Unconquered

9-15. The national media does not have faith in Jimbo. He'll have to prove them wrong. We will get the chance.

I think towards the latter.

Media wanks for returning QBs. See: picking USC despite no depth on roster and mediocre D.

We'll finish #10, I have a hard time believing that they will drop KSU below us since the media LOVES them. Next season we'll start out at around #12-15..

If Bama Wins:

1 Alabama
2 Oregon
3 Notre Dame
4 Stanford
5 Georgia
6 Texas A&M
7 South Carolina
8 Florida
9 Kansas State
10 Florida State
11 Clemson
12 LSU

If ND Wins:

Just swap Bama and ND at 1 and 3

Next Year, what OcalNole said: 10-15. New QB, young defense, new coaches, etc.

FSU is a better 2 loss team than any but Stanford and UF.

I meant final rankings this year.

Preseason rankings will be interesting. A lot depends on who leaves and stays. I see us being in that 8-15 range.

I personally think if Boyd comes back that Clemson is a top 5 team. They had a young defense, so they should improve. Boyd and Watkins are two great weapons (let alone if Hopkins returns). Chad Morris is without question the best OC in CFB, next year will be his last at Clemson.

Stanford is also a top 5 team. Great OL play, the QB is back who was on fire at the end of the season. Bama and ND should also be in the top 5.

In the SEC, I think there are a lot of questions outside of Bama.
- LSU loses a ton on defense.
- UGA loses a ton on defense (does return Murray though).
- A&M will most likely lose those 2 OT's, who are there 2 best players, plus Johnny Football isn't sneaking up on anyone.
- UF loses a ton on defense, and their best offensive skill player.
- South Carolina actually looks like the team with the best returning players.

I think Stanford will be 1-2. Otherwise i agree.
Louisville and A&M are going to be way overrated.

A&M gave up 57 midseason to the wac's 3rd place team.
despite what happened last night that d sucks. it will suck next year and Manziel's playground ball will not be as effective after coaches have all summer to get ready for it. I suspect they will be 8-4 next year.

Louisville just is not very good. They will be better but not much better next year. Louisville will be a 20-25 team just like this year.

Also, clemson will be the highest rated team in the ACC because they beat an overrated LSU. That is what happens when you underwhelm like we did in the orange bowl.

I would also not be surprised to see Louisville and Clemson jump us in the final polls. It will be laughable if Louisville does it. also laughable because we beat clemson handily.

Actually, Texas needs to replace ok st and ok st replaces ou.

My top ten, for all to criticize.

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Ohio State
4. ND
5. Stanford
6. Texas A&M
7. Clemson
8. Oklahoma
9. UGA
10. Louisville
11. FSU
12. USCe
13. Michigan
14. KState
15. UCLA

Thoughts on-
Alabama (if Saban stays) is Alabama.
Oregon (if Kelly stays) has more experience winning than either OSU or ND.
OSU has Meyer at the helm, and I'm not a fan, but the guy wins.
ND did pretty well this year, I think Kelly is a good coach, and they aren't losing too many guys.
Stanford looked good once they got their QB issues resolved, and I like Shaw.
TAMU looked strong this year, Johnny Football is a winner.
Clemson will return a lot of elite talent, and they play in a weak conference
Oklahoma doesn't deserve to be ranked this high, but you can't have a top 10 that doesn't include anyone from the B12.
UGA looked good this year, they're not in the west, I think the east is going to be down next season and they'll do well.
Louisville didn't look like a powerhouse this year, but the media has to slip a Big East team in there somewhere. The bowl win helps justify it.
FSU is always hyped, and probably overrated at 11, but that's what the media does. Also, if they can pull off the upset in Death Valley, the rest of the schedule isn't exactly a death march.
USCe didn't look as good as the hype. They didn't really win big games, and looked weak in several games. But, someone has to win a weak SEC east, and it will either be USCe or UGA
Michigan is another team that the media loves to hype. They had an okay season, and they found their QB, so they'll get a high pre-season nod.
KState loses Optimus Klein, but Snyder has the record to prove that they're always a threat. With the rest of the B12 not looking like world beaters, I don't see why KState wouldn't have a decent shot at a good record next year.
UCLA fizzled out at the end of the season, but their division of the PAC12 is fairly weak - someone has to have a good record (especially with USC looking less than awesome). Also, I like Mora, he seems to be doing a good job with a school that hasn't had much success in football in the past decade.

Notable exclusions -
UF had a great year and I think the coaching staff has them on the right track, but I think they lose too much talent this year. They'll still probably be in the top 25, but they have too much inexperience when you compare them to USCe & UGA. They also have to face UM (anything can happen in a rivalry game), a new look Arkansas, and at LSU (guaranteed loss if it's a night game).

LSU looks to be strong as usual, but they have too many big games and not enough star power to be in the top 15. They play at UGA, at Bama, neutral site with TCU (I expect a win, but that's a tough 1st game), and home games vs TAMU & Arky. I think they'll do well, but I can easily see 3 losses along the way.

We underwhelmed. Clemson won when not expected to do so.

i would not do it but I can see it happening. Louisville jump 9 spots after their year of nailbiters and getting blown out by Syracuse would actually be funny.

For reasons I still do not understand, people on the board got pissed when i said NIU and the ville were equal teams. i suspect i was attacked for the sake of attacking. They were not very good.

Texas will be the highest ranked big 12 team. i expect them to be ranked within a couple of spots of us.