College football is just under a month away, and we here at Chop Chat have you covered with the preseason top five according to our staff.
While the current world of college football is one where the preseason doesn’t mean all that much and you can get to the playoff with losses (and not even winning your own division), it still is a pretty nice thing to start out with a single digit by your name. It’s even nicer when that digit is the number five or lower.
Last season, three of the preseason top five teams in the coaches poll – Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State – all made it to the CFB Playoff while the other two, Florida State and Oklahoma, joined the fun in one of the New Years Six bowls that mean quite the prestige and payday for your season.
When you look at many experts and their preseason thoughts entering the 2017 season, it’s a who’s who list of the greatest programs in the game over the last half century. But just who are the best five teams at this point entering the upcoming year? We now present to you the Chop Chat top five college football preseason rankings entering 2017.
No. 5 – Penn State Nittany Lions
Florida State Seminoles Football
It is safe to say that James Franklin has done his job and turned the program back into being competitive following the effects of sanctions over the Jerry Sandusky/Joe Paterno scandal. While some forget that it was actually Penn State who won the Big Ten last year, you can darn well bet that the 12 teams on their schedule aren’t overlooking the men from the commonwealth this season.
It gets a lot easier to enter the season when you know that running back and potential Heisman candidate Saquan Barkley is in the backfield again, along with quarterback Trace McSorley. Having 10 players returning on offense makes it also a lot more doable to think about a run at the playoffs considering that Penn State will be playing new starters at most defensive positions when the season begins.
Most Important Game – October 28th at Ohio State: Playing in one of the toughest divisions in all of college football is even worse when you have to play Michigan and the Buckeyes in back to back weeks. Playing the Wolverines at home will be a challenge, but heading to Columbus seven days later will be make or break time if this team is going to get to the College Football Playoff.
No. 4 – USC Trojans
After being sidelined for the early part of the decade, the men from Los Angeles are back – proved last year by a Rose Bowl win over Penn State. Now, the hopes are more than just winning the Pac-12…this is a team under head coach Clay Helton who wants to make it into the College Football Playoff and win the whole darn thing.
For the Trojans, the season will likely start and end with the play of quarterback Sam Donald. Just a sophomore, he’s being labeled by some as a Heisman favorite after just one season. He will get some help in the run game from Ronald Jones and on defense from names like Cameron Smith at linebacker. Donald can’t do it all, but USC is hoping that he can do even better than his debut season.
Most Important Game – September 9th vs. Stanford: It’s weird to say that the second game of the season is the most important, but consider the fact that USC plays 12 straight games this season for an insane reason. The toughest games are all in the Coliseum, but an early loss to the Cardinal would but a monkey wrench in a lot of early plans.
No. 3 – Ohio State Buckeyes
For head coach Urban Meyer, last year was a mixed bag considering the men from Columbus made it to the College Football Playoff without winning the Big Ten East, but got worked by Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. That being said, the Buckeyes are far from taking a step back considering what is still on the roster. In fact, there is a decent chance that they will be back among the final four teams at this point.
On offense, the loses at wide receiver are made up by the fact that quarterback J.T. Barrett and running back Mike Weber are returning to go along with what may be one of the best offensive lines in the country. The defensive front seven will be a solid unit, and if the secondary can overcome losses from last year it could be back to the playoffs.
Most Important Game – October 28th vs. Penn State: We talked about it a couple slides ago as being important for the Nittany Lions, but Ohio State is going to need this game since – after the Oklahoma game in week two – they aren’t challenged until this meeting and will have to play Penn State, Michigan, Iowa and Michigan State in their finally five game. Yikes.
No. 2 – Florida State Seminoles
For the men from Tallahassee, there are plenty of high anticipations entering the upcoming college football season. Almost every preseason publication has them winning the ACC for the first time since 2014 – while making the college football playoff for the first time since that year as well. Still, the Seminoles have plenty of work cut out for them if all that is going to take place.
On offense, this is now quarterback Deondre Francois’ team after the loss of Dalvin Cook to the NFL. D12 showed his toughness and skill last year and will now get a chance to show his leadership. Having playmakers like Nyqwan Murray and incoming freshman sensation Cam Akers will help – as will a defense led by maybe the best player in college football, Derwin James, and other stars like Tarvarus McFadden, Derrick Nnadi, Brian Burns, Josh Sweat and more.
Most Important Game – September 16th vs. Miami: The opener against Alabama may be a No.1 vs. No. 2 game, but it also won’t be the end of the world if Florida State loses. The game with the Hurricanes is crucial since a conference loss would put FSU against the wall (especially if there is a loss to Bama) and the Noles want to extend their current seven game win streak vs. Miami.
No. 1 – Alabama Crimson Tide
For head coach Nick Saban and his team, one second proved to be the difference last season between a fourth national title this decade and watching Clemson go home from Tampa as the winners. At the same time, the Crimson Tide never rebuild at this point – they just reload after another year of watching star players get picked by NFL teams.
On offense, having the triple threat of quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Bo Scarborough and wide receiver Calvin Ridley are giving defenses across the SEC and around the country nightmares heading into the upcoming season. The defense lost more talent than is in some entire college football conferences, but the talent is still there led by one of the best players in the game, Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Next: Derwin James named top CFB player by ESPN
Most Important Game – October 7th at Texas A&M: Let us just say for the record that this is not saying that the Aggies are better than FSU, LSU, Auburn or others on Bama’s schedule. But, the Crimson Tide have had a loss in each of their last three national title season – including one to A&M in 2012. Everyone is looking at the big games, but Alabama has had trap issues before.