Coaches' Poll Preseason Top 25

1. Clemson (59)
2. Alabama (6)
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Michigan
8. Florida
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas
11. Texas A&M
12. Washington
13. Oregon
14. Penn State
15. Utah
16. Auburn
T17. Wisconsin
T17. UCF
19. Iowa
20. Michigan State
21. Washington State
22.Syracuse
23. Stanford
24. Iowa State
25. Northwestern

Appalachian State received 4 votes. Would be tied for #46.
Troy received 1 vote. Would be tied for #54.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...the-top-5/

Army got screwed

Meh, not much else to say.

Regime change is happening. Alabama is no longer college football's flagship program. Clemson will go on a run, and Georgia will be a thorn in Alabama's side. if you look at the recruiting rankings, most of the big time talent is going to 3 or 4 schools. They run the risk of making college football similar to the NBA. You're gonna say the same teams in the playoff every year, which is already happening to some degree.

All three of App, Troy, and Georgia Southern could end up in the Top 25 at some point this year if things go right. Arkansas State and Louisiana would have to really surprise some people, but you never know. Either one could certainly win their division, but obviously it takes more than winning the SBC-West to get ranked. Neither school has a enough national respect yet either, it usually takes two or three years of being outstanding by Sun Belt standards, and some notable upsets or near upsets of highly ranked programs to get noticed. This is Georgia Southern's issue as well, to be fair.

Frustrating that no matter how much you return or how you did the year before, you're still gonna be dropped 15+ spots from where you finished the previous year as a G5.

The beauty of college athletics and what separates it to some degree from the likes of the NBA is academics. When your team goes on a tear demand goes through the roof. More applications to join the party leads to higher entrance minimums. Higher entrance minimums leads to fewer eligible recruits. UGA as an example arguably has two anchors good or bad depending on how you look at it. One being a flagship U in a state with 14 million and little competition for the brightest kids and an athletic pool second to none. Two being good football that helps as well particularly with out of state applications. But arguably it's taken almost 40 years to sniff a national title due to academic rigor some say. The average GPA of incoming freshman in my daughter class last year was "higher" than 4.0.

(08-01-2019 01:36 PM)TroyFootball05 Wrote:  Regime change is happening. Alabama is no longer college football's flagship program. Clemson will go on a run, and Georgia will be a thorn in Alabama's side. if you look at the recruiting rankings, most of the big time talent is going to 3 or 4 schools. They run the risk of making college football similar to the NBA. You're gonna say the same teams in the playoff every year, which is already happening to some degree.

Consolidation of talent is no surprise with only 4 playoff spots available.

The five Sun Belt coaches voting.

Steve Campbell, South Alabama;

Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina

Chip Lindsey, Troy;

Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern;

Jake Spavital, Texas State;

(08-01-2019 01:55 PM)BurlingtonApp Wrote:  Frustrating that no matter how much you return or how you did the year before, you're still gonna be dropped 15+ spots from where you finished the previous year as a G5.

In fairness, it makes sense with a completely new coaching staff, even with the usual handicapping given to G5 teams at the beginning of the year.

The one that really got it here was Army.

I was surprised UCF was ranked #17. Considering McKenzie Milton won't be able to play, and his backup broke his ankle, that only leaves the Notre Dame grad transfer Brandon Wimbush as QB.

And Wimbush was not impressive at Notre Dame. He's a very good runner, but his passing abilities are pretty bad. UCF won't repeat their success if this guy can't be a better passer.