College football rankings 2023: Georgia leads charge for 3-peat, Michigan, Alabama close behind
College football rankings 2023, way-too-early Top 25: No. 6-5
6. Ohio State Buckeyes
Given what Georgia did to TCU in the natty, you have to wonder how close the Buckeyes felt to winning a title this year. But what-ifs won’t matter when the 2023 season kicks off and Ryan Day has a big job ahead.
With C.J. Stroud now off to the NFL, there is a big question at quarterback as Devin Brown and Kyle McCord appear to be the favorites to start under center. The good news is that the weaponry of Marvin Harrison Jr., Emeka Egbuka, TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams is coming back, which makes for a huge boost for inexperienced QB play.
Jim Knowles will need to really show further improvements on defense, though, as Ohio State was inconsistent there. They have a star in JT Tuimoloau but the rest of the unit has real question marks, especially in the secondary, that will need to be answered.
5. USC Trojans
Really, if the USC Trojans didn’t have Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams at quarterback, they likely wouldn’t have sniffed the Cotton Bowl or had a chance at a College Football Playoff berth going into the Pac-12 Championship Game. But they did and he’s back for the 2023 season, which is huge for the offense, especially with a ton of weapons ready to play, even with Jordan Addison and others set to depart.
On defense and, just as much, on the offensive line, the biggest key is the improvements this team can make through development and transfer portal additions. The Trojans were a bit deficient because of those two groups in the 2022 campaign but they can take steps forward and not put so much on the shoulders of Williams. I’m buying Lincoln Riley as a quick program-builder and USC should be able to make another run at a CFP berth.