College Football Rankings: Top 25 after spring practice
What do the preseason Top 25 College Football Rankings for 2017 look like following the ever-important spring practices?
Fans going through college football withdrawals were able to get a fix in April with spring practices and spring games around the country taking place. Though not all have the pomp and circumstance of others or the same crowd as others, the importance of every spring game is critical. Both for programs and fans, it affords everyone the opportunity to assess where a team is at right now and what needs to be done over the next four months until the start of the 2017 college football season.
It’s important to remember that not all college football spring games are created equal. While one team may put all of the No. 1s on one squad and pit them against the No. 2s, other schools will essentially divide the talent evenly. That’s not really the point of the spring game, however. The purpose is to see the early product of what’s been worked on, which players are ready to vie for bigger roles and what areas of concern exist for teams.
Because of that, the host of spring games can ultimately affect the early outlook for the upcoming season. Moreover, these exhibitions can cause the early college football rankings to be shuffled a bit. That doesn’t mean anything is set in stone at this point because it’s not. But if questions are answered or if more questions are raised, the stock of teams can rise and fall.
Thus, we end up here at the end of the 2017 spring games. After the fact, what do the top 25 college football rankings shake out like and why? Let’s take a look at who rose and who fell after the spring on campus (or in Rome, if you’re Michigan).
Wyoming Cowboys
2016: 8-6,
Is this probably going way too far out on a limb? Possibly. After all, the Wyoming Cowboys went just 8-6 a year ago. Meanwhile, Wyoming isn’t exactly known as the recruiting capital of the world. And just for good measure, the Cowboys lost one of the most productive players in school history, running back Brian Hill, to the NFL draft after last season. Thus, it seems weird to have this team here.
Realizing all of that, there is also a simple truth to college football. Great quarterbacks win in the college ranks. The winning comes to varying degrees, but they have success at this level because they have the talent to play a prominent role at the next level. Thus, quarterback Josh Allen is why Wyoming comes in as high as they do.
The buzz on Allen grew exponentially throughout the 2016 season and it’s not hard to see why. At 6-5, 225 pounds as just a sophomore a season ago, he has the prototypical size and the physical tools as a passer to be a viable NFL quarterback. His production wasn’t as good as it should’ve been, but he can improve that in the 2017 season. What’s clear, though, is that he is a top-tier quarterback in the collegiate ranks and will be able to carry the Cowboys to certain degrees. If he’s good enough, that should mean Wyoming is a top-25 team.