
RB | Alexander Mattison, Junior | |
T | Ezra Cleveland, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DE | Curtis Weaver, Sophomore | |
DT | David Moa, Senior | |
CB | Tyler Horton, Senior |
22. Florida State Seminoles |
#5 in ACC |
RB | Cam Akers, Sophomore | |
C | Alec Eberle, Senior | |
K | Ricky Aguayo, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Brian Burns, Junior | |
DT | DeMarcus Christmas, Senior | |
CB | Stanford Samuels, Sophomore |
21. Boston College Eagles |
#4 in ACC |
RB | A.J. Dillon, Sophomore | |
TE | Tommy Sweeney, Senior | |
T | Chris Lindstrom, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Zach Allen, Senior | |
LB | John Lamot, Sophomore | |
S | Lukas Denis, Senior |
20. Iowa Hawkeyes |
#7 in Big Ten |
QB | Nate Stanley, Junior | |
WR | Nick Easley, Senior | |
TE | Noah Fant, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Anthony Nelson, Junior | |
LB | Nick Niemann, Sophomore | |
S | Jake Gervase, Senior |
19. Northwestern Wildcats |
#6 in Big Ten |
QB | Clayton Thorson, Senior | |
G | Tommy Doles, Senior | |
K | Charlie Kuhbander, Sophomore | |
. | ||
DE | Joe Gaziano, Junior | |
LB | Paddy Fisher, Senior | |
LB | Nate Hall, Senior |
How last season ended, based on average composite computer rankingThe bane of the B1G, it seems like for every excellent team, there is a basement dweller dragging that ranking down. Did any division have 4 teams ranked higher than the B1G East? And did any division have 3 teams so low? Smash that together you get an above average ranking
1. ACC - Atlantic (32.571)
2. SEC - West (35.000)
3. Big Ten - East (39.857)
4. Big XII (47.000)
5. Big Ten - West (48.000)
6. Pac 12 - North (50.333)
7. ACC - Coastal (50.714)
8. Pac 12 - South (51.833)
9. SEC - East (54.571)
got Noah from OmahaI'll blame Riley for a lot.. but in this case, he never wanted to go to UNL. For whatever reason, he had limited interest. So did his dad..
I blame ex-Coach Riley
The bane of the B1G, it seems like for every excellent team, there is a basement dweller dragging that ranking down. Did any division have 4 teams ranked higher than the B1G East? And did any division have 3 teams so low? Smash that together you get an above average rankingYeah, there are different ways to measure "toughest." If you are talking about toughest division to win, then you might just want to look at the top 3-4 from each division. It doesn't really matter if the bottom is just bad or complete trash, those are games you should win, so the variance is irrelevant. But if you are talking about toughest to make a bowl from, then for a middling team, maybe you'd rather just have a couple games you know you are going to get creamed, but also get a couple easy wins with a weak bottom. I think that's what the ACC has is depth. Their bad teams IMO are easily the best "bad" teams of any conference. Pac 12 does pretty well there too, but they have the weakest top to top middle. That's why they sucked in bowl season, their bowl teams are worse than other conference's bowl teams. But aside from Oregon State, I'd put UCLA, Cal, Colorado and Utah last year up against bottom 4-5 teams from any other conference save maybe the ACC.
I'll blame Riley for a lot.. but in this case, he never wanted to go to UNL. For whatever reason, he had limited interest. So did his dad..I guess we'll never know the reason, but could have been Riley/Langsdorf
Other than Georgia, what other SEC East Team doesn't have substantial flaws? Maybe South Carolina is well rounded? Nothing horrible, but nothing great. To remember when the SEC East was undoubtedly the toughest division with Florida and Tennessee living in the Top 5 every year...I agree, while noting Florida might be OK. Missouri is perhaps half OK. It is a very weak division for sure as compared to its history. It is a bit odd really.
18. South Carolina Gamecocks |
#5 in SEC |
QB | Jake Bentley, Junior | |
RB | A.J. Turner, Junior | |
WR | Deebo Samuel, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | D.J. Wonnum, Junior | |
LB | T.J. Brunson, Junior | |
S | Steven Montac, Senior |
Miami, NC State, and Virginia Tech are all solid teams and the author of this thread thinks BC is good. The ACC is more than Clemson. FSU, and Louisville.Louisville sans Lamar Jackson will probably be nothing special. They'll probably be obliterated by Bama in the opener. Had Jackson stuck around another year, it'd probably still be a loss for the Cards, but at least it would be an entertaining game.
