College Football Top 25: Spring practice 2016 edition

Losing the Orange Bowl to Ohio State wasn’t exactly surprising to outsiders who watched the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish seasons unfold. Ohio State was playing angry because of the fact that it was going to miss out on playing for another national title while Notre Dame had been overachieving with a backup quarterback all year long.

Notre Dame lost 44-28 to the Buckeyes, but still finished the season as the country’s eighth-best team. That’s not a surprising rank for a team that was in the College Football Playoff discussion all year.

It’s going to be interesting to see what Brian Kelly does at the quarterback position. Does he start DeShone Kizer who did a fantastic job filling in for Malik Zaire after his injury or does he go back with the recovering quarterback who was picked as the starter to begin 2015?

Kizer finished the season with 2,884 yards and 21 touchdowns, but Zaire’s potential is through the roof. Both can be solid starting quarterbacks, given the right supporting case, and the Fighting Irish have enough returning talent to make each successful.

Although Notre Dame is losing starting running back C.J. Prosise, Josh Adams returns as the No. 2 rusher from 2015 and he has the talent to be every bit as good as his predecessor. Unfortunately, though, three of the top four receivers from last year will be gone.

Kelly has, however, reeled in the No. 13 recruiting class on Scout.

Next: 7. LSU Tigers