College football rankings 2023: Georgia leads charge for 3-peat, Michigan, Alabama close behind
College football rankings 2023, way-too-early Top 25: No. 15-11
15. Oregon State Beavers
I’m extremely high on DJ Uiagalalei at his new home in Corvallis. DJU has a ton of physical talent but seemed to be completely lost at Clemson by the end of his time there. Now he gets a fresh start with a coach at Oregon State, Jonathan Smith, who has maximized players with far less talent. He’ll also be behind a phenomenal O-line with weapons and the Beavers could make noise in the Pac-12.
14. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
There were some exceptional lows for Marcus Freeman in his first season as the Notre Dame head coach, including devastating defeats at the hands of Marshall and Stanford. The highs were also there too, though, en route to finishing 9-4 on the year overall. Sam Hartman is a huge get for the Irish to ignite the offense and we have clear signs the defense will be good despite roster turnover. It’s all about Hartman elevating an offense that has lacked skill position talent of late.
13. Texas Longhorns
Make no mistake, Texas still isn’t back. But Steve Sarkisian helped the team to a three-win improvement from 2021 this past season. Now Quinn Ewers returns with 5-star wunderkind Arch Manning expected to push him. There is a ton of returning talent otherwise, even with star RB Bijan Robinson gone for the NFL, on both sides of the ball and the Longhorns should be able to take another step forward.
12. Penn State Nittany Lions
James Franklin has to be happy with the talent returning as Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen comprise an elite running back tandem and the defense, though it loses Joey Porter Jr., returns a host of standouts. However, I still worry about Drew Allar taking over for Sean Clifford as the former has struggled when he’s gotten on the field early in his career. If he doesn’t find his groove as the starter, the Nittany Lions could stumble a time or two when they shouldn’t.
11. Clemson Tigers
After some big changes, there’s reason to be excited about the tandem of Cade Klubnik and Will Shipley leading the Clemson offense in the 2023 season. The big question for Dabo Swinney’s team will be if the defense can return to being dominant despite losing elite talent like Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy. More importantly, they need to find a spark with the play-calling on both sides of the ball after the new coordinators failed to impress in year one.