College football is so incredible close, everyone. For proof of this, we would like to direct you to the one thing that always shows the season is right around the corner: the first Associated Press poll of the year. Here’s what the top-25 looks like, GET EXCITED:
- Alabama (33 first-place votes)
- Clemson (16)
- Oklahoma (4)
- Florida State (5)
- LSU (1)
- Ohio State (1)
- Michigan (1)
- Stanford
- Tennessee
- Notre Dame
- Ole Miss
- Michigan State
- TCU
- Washington
- Houston
- UCLA
- Iowa
- Georgia
- Louisville
- USC
- Oklahoma State
- North Carolina
- Baylor
- Oregon
- Florida
All seems pretty swell, no? Alabama is the No. 1 team in the country, which should come as a surprise to no one, because even though the Crimson Tide have a question mark at quarterback and need to replace reigning Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry, it is still the reigning national champion. No team is more well-coached than ‘Bama, and the roster comprised mostly of four and five-star recruits is the closest thing the sports has to a fully-formed death machine. The team has a pretty tricky schedule – its two toughest opponents are Ole Miss and LSU, and both of those games are on the road – but Alabama is still Alabama, so we know how this movie ends.
Hey, speaking of LSU, it’s in the top-25, too! In fact, the Tigers join the Crimson Tide in the top-5, and this is part of one of the funniest quirks of the sport this year. With Alabama/LSU, Clemson/Florida State, and Ohio State/Michigan all in the top-7, six of the nation’s seven best teams are from three conferences, according to the AP. In fact, those three pairings feature teams that will play each other, which could mean that three games are essentially play-in games for the conference title games and the College Football Playoff. We always talk about the biggest game of the year, but college football will have three: October 29 in Tallahassee, November 5 in Baton Rouge, and November 26 in Columbus. So, uh, clear your schedules now.
Since we don’t know too much about most teams yet, it’s hard to say with 100 percent confidence that the voters got anything wrong. Ohio State – which is loaded with talent and has one of the three-best head coaches in America but has six returning starters and lost its defensive coordinator to a head coaching gig – may be a bit high at No. 6 (remember this when the Buckeyes become Voltron in November), Tennessee at No. 9 could raise a few eyebrows, preseason darling Washington is at No. 14 even though not everyone is sold on them, and potential Group of 5 CFP buster Houston is at N0. 15.
But yeah, Alabama is number one, they’ll probably beat down a lot of teams, Clemson is number two and they’ll do the same thing. The first game is on August 26 and the first college football Saturday is in 13 days, so everything is good.
