College Football: Way-Way Too Early Top 25 For 2014-2015
Florida
State has won the last BCS Championship winning in a last minute
comeback over Auburn, 34-31. Now that the BCS Era has officially come to
a close, we enter the playoff era where not only do the top 2 matter in
these polls, the top 4 teams do (technically polls don't matter at all
anymore thanks to the selection committee).
Well here is your Way-Way too early Top 25 for the 2014-2015 season:
RNK. TEAM (Last years record)- Explanation
1. Florida State (14-0)-
I'm starting to question if Jameis Winston has ever lost anything ever?
No reason why Winston shouldn't repeat his success in 2014-15.
2. Ohio State (12-2)- Urban
Meyer is 24-0 in the regular season at Ohio State. With Miller
returning, Ohio State will have another chance to redeem their 2-game
losing streak to end the season and go undefeated in the regular season
once again.
3. Alabama (11-2)- Nick Saban has lots of motivation for his team to get better in 2014, something he hasn't had in a while.
4. Oregon (11-2) - Marcus
Mariota and the Ducks saw two losses last year, which is two too many
for this talented squad. Look for them to bounce back this year and get
back into the Pac-12 Championship game.
5. Oklahoma (11-2)- The
Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama puts the Sooners in the national title
picture in 2014. With a defense that returns 8 starters Oklahoma will
look to run the table next season.
6. Stanford (11-3)- The
loss against Michigan State does not hurt Stanford in any way. They
beat Oregon and won the Pac-12 and the Cardinal had been to 4 straight
BCS games, so one loss will not affect this team's morale. David Shaw is
entering his fourth year of coaching, and they will be a threat once
again this year.
7. Michigan State (11-2) - The
Rose Bowl win and Big 10 Championship will impact the program, they
return 6 starters on defense and also RB Jeremy Langford so Michigan
State will look to build off their BCS Win and turn it into a playoff
win if possible.
8. Auburn (12-2)- If
Tre Mason does in fact return to college, then the #1 rushing offense
in the country will return 10 starters and might even be early favorites
to win the SEC West.
9. Baylor (11-2)- Bryce
Petty and Art Briles are very very dangerous from Waco Texas. Road
trips to Texas and Oklahoma should test them after another weak
non-conference slate.
10. UCLA (10-3)- Watch
out, UCLA dismantled Virginia Tech in the Sun Bowl , and they return
key starters on offense and defense. They are my dark horse to reach the
Playoffs this upcoming season behind Jim Mora and Brett Hundley.
11. LSU (10-3)- They return a young defense from last year, and will look to get yet another 10 win season.
12. Wisconsin (9-4)- Wisconsin
was looking like one of the very best teams in the country last year
before facing Penn State, Michigan State, and South Carolina. The late
meltdown will be something to avoid this year for the Badgers.
13. Arizona State (10-4)- Losing
to a 7-5 team with a 5 game losing streak in a bowl game after Rose
Bowl hopes the previous weeks never helps. Like Wisconsin, they will try
to avoid another late season meltdown this season.
14. Clemson (11-2)- Losing
Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins will be no easy task, but with how weak the
ACC is they could still be looking at a 10-2 season.
15. USC (10-4)- Wins
against Stanford and Fresno State should boost the Trojans confidence
this season, and they are likely to be Pac-12 contenders under new head
coach, Steve Sarkisian.
16. South Carolina (11-2)- South
Carolina Gamecocks are one of the SEC's best teams year in and year
out. Steve Spurrier has done a wonderful job and the Gamecocks return 8
offensive starters this year, but QB Connor Shaw is gone and South
Carolina must find a new leader to compete in the SEC.
17. Georgia (8-5)- Georgia
Bulldogs are the SEC's best team to not win a title game during their
streak of 8 straight championships. The Bulldogs have still been more
consistent than almost any other team in that era, and should be back in
full swing next year with RB Todd Gurley.
18. Oklahoma State (10-3)- Losing
your final two games is never fun. Oklahoma State learned that the hard
way last year, and will look to bounce back with J.W Walsh under
center.
19. Missouri (12-2)- The
Cotton Bowl win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the SEC
championship appearance should mean Missouri is doing just fine in the
SEC. As long as Florida and Georgia don't go back to being in their 2012
version, then the Tigers are in big trouble in the SEC East.
20. Washington (9-4)- Chris
Peterson's first year might have some rough moments, but with the
talent Washington brings back they should be able to spring an upset or
two in the Pac-12.
21. Notre Dame (9-4)- QB Everett
Golson should look to lead the Notre Dame Fighting Irish once again,
his 12-1 record as a freshman was phenomenal and Notre Dame could be
looking at 10 or 11 wins this year.
22. Louisville (12-1)- Charlie
Strong and Teddy Bridgewater made this program, and now they are both
headed to the big stages. Louisville plays in the AAC so coming back
strong won't be near as hard but the Cardinal shouldn't be as much fun
to watch as previous years.
23. UCF (12-1)- UCF
smashed Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl but lose star QB Blake Bortles and RB
Storm Johnson to the NFL. Meaning that the UCF Knights will have to
compete for an AAC title without their main pieces from the previous
year.
24. Kansas State (8-5)- Kansas
State under Bill Snyder has the ability to lose to an FCS team, then go
into game 9 of the season and be favored over Oklahoma and go the
distance with Baylor and Oklahoma State. This year they return a lot of
talent including underrated WR Tyler Lockett and QB/WR/RB Daniel Sams.
Look for Snyder's team to pull out a big upset in the season and maybe
reach 10 wins.
25. Iowa (8-5)- A very underrated team last year, and with some help on offense they can reach a new level this season.
Best of the rest :
Texas (8-5)- Charlie
is being asked to take over a big task this year after taking over a
legend at the same position. No, I don't mean Willie Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory, I'm talking about Charlie Strong going to Texas.
Jeez.
Texas Tech(8-5)- Texas
Tech smashed Arizona State in the Holiday Bowl last December, and will
look to build off of that heading into Ryan Gosling's second season at
Head Coach.
Northern Illinois (12-2)- Northern
Illinois plays in the MAC. Jordan Lynch left his program better than he
found it, and the Huskies should be in charge of the conference for a
while.
Fresno State (11-2) - See Northern Illinois* but replace Lynch with Carr and change MAC to Mountain West.
Miami (9-4)- The Hurricanes were #7 in the BCS season at one point last year, where have they gone since? Downhill.
Ole Miss (8-5)- Ole
Miss managed to pick up 8 wins playing in the SEC West which is no easy
task. They ended the year with a victory over Georgia Tech and with the
young talent last year they had, they should develop nicely this
upcoming season and bubble around the Top 25.
Vanderbilt (9-4)- Vandy is a threat in the SEC thanks to yours truly, James Franklin.
Duke (10-4)- Duke
has one of the best head coaches in the league it appears, as they were
a 10-2 team before running into the two best QB's in the league.
Florida (4-8)- Muschamp Muschwin a lot of games so he can keep his Muschpressured job.
Agree? Disagree? Leave your comment below letting me know your way-way too early Top 25.
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