Let’s take a look at some of the biggest surprises with regard to the first Coaches Poll of the 2023 college football season.
College football is right around the corner, which means we have some rankings to dissect, alright.
The USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll was released on Monday. While the usual suspects of Georgia, Michigan, Alabama and Ohio State were all ranked inside of the top five, the placement of other teams were certainly surprising. Of course, it will all sort itself out on the field in the coming weeks. But for now, we have some arguments to have. Let’s see what all the coaches got wrong…
Here are the five biggest surprises we have from the preseason Coaches Poll released on Monday.
College Football Rankings: 5 biggest surprises from initial 2023 Coaches Poll
Here is the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll heading into the 2023 college football season.
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- LSU Tigers
- USC Trojans
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- Florida State Seminoles
- Clemson Tigers
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Washington Huskies
- Texas Longhorns
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Utah Utes
- Oregon Ducks
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Oregon State Beavers
- Oklahoma Sooners
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Tulane Green Wave
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- Texas A&M Aggies
Now let’s dive into a few pleasant surprises, as well as ones that left us scratching our heads…
5. Coaches still seem to be mesmerized by Sonny Dykes’ TCU Hypnotoad trance
Last year was a helluva year for Sonny Dykes in his first season leading TCU, but it was also last year… Nobody saw the Horned Frogs winning 13 games, much less playing for a national championship. While I expect for Dykes to continue to build with his metroplex blueprint, TCU is almost certainly going to be pulling back. To be ranked No. 16 makes sense, but that is too high.
Clearly, Dykes has the respect of his colleagues, as his team’s ranking is therefore justified in that. After all, this is the Coaches Poll. What I am really interested in is seeing what the Associated Press thinks about this year’s TCU team. Should they be ranked inside of the top 25 based on last year’s successes? Totally, but the 2023 Horned Frogs might only be a seven-win team this season.
A return trip to Arlington may be the watermark for what this year’s TCU team is really capable of.