1. Ohio State Buckeyes
The reigning and defending champions. Eight starters return on offense and seven on defense. Ezekiel Elliot and the three headed quarter-back are back. Joey Bosa is back on defense. They open at Virginia Tech which could be tricky but they have a really easy conference schedule with Penn State and Michigan State at home and Nebraska and Wisconsin not on the schedule.
2. TCU Horned Frogs
This is a team that will play with a chip on it’s shoulder and they also have Trevone Boykin back at QB. They also have nine starters back on offense.
3. Alabama Crimson Tide
They don’t have a QB yet but this Bama team will rely more heavily on the run and Derrick Henry will be up to the task. The biggest concern right now is the off-the-field issues that the Tide have been having but if they can iron those out they will be the odds-on favorite to win the SEC and thus gain a berth in the College Football Playoff. They do have a tough schedule though as they will face Wisconsin, Ole Miss and Georgia in their first five games.
4. Oregon Ducks
The Ducks must break in a new QB although it should be a guy that has tons of experience (Vernon Adams). Oregon is the class of the Pac-12 and I don’t see that changing this season.
5. Baylor Bears
Baylor should be right up there with TCU but with a QB change I have TCU as the team to beat in the Big 12. The Bears do return seventeen starters.
6. Clemson Tigers
I probably have the Tigers too high but Deshaun Watson is the truth. With the exception of Louisville; all of their tough games are at home this season.
7. FSU Seminoles
They got Everett Golson and they have a very workable schedule. They only have four returning starters on offense which is a concern as is the loss of Nick O’Leary which I think could be a bigger deal than some think. When all is said and done FSU will be in the thick of things at the end of the season but will they do well enough to be considered for the CFP?
8. Georgia Bulldogs
Like Bama, they haven’t picked a QB yet but Georgia is loaded in many spots. On offense they have Nick Chubb, Malcolm Mitchell, Isaiah McKenzie, Keith Marshall and Sony Michel. On defense they have Jordan Jenkins, Leonard Floyd and Lorenzo Carter. The Dawgs will be a team to be reckoned with in 2015 but their SEC West Schedule (Bama and Auburn) is a killer.
9. Auburn Tigers
Jeremy Johnson will bring an added dimension to Auburn’s offense and it will let D’haquille Williams flurish. Auburn’s offense will be explosive and their defense, while not great, will be improved. Will it be enough to win the West?
10. Michigan State Spartans
The Spartans have a pretty tough schedule with road games at Ohio State and Nebraska and they have Oregon coming to East Lansing. That being said, the Spartans have had four double-digit win seasons in the last five and are 24-3 in their last two season.
11. Ole Miss Rebels
12. USC Trojans
13. Wisconsin Badgers
14. UCLA Bruins
15. Oklahoma Sooners
16. Arkansas Razorbacks
17. Louisville Cardinals
18. Arizona State Sun Devils
19. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
20. Mississippi State Bulldogs
21. LSU Tigers
22. Boise State Broncos
23. Arizona Wildcats
24. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
25. Nebraska Cornhuskers
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