College football rankings 2023: Georgia leads charge for 3-peat, Michigan, Alabama close behind
College football rankings 2023, way-too-early Top 25: No. 20-16
20. North Carolina Tar Heels
The one certainty about UNC coming into next season is that one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Drake Maye, will be at the helm of the offense. Beyond that, big-time departures and needing to improve one of the worst defenses in the country is going to be tough to deal with. That being said, Maye is good enough to overcome a lot and the transfer portal has already been strategically hit by Mack Brown.
19. Oklahoma Sooners
Brent Venables’ first year in Norman didn’t win him many fans but it was always a tough ask in that situation at Oklahoma. Now that Dillon Gabriel is back, the weapons will need to step up since Eric Gray and Marvin Mims are gone. But with the Sooners really fighting with Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl, this feels like the 6-7 season was not the norm for Boomer moving forward.
18. TCU Horned Frogs
Even with how miserable the year ended with a 58-point loss to Georgia, Sonny Dykes’ first year at TCU was unbelievably successful. Now come big changes with Max Duggan and (likely) Quentin Johnson leaving. Chandler Morris should step in at QB and Dykes knows how to work the portal but it’ll be hard to replicate the Hypnotoad magic from the 2022 campaign.
17. Tulane Green Wave
Another phenomenal coaching job, Willie Fritz took Tulane on a massive one-year turnaround to eventually upset USC in the Cotton Bowl. Star rusher Tyjae Spears is gone but Michael Pratt — who had a bevy of teams interested in a possible transfer — is back. Meanwhile, the lines should be largely intact and the Green Wave figure to be a force once again in the reloaded AAC after some early realignment.
16. Utah Utes
Cam Rising announcing he’s coming back for the 2023 season is huge for the Utes as they aim to capture a third straight conference title in the Pac-12. However, the defense did experience a drop-off from 2021 to 2022 and now loses Clark Phillips III and more. I worry about the ceiling on that side of the ball but Kyle Whittingham has more than earned the benefit of the doubt at this point in his tenure.