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2021 preseason top 25 college football rankings: Oklahoma, Georgia, Clemson coming for Alabama’s crown

By Cody Williams

Jan 1, 2021; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban runs in a timeout in the fourth quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the Rose Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2021; Arlington, TX, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban runs in a timeout in the fourth quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the Rose Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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College Football Rankings
Auburn Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports /

20. Auburn Tigers

It’s now the Bryan Harsin era at Auburn and he has a good amount of talent to work with. Tank Bigsby is a stud at running back and the defense is loaded on all levels. They need to be more consistent on that side of the ball but the potential is clear.

What will define Harsin’s first year in the SEC, though, is what his arrival means for Bo Nix. The quarterback burst onto the scene as a freshman but has been maddeningly inaccurate and unreliable as a passer. Can that change this season? The Tigers’ hopes of competing in the loaded SEC West likely depend on the answer to that question.

19. Miami Hurricanes

College football fans should be excited that Miami quarterback D’Eriq King appears on track to make a full recovery from a torn ACL suffered in the bowl game last year. He’s one of the most exciting players in the country and, with the arrival of Oklahoma transfer Charleston Rambo along with a strong group of skill position players, the offense should be fun.

Yet, fans should likely temper expectations a bit for the Hurricanes. The offensive line is a bit of a concern while the defense has to replace Jaelan Phillips and Quincy Roche after the rest of the unit underperformed last season. Head coach Manny Diaz is taking over play-calling on that side of the ball, but will that be enough?

18. Texas Longhorns

Steve Sarkisian’s work at Alabama prior to taking over for Tom Herman at Texas leads you to believe the Longhorns could be ready to make a big leap offensively. First things first, however, they must land on an answer at quarterback as Casey Thompson and Hudson Card duke it out for the starting job. However, relying on Bijan Robinson in the backfield is likely the starting point anyway.

If Sark can work his magic on offense, the defensive talent is obvious and has room to improve from last year with new coaching. Maybe, just maybe, these coaching changes are what’s necessary for Texas to be back.

17. Penn State Nittany Lions

The end results of last year’s 4-5 campaign don’t tell the whole story for Penn State as James Franklin’s team caught a ton of bad breaks, from Micah Parsons opting out to Journey Brown being forced to retire for medical reasons. Don’t expect the same type of sub-.500 performance from the Nittany Lions this year.

While that may be true, Sean Clifford has lacked as a consistent passer and the hope is that new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich can find the answer. And as the defensive line is going to be on the inexperienced side, Penn State fans better hope the new coaching hire gets the job done.

16. Washington Huskies

Even though Washington’s defense is losing the likes of Elijah Molden and must replenish the secondary, Jimmy Lake’s track record in that department leads to some confidence they’ll sort that out. The bigger questions come from what we’ll see from the Huskies on the other side of the ball.

Four games is hardly enough of a sample size to have confidence in quarterback Dylan Morris, especially with highly touted freshman Sam Huard coming in to challenge him. The line and running back group is worth believing in but Washington will need to find answers in the passing game to compete atop the Pac-12 this season.