College football rankings: Preseason top 25 – Clemson at No. 1, SEC owns half of top 10

10. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Experience is going to be critical in the 2020 college football season. Even with fall practices, the near-unanimous lack of a full spring and other offseason workouts means that players who have experience playing together at a unit are ahead of the curve coming into the year. And if that group is brimming with elite talent, that’s even better — which is why Oklahoma State is a fascinating case study this year.

Running back Chuba Hubbard and wide receiver Tylan Wallace, two of the best players in the country at their respective positions, made the decisions earlier this year to return to Stillwater for one more season. In doing so, they give the Cowboys an elite offensive attack. That unit can be even better if redshirt sophomore quarterback Spencer Sanders is able to take a step forward after flashing and progressing in his first year as the starter last year.

While there is no shortage of experience and talent on offense, head coach Mike Gundy has to feel great about his defense, however mythical it may be hailing from the Big 12. Oklahoma State returns 21 of their 22 players filling the top two spots on the depth chart from last year’s defense. Even more impressive, that was a group that made a tremendous jump from the previous year.

Because of the way things have been trending in Norman recently, Gundy’s crew might still go into the season a notch behind the Sooners. Having said that, the Pokes have traditionally found the way to push themselves into the top-five conversation nationally every once in a while and all the pieces are falling into place for that to be a distinct possibility this year.