With college football spring activities now in the rearview, coaches can begin assembling their 2024 rosters to their liking with little worry of future departures (for now). The focus now shifts to prepping for fall camps and the eventual start of the regular season. As kickoff week approaches in late August, it's time to start counting down the days by predicting how the college football preseason AP Top 25 rankings may shake out. Here are all 25 predictions broken down:
1. Georgia Bulldogs
Even though Georgia football fell short of their expectations and making their third consecutive College Football Playoff appearance, this team is still loaded with talent at nearly every position. That, of course, starts with quarterback Carson Beck, who quietly had a great first season as a starter. Although finding a new leading receiver after the loss of tight end Brock Bowers will not be easy, adding former Miami receiver Colbie Young should help. The defense should also be nasty again. This year's schedule for the Bulldogs is one of the toughest in the country.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes
Head coach Ryan Day is one of the most successful coaches in all of college football since he took the reins in Columbus. Yet, the pressure is mounting for the Buckeyes head coach after three straight losses to Michigan and no national titles to hoist. Day did everything in his power to make this year's Ohio State football team a machine, loading the roster up with big-time transfer additions like Quinshon Judkins and Caleb Downs to go along with last year's standouts like Emeka Egbuka and TreVeyon Henderson. The big question, though, is who will be the man behind center between Kansas State transfer Will Howard and last year's backup Devin Brown?
3. Texas Longhorns
There's perhaps not a more talented quarterback room in the country than in Austin, Texas. However, only one can start, and right now that's still Quinn Ewers with former five-star Arch Manning waiting behind him. After just missing the College Football Playoff national championship game last season, Steve Sarkisian's Longhorns hope to reach the pinnacle this season, albeit in the team's first year in the SEC. The biggest questions for the 2024 Texas football team will be making up for losses on their defensive front, plus fixing their secondary that struggled often last season.
4. Oregon Ducks
The 2024 Oregon football team is brimming with talent, which is still part carryover from Mario Cristobal's team, part Dan Lanning's impressive recruiting, plus impressive transfer portal acquisitions. To replace veteran quarterback Bo Nix, Lanning went out and grabbed another veteran in Dillon Gabriel from Oklahoma. Out of all the conference realignment, there may not be a team that feels better about moving conferences than Oregon does, who are just behind Ohio State as the best team in the Big Ten.
5. Alabama Crimson Tide
There's still bound to be a lot of love for the Alabama football team, even if Nick Saban is gone. But that doesn't mean high-quality coaching or players are gone. There's perhaps not a better suitable replacement for Saban than Kalen DeBoer, who's won everywhere he's been. Alabama still has Heisman contender quarterback Jalen Milroe and one of the sport's best offensive line units (per Pro Football Focus). The biggest question about this year's Alabama team is how will it handle a massive transition phase?
6. Ole Miss Rebels
Lane Kiffin is getting his flowers after leading the Rebels to their best season in school history last season, earning 11 wins for the very first time. Ole Miss has also been one of the absolute best schools at using the transfer portal to acquire free agent talent. The talent level has never been better in Oxford, but now Kiffin and company have to go out and prove it. Now with an expanded playoff format, if Ole Miss misses out on earning one of the 12 spots, it has to be considered a disappointing season.
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Many forget that this season is only Marcus Freeman's third year as a head coach at any program. Yet, since the departure of Brian Kelly to LSU, the Fighting Irish haven't skipped much of a beat, going 19-7 with two bowl victories under Freeman. The Irish's impressive portal work, including acquiring former Duke quarterback Riley Leonard, should easily get them into the 2024 college football preseason top 25 rankings.
8. Penn State Nittany Lions
Even with all the shake-up with the additions of Pac-12 members coming into the Big Ten, Penn State is still one of the best in the conference and should yet again be vying for a double-digit win season. Things will be a little different, however, with new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and defensive coordinator Tom Allen. The latter will be replacing Manny Diaz, who led one of the nation's best defenses last season. The former looks to get the most out of quarterback Drew Allar and an offense that often struggled last season.
9. Michigan Wolverines
I've said since the season ended last year that the two teams that have a lot to prove would be Alabama and Michigan, only because they're going through a huge transition phase. For Michigan, it will be even worse, as they lost a massive amount of last year's talent that helped them win a national championship, not excluding their former head coach Jim Harbaugh and a number of pivotal staff members. The Wolverines probably get into the top 10 of preseason top 25 simply off being the champs.
10. Florida State Seminoles
The Seminoles could very well find themselves higher in the AP's preseason college football top 25 rankings — this, however, is not the College Football Playoff committee. But Mike Norvell's team lost a lot of what made last year's team great. Norvell did once again hit the transfer portal hard to make up for those he lost to the draft or otherwise, hoping to keep the talent level consistent. Anything short of an ACC title appearance has to be considered a failed season in Tallahassee.
11. Missouri Tigers
The ultimate sleeper of the SEC is far and away the Missouri football team. There's really a lot to like about Eli Drinkwitz's team that has a lot of returning production from last season, including quarterback Brady Cook and one of the nation's best receivers in Luther Burden III. Throw in some promising transfers to fill some needed voids on both sides of the ball and who knows, Missouri could be going for double-digit wins again like last year. The Tigers rank ninth on ESPN's College Football Power Index (FPI) rankings, predicted to go just shy of 10 win at 9-3.
