Allen Bored
A little while back in my last CardBored entry I said that I would start doing a series of college football preview articles. Unfortunately though, once I realized the scope of the project I did what all great sports writers do, I quit. I just simply couldn’t dedicate the time to it. In lieu of that I’m throwing together a preview of sorts that combines data from various preseason magazines (Phil Steele, Lindy’s, Athlon, Sporting News, and the lesser known GamePlan). For the team rankings I’m also including Football Outsiders F/+ Ratings projections. I threw out Sporting News rankings as they annoyingly don’t do national rankings but I did use it for the All-American player rankings.
Top 25
1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Ohio State
4. Stanford
5. Georgia
6. Texas A&M
7. South Carolina
8. Oklahoma State
9. LSU
10. Florida
11. Florida State
12. Notre Dame
13. Texas
14. Clemson
15. Oklahoma
16. Louisville
17. USC
18. Boise State
19. TCU
20. Michigan
21. Nebraska
22. Wisconsin
23. Michigan State
24. Oregon State
25. Mississippi
Conference Rankings
#1 SEC
East
1. Georgia (5)
2. South Carolina (7)
3. Florida (11)
4. Vanderbilt (35)
5. Tennessee (43)
6. Missouri (44)
7. Kentucky (82)
West
1. Alabama (1)
2. Texas A&M (6)
3. LSU (9)
4. Mississippi (25)
5. Mississippi State (45)
6. Arkansas (46)
7. Auburn (48)
#2 Big XII
1. Oklahoma State (8)
2. Texas (13)
3. Oklahoma (15)
4. TCU (19)
5. Baylor (30)
6. Kansas State (36)
7. Texas Tech (44)
8. West Virginia (51)
9. Iowa State (60)
10. Kansas (93)
#3 Pac-12
North
1. Oregon (2)
2. Stanford (4)
3. Oregon State (24)
4. Washington (37)
5. California (61)
6. Washington State (80)
South
1. USC (17)
2. Arizona State (26)
3. UCLA (31)
4. Arizona (42)
5. Utah (56)
6. Colorado (94)
#4 Big Ten
Leaders
1. Ohio State (3)
2. Wisconsin (22)
3. Penn State (38)
4. Indiana (57)
5. Iowa (59)
6. Minnesota (66)
Legends
1. Michigan (20)
2. Nebraska (21)
3. Michigan State (23)
4. Northwestern (29)
5. Purdue (83)
6. Illinois (90)
#5 ACC
Atlantic
1. Florida State (11)
2. Clemson (14)
3. N.C. State (55)
4. Maryland (58)
5. Syracuse (65)
6. Wake Forest (70)
7. Boston College (76)
Coastal
1. Miami (27)
2. Virginia Tech (28)
3. Georgia Tech (32)
4. North Carolina (34)
5. Pittsburgh (52)
6. Virginia (67)
7. Duke (79)
#6 American Athletic
1. Louisville (16)
2. Cincinnati (40)
3. Rutgers (50)
4. UCF (53)
5. Connecticut (69)
6. Houston (71)
7. South Florida (81)
8. SMU (86)
9. Temple (95)
10. Memphis (106)
#7 Mountain West
Mountain
1. Boise State (18)
2. Utah State (54)
3. Air Force (89)
4. Colorado State (97)
5. Wyoming (99)
6. New Mexico (111)
West
1. Fresno State (33)
2. San Diego State (62)
3. San Jose State (64)
4. Nevada (88)
5. UNLV (109)
6. Hawaii (110)
#8 MAC
East
1. Bowling Green (74)
2. Ohio (75)
3. Buffalo (96)
4. Kent State (98)
5. Miami OH (114)
6. Akron (118)
7. Massachusetts (123)
West
1. Northern Illinois (41)
2. Toledo (73)
3. Ball State (85)
4. Western Michigan (102)
5. Central Michigan (112)
6. Eastern Michigan (121)
#9 Conference USA
East
1. East Carolina (63)
2. Marshall (68)
3. UAB (100)
4. Southern Miss (101)
5. Middle Tennessee (103)
6. FIU (116)
7. Florida Atlantic (117)
West
1. Tulsa (49)
2. Rice (77)
3. Louisiana Tech (91)
4. UTEP (107)
5. North Texas (108)
6. Tulane (113)
7. UTSA (119)
#10 Sun Belt
1. Louisiana-Lafayette (72)
2. Louisiana-Monroe (78)
3. Arkansas State (87)
4. Western Kentucky (92)
5. Troy (104)
6. Texas State (115)
7. South Alabama (120)
8. Georgia State (125)
Independents
1. Notre Dame (12)
2. BYU (39)
3. Navy (84)
4. Army (105)
5. Idaho (122)
6. New Mexico State (124)
All-American Rankings
Quarterback
1. Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M
