way too early top 25 CFB rankings (a bunch of 'em)

Submitted by oriental andrew on

Fox Sports: 

CBS Sports: 

Mercury News: 

TSN: 

USA Today: 

Bleacher REport: 

ESPN: 

the Big Lead: 

I've put some select teams (Big Ten + other teams of interest) into a table and sorted by average.

USA Today gives Michigan a lotta love at #4 (!), whiles Fox and Mercury News are most bearish at 15. In every case, Michigan is ranked higher than Florida. Basically, Michigan is a fringe top 10 team based on national perceptions. 

A few outlets have osu #2, but ESPN has them as low as 6th. They're a CFP contender.

penn state ranges from 4 (ESPN) to 12 (TBL), and most don't have too much faith in Wisco as a top 10 outfit. 

Bama is Bama. Some have faith in FSU, but Clemson is all over the map - as high as 3, as low as 13, average 7.

Team Fox CBS Mercury News TSN Big Lead USA Today ESPN Bleacher Report Avg
Alabama 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 1.25
ohio state 2 2 3 4 2 3 6 4 3.25
FSU 5 3 1 5 8 1 2 3 3.50
USC 4 5 7 2 5 5 3 2 4.13
Clemson 3 13 10 3 3 9 5 10 7.00
penn state 6 6 8 7 12 8 4 6 7.13
Michigan 15 8 15 8 9 4 12 8 9.88
Wisconsin 11 12 6 13 10 12 9 17 11.25
Florida 17     14 17 22 21 24 19.17
msu n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r n/r #DIV/0!

EDIT1: added USC and msu. People look at USC as a strong CFP contender.

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taistreetsmyhero

January 10th, 2017 at 1:55 PM ^

gives a better sense of where the collective viewpoint on the teams is at.

i think next season continues our trend of 10-3 seasons. not sure if it will be 9-3 with bowl win or 10-2 with bowl loss, but my way too early prediction is 10-3.

Joined: 08/08/2012

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alum96

January 10th, 2017 at 2:28 PM ^

Yep that's where I am at.  And frustratingly it sort of just has taken us back to the Carr/Moeller era where >=3 losses was "the thing" most years.  Lloyd 10 of 13 years with 3+ losses, and Moeller 3 of 5.

We really have not had that string of elite 6-7 yrs like most of the blue bloods have with 0-1-2 loss years, since Bo. 

It "feels" like UM can do better in this era but we are not there yet.  

 

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Heywood_Jablome

January 10th, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^

Bama seems too high at #1 considering they're going to lose 75% of their defense and several more on offense, but I'm not sure who else you would put there.  

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Trebor

January 10th, 2017 at 2:45 PM ^

But remember, Alabama does this every year; they've lost more than one game twice in the last 6 seasons, and both times the second loss was in a bowl game. They've more than earned the right to be recognized as a team that reloads instead of rebuilds.

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TrueBlue2003

January 10th, 2017 at 6:12 PM ^

they lost a ton on defense and simply reload.  They spent much of the year being talked about as potentially the greatest of all time (clearly hyperbole) with a true freshman QB and seven new starters on defense.   Those top ranked recruiting classes year after year? They matter.

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kurpit

January 10th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^

Dude... Ohio State is among the nation's elite teams year in and year out. Their incredibly young team was better than our very experienced team with multiple all-americans. As much as you'd like it to be true, the two programs are not equals.

Joined: 02/25/2009

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TrueBlue2003

January 10th, 2017 at 6:29 PM ^

the 2014 and 2015 classes, which need to be the top producing classes this year, were not good and what was good doesn't remain. Everything that people here (like this post verbatim) are saying about us next year, people said about MSU coming into this year.  No way we go 3-9, but a significant rebuild and an unranked finish is well within the realm of possibilty.  A 10-2 season certainly is too.  Lot of question marks.

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Kevin13

January 10th, 2017 at 2:01 PM ^

around 10 is failry accurate, if not a little bullish. Alabama should be #1 and will be a tough team to beat next year.  It's going to be an interesting year to see how things play out for us. I think finding our best 5 OL next year could be the key as to how far this team goes.

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evenyoubrutus

January 10th, 2017 at 2:06 PM ^

I'm actually surprised that OSU isn't ranked higher by most predictions, considering the talk all season was how they were supposedly the youngest team in the last 200 years. That game against Clemson must have really knocked them down a notch.

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alum96

January 10th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^

I think the consensus with the youth and tough road game at PSU and OSU being OSU and FL being early rather than late (hence more difficult for a young team) is a 9-3 record pre bowl.  That is about what a #10-#12 team will do.  I think it's a realistic spot.

To finish top 5 Harbaugh will finally have to start doing what he did at Stanford and start having UM win games they are not favored in.  Not sure off top of head if he has pulled a significant upset in his 2 years here - certainly not this year.  That said UM was a favorite most every game save OSU this year I believe.  Next year I see at least 3 games will go in as underdog.

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alum96

January 10th, 2017 at 2:36 PM ^

Curious where USC is in this - on paper this could be a year for them to take that step with a potential Heisman QB out there and I believe they return a ton of that defense.  Not sure if that's a good thing or not !  But experience helps and some of those PSU touchdowns were 50/50 arm punts. 

Also of note - who is the SEC's 2nd best team anymore?  GA is recruiting like bonkers but its not on the field yet; UF to me is not to be feared until Nuss leaves - boring team.  TN has been lost in the woods for years, LSU is not a sure thing anymore, A&M perennial underachiever post Manziel, leavind Ole Mi$$. 

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Walter Sobchak

January 10th, 2017 at 2:45 PM ^

I just saw on Yahoo that MSU has higher odds to win the National Championship (75:1) than Colorado (100:1). Malarkey.

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Mongo

January 10th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^

those initial Stanford teams were filed with your guys trying to make a name for themselves. When everything clicked, JH could still catch lightening in a bottle with them. I am really looking forward to 2017 and watching our youngsters battle for their positions. The core senior leadership is an interesting mix of guys - Speight, Cole, Hurst, McCray - not exactly workaholics like Wormerly and Butt were however cool-headed and smart maybe a bit more fun-loving. I think the combination of that style with the intensity of the underclassman battles will be a great environment for new team chemistry. Very enthusiastic and Harbaugh will no doubt lather that up thru fall camp. These are his recruits, being molded in his image. It is going to be fun to watch!

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