The recent retirement of longtime Alabama coach Nick Saban shook the college football world … and the rankings. It will continue to do so for months to come until it’s clear how the departure of Saban and the hiring of Kalen DeBoer steers the Crimson Tide.
College football analyst J.D. PicKell offered his top 12 teams for the upcoming season based on moves via the transfer portal and the retirement of Saban. The reason he goes 12 deep is clear: the next College Football Playoff will include 12 teams.
USA TODAY
Ohio State sits at No. 2 just behind Georgia as the second-best team in the nation, and it’s possible the Buckeyes might be the favorites to win the Big Ten after Jim Harbaugh left Michigan for the NFL.
PicKell’s rankings are as follows:
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Oregon
5. Ole Miss
6. Michigan
7. Alabama
8. Penn State
9. Notre Dame
10. Missouri
11. Florida State
12. Utah
Both Alabama and Michigan appear to slide a bit based on losing their head coaches, and missing from the list entirely is Washington who just played for a national championship before losing its coach to Alabama. The Longhorns are the only team that played in the College Football Playoff that has a returning head coach for 2024 – whatever that’s worth.
The top five on the list should be relatively steady with most polls as the best five in the country. Penn State seems a little high for a program with little to show by way of success for quite some time.
The Buckeyes boast the No. 4 ranking for the class of 2024 and the No. 2 class in the Big Ten per On3 rankings. That will surely help as the top 25 rankings continue in during the preseason.
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