Here’s a look at the next team in Chop Chat’s 2016 Preseason College Football Top 10 Rankings.
As we are in the final month without college football (thank God that nightmare is almost over), teams from across the country will be hitting the practice fields getting ready for the 2016 season. For 25 of those teams, the season will start being ranked in the first polls for the 2016 campaign.
From Tallahassee to Tuscaloosa and Norman to South Bend, everyone from the traditional powers to the upstart programs will look to find their name with a number beside it for (at least) the opening weekend of the 2016 season.
Here at Chop Chat, we aren’t different from anyone else…we have the teams we think will start off the year ranked way too high and those who aren’t getting enough respect. So, here is our list of the top ten teams entering the 2016 season.
Before we get hate mail from fans of schools who are mad we didn’t rank their team high enough (or didn’t rank them at all), know that this is just a preseason list entering week one. In no way are we saying that this list is the way things will end up on January 10, 2017 after the national championship team. After all, with (spoiler alert) a lot of our top 10 teams playing each other this season, there will be plenty of changes before the month of September is even done.
No. 5 – Oklahoma Sooners
Last season, it was Oklahoma’s turn to bring home the championship of the mathematically challenged Big 12 Conference. Making it into the College Football Playoff was fun for head coach Bob Stoops’ team, but now that they got that first taste of a championship run in quite a few years, Boomer Sooner is hungry to get back and wants more.
On offense, Oklahoma is ahead of the game with the return of Baker Mayfield at quarterback. Likely the best quarterback outside of Clemson, South Carolina, Mayfield is going to have to find a new favorite target at receiver with the departure of Sterling Shepard. Luckily, he has the two-headed monster at running back of Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon to be able to shoulder plenty of the offensive load.
Defensively, the Sooners are going to be doing whatever it takes to have a much better showing than 2015. Returning six starters, Oklahoma will put much of the pressure of leadership on their two secondary members that were all-conference last season, cornerback Jordan Thomas and free safety Steven Parker. With games against plenty of potent offense both in and out of the Big 12 this year, the defense will decide just how far this team can go.
Game of the Year
September 17th vs. Ohio State – The Sooners are stuck with a schedule that could easily give them losses in four of their first five games. The biggest one of the group is welcoming the Buckeyes to town for what could be a playoff preview.
Biggest Chance for an Upset
September 3rd vs. Houston – Fans of FSU don’t need to be reminded about the Cougars can do in a game they aren’t supposed to have a chance at winning. If anything, it’s a positive as they Sooners can rebound and still make the playoffs.