College football rankings: Biggest hits and misses from Josh Pate's Preseason JP Poll

Everyone does college football rankings differently. Some are too dependent on last year's results to make any bold claims about this year's teams. Others have many conference biases that impact their rankings. And then, there is Josh Pate. The host of Late Kick on CBS Sports HQ put out his Preseason JP Poll earlier this week. He made it a point to say these are power ratings, not power rankings, folks.

Let's be real. Until the AP Top 25 Preseason Poll is released, we are all sliding around on the floor in complete darkness looking for signs of life and or, preferably light. We just want to get it right. That is all. Of course, once the College Football Playoff Selection Committee comes together and decides differently, we are all going to be battery-throwing mad after seeing what those 13 people settled on.

So what I want to do today is take a look at Pate's Preseason JP Poll put out earlier this week and see where I agree and disagree with him the most on his power ratings. I will take two teams in each group of five (1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25) and label them as his biggest hit and his biggest miss. At the end of the day, he may be right and I may be an idiot, but our friend gave us something to talk about.

Let's start with the bottom of Pate's Preseason JP Poll and gradually work our way toward the top.

Hit: No. 23 Oklahoma State Cowboys

Of the teams Pate has slotted No. 21 to No. 25, I like where he has most of the teams rated than not. The one that I kept going back to in a positive manner was the Oklahoma State Cowboys coming in at No. 23. For Ollie Gordon II reasons, this has to be a top-25 team. Mike Gundy remains one of one as a head coach. I also really like the fact that the Pokes are returning so much from last season's roster.

Keep in mind this was the Big 12 runner-up. While the Cowboys came up dead vs. the heavily-favored Texas Longhorns in Arlington, I saw glimpses off last year's team that leads me to believe that Oklahoma State can not only get back to Arlington, but possibly win the Big 12 to make the expanded College Football Playoff for the first time ever. I have a feeling this will be a top-25 team throughout.

There are upwards of 25 teams who can realistically make the playoff. Oklahoma State is one of them.

Miss: No. 21 Florida Gators

I don't get it. Even if Florida has a more talented roster than most teams in college football, the schedule Billy Napier's team inherits is so beyond unforgiving. How brutal is it? Well, if the Gators were to somehow go 8-4, Napier would be getting an extension because that would be a playoff team. I wish I was joking. This is the hardest schedule I have seen since Texas A&M's gauntlet from ... 2022?

The SEC of it all may, and almost certainly will, knock Florida down a peg or two. If Napier can go something like 6-6 again, he will keep his job. Unfortunately, there is a pathway where this team goes something terrible like 3-9 or even 2-10. The only game on their schedule I know for certain that they are winning is against Samford out of the FCS. Even games vs. UCF and Kentucky are not cake walks.

My mind needs to be blown away by what I see on the field for me to view Florida as a top-25 team.

Hit: No. 16 Kansas State Wildcats

It must be Avery Johnson's majestic, flowing blonde locks, but I love this Kansas State Wildcats team! I am going back and forth between K-State and the Utah Utes for my pick to win the new Big 12 this year. While I think Utah may have a higher ceiling than this team, I do know that the Wildcats have a fantastic head coach in Chris Klieman. He might be the very best at what he does in his conference.

Admittedly, Pate's assessment of teams slotted No. 16 to No. 20 are pretty good for the most part in my book. There is one lone exception I will get to here shortly, but I don't really have many bones to pick with this group of five teams. All I know is Kansas State and Utah may have it in them to make the 12-team College Football Playoff, even if they don't win the Big 12. They may be 11-1 teams this year.

At this point, I would be shocked if Kansas State is not a top-four team in the Big 12 the whole year.

Miss: No. 19 Clemson Tigers

I really can't believe I'm doing this, but here I go... The Clemson Tigers should be higher than No. 19. As with the Big 12, I am still trying to figure out who is going to win the ACC this year. I am torn between four teams, one of whom is Clemson. To me, I don't see much separation between Clemson, Florida State, Miami and North Carolina State, a team Pate does not even had listed as a top-25 team.

No, I don't think Cade Klubnik is really any good, nor do I think we will see another national championship under Dabo Swinney's watch. What I am not willing to say is Clemson is done winning ACC Championships because they are not. I venture to guess they will be a fixture inside the top 25 for most of the season, if not all of it. I feel they should be a few slots higher, maybe in the next tier?

What I do know is that the Tigers played so much better in the second half of the season last year.

Hit: No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers

Not going to lie. I don't really like much of anything Pate did in the third tier here with teams slotted in at No. 11 to No. 15. If I had to pick one that I sense is a properly rated team, it would have to be the Tennessee Volunteers coming in at No. 14. To me, they are between the sixth and eighth-best team in the SEC. That may seem like a tall ask to have them at No. 14, but this could also be a playoff team.

