Preseason AP Top 25: Clemson tops Alabama, Big Ten has most teams ranked

The 2019 college football preseason AP Top 25 was released on Monday with Clemson taking No. 1 over Alabama but the Big Ten is well represented.

The first week of the 2019 college football season finally kicks off this week with Florida and Miami squaring off in Orlando followed by Hawaii welcoming Arizona to Aloha Stadium. And ahead of the first games of the new season, we have the first college football rankings of the season with the release of the preseason AP Top 25 on Monday.

In the preseason poll, the Clemson Tigers earned the top spot as the defending National Champions overtook the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Georgia Bulldogs, Oklahoma Sooners and Ohio State Buckeyes rounded out the rest of the top five. Meanwhile, it was Ohio State’s conference, the Big Ten, that came out as the group with the most teams in the preseason AP Top 25 with seven.

Let’s take a look at the poll itself to see how the initial college football rankings shake out:

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Michigan
8. Florida
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas
11. Oregon
12. Texas A&M
13. Washington
14. Utah
15. Penn State
16. Auburn
17. UCF
18. Michigan State
19. Wisconsin
20. Iowa
21. Iowa State
22. Syracuse
23. Washington State
24. Nebraska
25. Stanford

When you get down to it, the preseason AP Top 25 doesn’t actually mean that much. It’s more or less a lens to view the start of the season through to get a general idea of the landscape. As the college football season wears on, though, things will undoubtedly change and likely do so drastically.

Even still, it’s important to take stock in how the college football landscape is being viewed entering the 2019 season according to the rankings. Thus, we have some takeaways looking at the preseason AP Poll.

5. Texas is back — and heavily underrated

Yes, the Texas Longhorns have to replace nine starters on defense from last season. But this is a team that went 10-4 a season ago and still has one of the most dynamic offenses in the country. Sam Ehlinger returns at quarterback as a possible Heisman Trophy candidate with high-end weapons like running backs Keaontay Ingram and Jordan Whittington and wide receiver Collin Johnson.

Looking at the Big 12, Texas has the most offensive consistency in the conference coming into 2019, at least in terms of the top-tier units on that side of the ball. Considering that and the fact that every top team in the conference also has their own deficiencies on defense, the Longhorns are one of the front-runners to win the conference.

When you consider that and then see Oklahoma ranked inside the top five, it’s hard not to believe that Tom Herman’s team is being underrated sitting at No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25.

4. ACC should be a runaway for Clemson

Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers taking the top overall spot in the preseason AP Poll shouldn’t come as a surprise. Despite what they’ve lost on defense coming into the 2019 season, Trevor Lawrence and the offense should be one of the best units in the country — and it doesn’t hurt that they have top-tier defensive recruits to take over for the players that departed.

Regardless of their merits to be No. 1, though, what the poll showcased more was the disparity between Clemson and the rest of the ACC. Only one other team in the conference made the top 25 (Syracuse) and, while Virginia, Miami and Virginia Tech received votes, that doesn’t paint a competitive picture of the ACC.

If this is truly how things are going to shake out in the conference, the Tigers may not break a sweat on their way to winning the ACC title.

3. Ohio State, Oklahoma, Washington get the benefit of the doubt

The Buckeyes, Sooners and Huskies are all ranked inside the top 15 with Oklahoma and Ohio State slotting inside the top five. Given the pedigree of these programs, that’s not all that shocking.

What does make it a bit surprising, though, is the variability of all three of these teams entering the 2019 college football season. These three teams are all undergoing an immense transition at quarterback. At Ohio State, Justin Fields takes over for Dwayne Haskins. Jalen Hurts will fill Kyler Murray’s cleats at Oklahoma. And Jacob Eason is now occupying Jake Browning’s former spot with Washington.

Though Hurts has certainly been a starting quarterback that’s enjoyed success, he’s not been the focal point of a team as he will in Lincoln Riley’s offense. That means we’re looking at three relatively unproven quarterbacks in their current roles who are all facing top-15 expectations for the 2019 college football season. Seeing them ranked this high is certainly a vote of confidence in these quarterbacks from the AP.

2. Texas A&M doesn’t get enough love

To be clear, the Texas A&M Aggies weren’t entirely disrespected. Coming in at No. 12 in the preseason AP Top 25 is nothing to scoff at. The rankings clearly recognize that Jimbo Fisher’s team has an immense amount of talent.

At the same time, it doesn’t feel like they recognize just how much talent the Aggies have. Quarterback Kellen Mond is one of the elite playmakers in college football and he’s flanked by a veteran group of wide receivers, explosive young running backs, a largely experienced offensive line and a high-upside defense that is littered with talent. This team should be a top-10 squad in any poll.

The big knock on Texas A&M for the 2019 season isn’t the team itself but rather their brutal schedule, arguably the toughest in college football as they face Clemson, Alabama, Georgia and LSU, in addition to the rest of a grueling SEC slate. But that shouldn’t be taken into account in preseason rankings, though it feels like it was here.

1. Penn State the most overrated team

James Franklin’s Penn State Nittany Lions are a team that has plenty of believers and the AP voters seemingly are among them. And it’s not hard to make at least somewhat of a case for why they deserve faith.

After all, this Penn State defense led by Yetur Gross-Matos and Micah Parsons has the opportunity to be one of the better units in the country. Furthermore, there are playmakers such as K.J. Hamler on offense that will provide plenty of fireworks for the Nittany Lions throughout the 2019 season.

However, Trace McSorley’s departure leaves unproven Sean Clifford taking over at quarterback and, outside of Hamler, there are virtually no proven playmakers on the Penn State offense. That leaves this team in danger of disappointing and that seems pretty blatant if you look even marginally close at their roster. So to have them rounding out the top 15 in the preseason AP Top 25 is egregiously overrating the Nittany Lions.