17. Virginia Tech Hokies |
#3 in ACC |
QB | Josh Jackson, Sophomore | |
RB | Deshawn McClease, Junior | |
T | Yosuah Nijman, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Trevon Hill, Junior | |
DT | Ricky Walker, Senior | |
S | Reggie Floyd, Junior |
16. USC Trojans |
#2 in Pac 12 |
RB | Stephen Carr, Sophomore | |
WR | Tyler Vaughns, Sophomore | |
T | Toa Lobendahn, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Christian Rector, Junior | |
LB | Cameron Smith, Senior | |
S | Marvell Tell, Senior |
Maybe not even that, depending on the shoe thing.was a huge story, now not so much
Ruh roh… From ESecPN:
17. Virginia Tech Hokies #3 in ACC
15. Mississippi State Bulldogs |
#4 in SEC |
QB | Nick Fitzgerald, Senior | |
RB | Aeris Williams, Senior | |
WR | Keith Mixon, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Montez Sweat, Senior | |
DT | Jeffrey Simmons, Junior | |
S | Mark McLaurin, Senior |
14. Miami Hurricanes |
#2 in ACC |
RB | Travis Homer, Junior | |
C | Tyler Gauthier, Senior | |
G | Navaughn Donaldson, Sophomore | |
. | ||
LB | Shaquille Quarterman, Junior | |
CB | Michael Jackson, Senior | |
S | Jaquan Johnson, Senior |
13. Oklahoma Sooners |
#1 in Big XII |
RB | Rodney Anderson, Junior | |
WR | Marquise Brown, Junior | |
G | Ben Powers, Senior | |
. | ||
LB | Caleb Kelly, Junior | |
LB | Kenneth Murray, Sophomore | |
P | Austin Seibert, Senior |
I was not sold on Richt as the coach for Miami, and still am not.I have a feeling he's going to do just well enough to keep his job for a long, long time. History repeats itself.
12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish |
Independent |
QB | Brandon Wimbush, Senior | |
T | Alex Bars, Senior | |
C | Sam Mustipher, Senior | |
. | ||
DT | Jerry Tillery, Senior | |
LB | Te'von Coney, Senior | |
CB | Julian Love, Junior |
11. Michigan Wolverines |
#5 in Big Ten |
QB | Shea Patterson, Junior | |
RB | Karan Higdon, Senior | |
G | Ben Bredeson, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Rashan Gary, Junior | |
DE | Chase Winovich, Senior | |
LB | Devin Bush, Junior |
OSU, PSU and Wisky I see in the top10... MSU and Michigan I'm not sure.. That doesn't mean they're not quality teams. Rather, they'll have enough loses not to be in the Top 10.Well, this is all just on paper. I don't see any way the Big Ten East ends up with 4 teams in the top 11. They will have a minimum of 6 losses combined even running the table otherwise. Two of the 4 play Wisconsin, which means sticking to 6 losses means handing Wisconsin 2.
ELA... Sorry for the confusion. I was responding to Phil Steele posts... I believe he does factor in schedules. Perhaps I'm incorrect.What I will say is the pollsters in the CFP era have gotten a little better at actually evaluating losses. If the #8 team loses a close road game to #3, why should they fall in the rankings? Doesn't that only affirm the rankings? Previously it was basically, if you lost, you fell. Generally between 6-8 spots. Didn't matter how "good" or bad the loss was.
The Wolverines will lose to MSU, OSU, PSU and Wisconsin.I'm preseason picking a 180 from Brutus Buckeye. I think TTUN goes 3-1 in those marquee games and wins the B1G. THe addition of Patterson at QB and Warriner as O-line coach will be HUGE.
With a few breaks, they could maybe go 1-3 in those games.
I'm preseason picking a 180 from Brutus Buckeye. I think TTUN goes 3-1 in those marquee games and wins the B1G. THe addition of Patterson at QB and Warriner as O-line coach will be HUGE.Are you sure you didn't just read that in my write up?
C-bus radio throughout a stat, that only 2 coaches in the B1G have won a title if they didn't win it in their first 4 years. If this isn't the year for Hairball, statistically it never will be.
10. Central Florida Knights |
#1 in American |
QB | McKenzie Milton, Junior | |
RB | Adrian Killins, Junior | |
C | Jordan Johnson, Junior | |
. | ||
NT | Trysten Hill, Junior | |
S | Kyle Gibson, Senior | |
P | Mac Loudermilk, Senior |
Are you sure you didn't just read that in my write up?John Cooper didn't win his first until year five.
I said last year that if he didn't do something by season 4, he probably never would. So for my Michigan write up I looked up the exact stat. Only one coach Big Ten coach in the past 30 years won a Big Ten title after failing to in his first 4 years (Ron Turner). And if you go back 50 years, it only expands to two (George Perles). Both won in Year 5.
The Purdue coach who won it in 1967 won his first in like season 9, so he throws the whole thing off. But since him, not much.
John Cooper didn't win his first until year five.Actually 6.