I really like what Josh Heupel has brought to Knoxville. His offense may be a tad gimmicky and doesn't translate to the NFL, but it gets results in SEC play. Last year's team underachieved in my estimation because Joe Milton is not a good quarterback. The good news for the Vols is I think Nico Iamaleava is special. It would not shock me if he won the Heisman Trophy in either 2025 or 2026.

While I tend to think Tennessee will be one of the first four out of the playoff mix, I could be wrong.

Miss: No. 13 Texas A&M Aggies

Outside of Tennessee at No. 14, I could have put pretty much everyone else in that tier here. Missouri is too low at No. 15 and Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas A&M are all too high at No. 11, No. 12 and No. 13, respectively. I ended up going with Texas A&M as the biggest miss of this group of teams because they have a new head coach, an unproven quarterback and I don't know if they're playoff team either.

I would love to be proven wrong, but Conner Weigman does nothing for me. People actually have a first-round grade on the guy for 2025. I don't see it. Prove it to me! As for Mike Elko, I love the hire and I think he will have this team pushing for a playoff spot. This team should be going around 8-4. If the Aggies can upset Notre Dame at home Week 1, we may have seriously reevaluate their playoff hopes.

To me, I think the climb into the top 15 is a bit much for Texas A&M, more than the other four teams.

Hit: No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Inside of the top 10 of Pate's Preseason JP Poll, I think Notre Dame is the most properly rated. As with Penn State, who comes in one spot ahead of them, I get a feeling that like the Nittany Lions, the Fighting Irish are pretty much a College Football Playoff lock. If they beat Texas A&M and go something like 10-2 or better, they will be getting in as one of seven at-large teams in the new format.

The addition of Riley Leonard at quarterback, as well as Mike Denbrock coming back to be Marcus Freeman's offensive coordinator should be a huge boost for the Irish. If this team lives up to its lofty expectations for 2024, Leonard will not only be a first-round pick, but he will also be a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, possibly even winning it. This is the year when Freeman shows us he has arrived.

Notre Dame has been a top-six program throughout the playoff era, and that is not changing either.

Miss: No. 9 Florida State Seminoles

In the same vein that I find Clemson to be underrated at No. 19, I have to say that the Florida State Seminoles are not the ninth-best team in the country, or have the ninth-most talented roster. Even if they may end up being my pick to win the ACC again this year, I don't really see all that much separation between the 'Noles from Miami at No. 18, Clemson at No. 19, or even unrated NC State...

I love what Mike Norvell has done since taking over as head coach in Tallahassee. We are witnessing greatness on the coaching side of things for Florida State. Although I think D.J. Uiagalelei could be an outstanding quarterback this season, he may only end up being the 2021 version of what Pitt had in The Fake Slide Diva himself, Kenny Pickett. Is Uiagalelei finally going to put it all together in college?

If I were doing these rankings, I would probably swap Florida State with Missouri way down at No. 15.

Hit: No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes

For the most part, I really like where Pate's head is at inside the top five. The top four teams are who they are. You can rearrange them in any order you like, and we can live with that. I may like Texas more than Oregon, but I'm not picking nits here. As the most appropriately rated team inside the top five, it has to be Ohio State going away at No. 2. This roster is stacked and will be a national title contender.

All offseason long, I have had Ohio State as my favorite to beat Oregon and come out of the Big Ten. They are also my pick to finish as national runner-up to my alma mater of Georgia. Personal biases may play a part in that, but I don't care. Go Dawgs! Regardless, Ohio State is too good of a team to finish any worse than a national semifinalist this year. The only other team like that has to be Georgia.

I view Georgia and Ohio State as a step up from Texas and Oregon, but not by a considerable margin.

Miss: No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide

And look what the cat dragged in... Pate has defending SEC champion Alabama Crimson Tide slotted in at No. 5. I would have had Penn State, Ole Miss or even Notre Dame in that spot before I even remotely considered Alabama, and I really like this team. It is all about how good will the defense be in the post-Nick Saban era. I trust the Kalen DeBoer offense, but defense is what wins championships.

In truth, I still have Alabama as a probable playoff team, but probably closer to the fourth or fifth SEC team that gets in this holiday season. The highest I could probably see them being is No. 7, but I would have had them closer to No. 10 than being No. 5 in my preseason power rankings, power ratings, whatever. This feels like a team that will finish somewhere in the 11-1 to 9-3 range this year.

A 10-2 Alabama team is probably playing in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 first-round game, probably on the road.