2. Braxton Miller, Ohio State
3. A.J. McCarron, Alabama
4. Teddy Bridgewater, Louisville
5. Aaron Murray, Georgia
Running Back
1. Todd Gurley, Georgia
2. T.J. Yeldon, Alabama
3. Ka’Deem Carey, Arizona
4. Lache Seastrunk, Baylor
5. De’Anthony Thomas, Oregon
6. Duke Johnson, Miami
7. Venric Mark, Northwestern
8. Bishop Sankey, Washington
9. Adam Muema, San Diego State
10. Silas Redd, USC
Wide Receiver
1. Marqise Lee, USC
2. Sammy Watkins, Clemson
3. Amari Cooper, Alabama
4. Jordan Matthews, Vanderbilt
5. Mike Evans, Texas A&M
6. Davante Adams, Fresno State
7. Cody Hoffman, BYU
8. Stefon Diggs, Maryland
9. Allen Robinson, Penn State
10. Brandin Cooks, Oregon State
Tight End
1. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Washington
2. Chris Coyle, Arizona State
3. Arthur Lynch, Georgia
4. Jacob Pedersen, Wisconsin
5. Nick O’Leary, Florida State
Center
1. Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma
2. Travis Swanson, Arkansas
3. Tyler Larsen, Utah State
4. B.J. Finney, Kansas State
5. Hroniss Grasu, Oregon
Guard
1. Cyril Richardson, Baylor
2. David Yankey, Stanford
3. Spencer Long, Nebraska
4. Gabe Jackson, Mississippi State
5. Anthony Steen, Alabama
6. Xavier Su’a-Filo, UCLA
7. Andrew Norwell, Ohio State
8. Weston Richburg, Colorado State
9. Tre’ Jackson, Florida State
10. Zach Fulton, Tennessee
Tackle
1. Jake Matthews, Texas A&M
2. Taylor Lewan, Michigan
3. Cyrus Kouandjio, Alabama
4. James Hurst, North Carolina
5. Zack Martin, Norte Dame
6. Antonio Richardson, Tennessee
7. La’el Collins, LSU
8. Morgan Moses, Virginia
9. Jack Mewhort, Ohio State
10. Cameron Fleming, Stanford
Defensive End
1. Jadeveon Clowney, South Carolina
2. Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame
3. Devonte Fields, TCU
4. Scott Crichton, Oregon State
5. Jackson Jeffcoat, Texas
6. Morgan Breslin, USC
7. Demarcus Lawrence, Boise State
8. Aaron Lynch, South Florida
9. Ben Gardner, Stanford
10. Taylor Hart, Oregon
Defensive Tackle
1. Will Sutton, Arizona State
2. Louis Nix, Notre Dame
3. Anthony Johnson, LSU
4. Timmy Jernigan, Florida State
5. Aaron Donald, Pittsburgh
6. Leonard Williams, USC
7. Kelcy Quarles, South Carolina
8. Dominique Easley, Flroida
9. Calvin Barnett, Oklahoma State
10. Daniel McCullers, Tennessee
Outside Linebacker
1. Kyle Van Noy, BYU
2. C.J. Mosley, Alabama
3. Anthony Barr, UCLA
4. Ryan Shazier, Ohio State
5. Trent Murphy, Stanford
6. Adrian Hubbard, Alabama
7. Khalil Mack, Buffalo
8. Christian Jones, Florida State
9. Shaq Thompson, Washington
10. Denzel Mkemdiche, Mississippi
Inside Linebacker
1. Shayne Skov, Stanford
2. A.J. Johnson, Tennessee
3. Chris Borland, Wisconsin
4. Max Bullough, Michigan State
5. Yawin Smallwood, Connecticut
Cornerback
1. Bradley Roby, Ohio State
2. Jason Verrett, TCU
3. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Oregon
4. Aaron Colvin, Oklahoma
5. Loucheiz Purifoy, Florida
6. Quandre Diggs, Texas
7. Andre Hal, Vanderbilt
8. Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State
9. Deshazor Everett, Texas A&M
10. Antone Exum, Virginia Tech
Safety
1. Ed Reynolds, Stanford
2. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Alabama
3. Ty Zimmerman, Kansas State
4. Craig Loston, LSU
5. Lamarcus Joyner, Florida State
6. Hakeem Smith, Louisville
7. Dion Bailey, USC
8. Isaiah Lewis, Michigan State
9. Calvin Pryor, Louisville
10. Marco Nelson, Tulsa
Kicker
1. Cairo Santos, Tulane
2. Chris Boswell, Rice
3. Chandler Catanzaro, Clemson
4. Jeff Budzien, Northwestern
5. Ross Martin, Duke
Punter
1. Kyle Christy, Florida
2. Richie Leon, Houston
3. Kirby Van Der Kamp, Iowa State
4. Tommy Hibbard, North Carolina
5. Mike Sadler, Michigan State
Nick Saban is not amused photo credit: John David Mercer/USA Today