9. Penn State Nittany Lions |
#4 in Big Ten |
QB | Trace McSorley, Senior | |
WR | Juwon Johnson, Junior | |
T | Ryan Bates, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Shareef Miller, Junior | |
LB | Koa Farmer, Senior | |
CB | Amani Oruwariye, Senior |
8. Washington Huskies |
#1 in Pac 12 |
QB | Jake Browning, Senior | |
RB | Myles Gaskin, Senior | |
T | Kaleb McGary, Senior | |
. | ||
DT | Greg Gaines, Senior | |
LB | Ben Burr-Kirven, Senior | |
S | Taylor Rapp, Junior |
Are you sure you didn't just read that in my write up?Definitely heard it on the radio. Maybe their stat guy visits here.
I said last year that if he didn't do something by season 4, he probably never would. So for my Michigan write up I looked up the exact stat. Only one coach Big Ten coach in the past 30 years won a Big Ten title after failing to in his first 4 years (Ron Turner). And if you go back 50 years, it only expands to two (George Perles). Both won in Year 5.
The Purdue coach who won it in 1967 won his first in like season 9, so he throws the whole thing off. But since him, not much.
7. Ohio State Buckeyes |
#3 in Big Ten |
RB | J.K. Dobbins, Sophomore | |
WR | Parris Campbell, Senior | |
G | Michael Jordan, Junior | |
. | ||
DE | Nick Bosa, Junior | |
DT | Dre'Mont Jones, Junior | |
S | Jordan Fuller, Junior |
6. Georgia Bulldogs |
#3 in SEC |
QB | Jake Fromm, Sophomore | |
WR | Terry Godwin, Senior | |
WR | Mecole Hardman, Junior | |
. | ||
LB | D'Andre Walker, Senior | |
CB | Deandre Baker, Senior | |
S | J.R. Reed, Junior |
5. Michigan State Spartans |
#2 in Big Ten |
QB | Brian Lewerke, Junior | |
RB | L.J. Scott, Senior | |
WR | Felton Davis, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Kenny Willikes, Junior | |
LB | Joe Bachie, Junior | |
S | David Dowell, Junior |
4. Auburn Tigers |
#2 in SEC |
QB | Jarrett Stidham, Junior | |
WR | Ryan Davis, Senior | |
WR | Darius Slayton, Junior | |
. | ||
DT | Derrick Brown, Junior | |
LB | Deshaun Davis, Junior | |
CB | Javaris Davis, Junior |
Yeah, I'm thinking Auburn as more Top 15 than Top 5. Stidham is a legit Heisman candidate, and they have a solid defense, but I don't think they have the depth to mow through their schedule like Bama or UGA would. 10-2 and a NY6 bowl is certainly attainable.Yeah, due to schedule I doubt they wind up that high
The opener vs. UWash will be a good indicator of how good they really area.
Ruh roh… From ESecPN:He's been cleared now
Virginia Tech (http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/259/virginia-tech-hokies) starting quarterback Josh Jackson (http://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4037603/josh-jackson) is dealing with an academic issue that could impact his future eligibility, a source confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
Jackson remains on the team while he awaits word from the university about any potential discipline.
His father, Fred, told The Richmond Times-Dispatch that they expect a resolution soon.
3. Wisconsin Badgers |
#1 in Big Ten |
RB | Jonathan Taylor, Sophomore | |
G | Beau Benzschawel, Senior | |
G | Michael Dieter, Senior | |
. | ||
NT | Olive Sagapolu, Senior | |
LB | T.J. Edwards, Senior | |
S | D'Cota Dixon, Senior |
2. Alabama Crimson Tide |
#1 in SEC |
RB | Damien Harris, Senior | |
T | Jonah Williams, Junior | |
C | Ross Pierschbacher, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Raekwon Davis, Junior | |
DE | Isaiah Buggs, Senior | |
LB | Mack Wilson, Junior |
unless i missed it, bamaHeh, I was fishing...
Pretty good effort there on UW, ELA. Nice work.I am the most neurotic UW fan you’ll meet. Thus I’m worried about the line.
As for the DL, it's not Olive Sagapolu who is hurt - it's Isiah Loudermilk. Rand is out for the season, so.. ouch.
Other than that, the best OL on the team are RT David Edwards and C Tyler Biadasz (pronounced Badass, OK not really). Not sure what the configuration of the line will be this year though. UW likes kids who can play anywhere, and there is a lot of that in the mix this season. I doubt Dieter plays at LT again, after taking one for the team last season. He's better on the interior. Insert one of the younger models at LT and that's probably how it will look. There are a lot of choices.
This coaching staff went from being forced to play freshmen and walk-ons 3 years ago, to building a two-deep that could start almost anywhere.
Superb work as usual, so who makes the playoff.(https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/65770419.jpg)
Superb work as usual, so who makes the playoff.We'll get to that in August
Superb work as usual, so who makes the playoff.#1, #2, #3, & #8
1. Clemson Tigers |
#1 in ACC |
RB | Travis Etienne, Sophomore | |
WR | Hunter Renfrow, Senior | |
T | Mitch Hyatt, Senior | |
. | ||
DE | Clelin Ferrell, Junior | |
DT | Christian Wilkins, Senior | |
DT | Dexter Lawrence, Junior |