12. LSU Tigers
Gone are Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and two first-round receivers in Brian Thomas Jr. and Malik Nabers, but there are some nice replacements, starting with quarterback Garrett Nussmeier. Offense wasn't the problem last year for the Tigers, though. The defense has to take a step forward this season, especially with games against USC, Ole Miss, Alabama, Florida, and Oklahoma. Brian Kelly brought in former Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker for the same position to help.
13. Utah Utes
The first Big 12 school to make the preseason top 25 will likely be the Utah Utes — and they haven't even had a game in their new conference yet. The entire Big 12 will be in a major transition phase, but the former Pac-12 member will be coming in as one of the favorites to take over the conference. Most of that may come from the consistency that Kyle Whittingham has built with the program, while the other is that quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe are back from injuries after missing the entire 2023 season.
14. Clemson Tigers
Most thought that once Garrett Riley came over from TCU as offensive coordinator last season, that side of the ball for the Tigers would improve. Minus maybe a small uptick, it didn't improve like many had thought. That makes this a pivotal season for quarterback Cade Klubnik. There are still questions about the defense, however, that has just two starters returning. The same can be said about the wideouts, which is a group that has been lacking the last couple of seasons. Another nine-win season will have those in Clemson unsettled.
15. Tennessee Volunteers
The Vols are getting a lot of early preseason hype, which is all thanks mostly to first-year starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava. Tennessee fans have been high on the former five-star since he announced his commitment. Now he hopes to revive an offense that took a step back last season. While the defense has improved every season under defensive coordinator Tim Banks, that side of the ball only brings back three starters, though one of those is talented edge rusher James Pearce Jr. Tennessee is a dark horse to make the College Football Playoff.
16. Oklahoma Sooners
There was a lot of questioning about Brent Venables' defense during his first season in Norman. The defense took a step in the right direction last season, though. They'll have six starters returning to only two on the offense. The Sooners will be hoping highly-touted quarterback Jackson Arnold is the next great Oklahoma quarterback.
17. Miami Hurricanes
It'd be shocking if the Canes didn't make it into the top 25 preseason rankings. Not many teams made such an improvement to their roster over one offseason than Miami did. They hit the transfer portal just about as hard as any team. Getting former Washington State quarterback Cam Ward was a big get, a gamechanger of a player. Miami is a real threat in the ACC. They just have to get out of their own way.
18. Kansas State Wildcats
Another favorite to win the Big 12 is Kansas State, who under head coach Chris Klieman has only had one losing season and under eight wins in his five seasons in Manhattan. With Will Howard off to Ohio State, the signal-caller duties are all left to talented dual-threat quarterback Avery Johnson. He, along with running back DJ Giddens, makes for a lethal offense on the ground.
19. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Rivals Oklahoma and Texas are now gone to the SEC, leaving Oklahoma State to take the reins in the Big 12. But the new conference members coming out of the Pac-12 might have something to say about that. To compete against that, head coach Mike Gundy has 10 starters on each side of the ball returning this season, including talented running back Ollie Gordon II. Can Alan Bowman be the right man to lead the Cowboys behind center, though?
20. Texas A&M Aggies
Jimbo Fisher is out and Mike Elko is in to lead the Aggies in 2024. Will the results be the same? Time will only tell on that, but Texas A&M likes what they have in Elko, who came from Duke with a 16-9 record. Some portal additions plus a healthy Connor Weigman make Texas A&M an interesting team to watch in 2024.
21. USC Trojans
The Trojans lose a former Heisman winner at quarterback, enter what should be a much tougher conference in the Big Ten, and are coming off a disappointing 8-5 season. So, what does that mean for USC in 2024? That's tough to say, but that may quickly be answered in a Week 1 neutral site game matchup against LSU in Las Vegas. Miller Moss takes over for Caleb Williams at quarterback, who looked very good in the Holiday Bowl. But all eyes will be on new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn, hoping to fix an abysmal defense from last year.
22. NC State Wolfpack
Everyone just seems to overlook the Wolfpack, yet this has been a team that's won eight or more games in six out of the last seven seasons. Dave Doeren doesn't get enough credit for his teams. What's eluded the program is an ACC Championship Game berth. That could change this season thanks to some transfers like former Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall taking over under center.
23. Iowa Hawkeyes
It would be easy to write off Iowa, seeing as how they were one of the worst offensive units in the country last season. But it's their strong defense that keeps them most likely in the preseason top 25, along with the consistency that Kirk Ferentz has built at the program. New offensive coordinator Tim Lester will hope to fix the offensive woes and aid quarterback Cade McNamara, who is coming off an injury from last season. But how will the Hawkeyes adjust to the new-look Big Ten?
24. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville became one of the surprise teams of the year last season, making it all the way to the ACC Championship Game, albeit in Jeff Brohm's debut. Brohm hit the transfer portal hard to build last year's Cardinals team and did the same for the upcoming 2024 team. The competition looks to be a lot stiffer in the ACC this season, though. Nonetheless, Louisville has the pieces to potentially get back to the conference title game.
25. Arizona Wildcats
Maybe this is too low for the Wildcats, who just came off one of the best seasons in years for the program, winning 10 games. But losing head coach Jedd Fisch feels like a big deal considering how he rebuilt the program over the last few years. In his place will be Brent Brennan, who will be a first-year head coach. Luckily for him, he'll still have one of the nation's best quarterbacks in Noah Fifita, along with receiver Tetairoa McMillan. Arizona also moves into a fairly wide-open Big 12 conference in a transition phase.
Follow Us
Subscribe
