Maybe you think ranking teams in January for a season that begins in August is a bit silly. But we do it for a rather basic reason: It’s fun. Heck, sometimes it’s more than fun.
If we check these ratings from a year ago, we note that Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 were Florida State, Oregon, Ohio State and Alabama — the four teams that would comprise the inaugural College Football Playoff. Emboldened by that snippet of success, we again look ahead.
1. Ohio State: The decision by third-stringer Cardale Jones, who started three games and led the Buckeyes to a championship, was actually a complication. The team that has everything now has too many quarterbacks. It's widely believed that Braxton Miller, a two-time Big Ten offensive player of the year, will transfer.
2. TCU: The team that was nosed out of the four-team playoff at the wire returns with a point to prove. From the 42-3 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl destruction of Ole Miss, we gather that an angry Horned Frog is to be feared. Ten starters return from the nation's fifth-best offense, quarterback Trevone Boykin chief among them.
3. Alabama: The Crimson Tide's collapse (537 yards yielded) against Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl was surprising if not quite shocking. After the loss to Ole Miss and the escape against Arkansas, this never seemed a vintage Tide team. But when you land the nation's No. 1 recruiting class every year, how far can you slip?
4. USC: The Trojans suffered the usual new-coach undulations, losing to Boston College a week after upsetting Stanford, but there's much to like. Quarterback Cody Kessler should continue to grow under Steve Sarkisian, and no Pac-12 team carries the recruiting cachet of USC. Troy will return to prominence very soon.
5. Michigan State: Losing defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, who left to become head coach at Pitt, is a blow to the Spartans, who've built their no-frills reputation on defense. But quarterback Connor Cook returns, and coach Mark Dantonio has moved mountains to position Michigan State just behind Ohio State in the Big Ten.
6. Oregon: Can you lose a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and get better? No. But if you're the Ducks, the absence of Marcus Mariota will be offset by the knowledge that the sleek Oregon system — play fast, score quick, get the ball back and score again — is bigger than the best player in the land, bigger even than the head coach.
7. Baylor: The Bears will return 17 starters, quarterback Bryce Petty not among them. Under Art Briles, Baylor has finished first or second in total offense each of the past four seasons, so let's assume he'll make do. But the Bears' mostly happy season ended an a downer: They blew a 20-point lead in the Cotton Bowl against Michigan State.
8. Florida State: Losing Jameis Winston the player will hurt; losing Jameis Winston the ongoing distraction will not. The guess here is that more placid days are at hand in Tallahassee. FSU will never hurt for talent, a prime example being running back Dalvin Cook, who as a freshman emerged to lift the Seminoles into the playoff.
9. UCLA: Is L.A. big enough for two top-10 teams? The Bruins were a mild disappointment last season, losing three games and blowing the Pac-12 South title on the regular season's final day. They lose quarterback Brett Hundley but may have a ready replacement in Jerry Neuheisel, whose dad, Rick, played and coached UCLA.
10. Notre Dame: The Irish lost five of their final six regular-season games but steadied in beating LSU in the Music City Bowl. In that game, coach Brian Kelly started Malik Zaire at quarterback over Everett Golson, who led Notre Dame to the BCS title game two seasons earlier. With both scheduled to return, there's hope yet for ol' Notre Dame.
11. Clemson: The Tigers' 2014 season could be broken in two — when Deshaun Watson played quarterback, they were very good; when he didn't, they weren't. (OK, so the Russell Athletic Bowl rout of Oklahoma was the exception.) Clemson will be without offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who left to coach SMU but was a tad overrated.
12. Georgia: The Bulldogs, who should have won the SEC East in 2014, should win it in 2015. Losing offensive coordinator Mike Bobo to Colorado State won't help, and there's uncertainty as to what Georgia will do for a quarterback. On talent alone, this should be a top-five team, but we can say that pretty much every year, can't we?
13. Stanford: The Cardinal were among the bigger duds of 2014, but are poised to reclaim lost ground. Coach David Shaw, long seen as a hot choice to jump to the NFL, stayed in Palo Alto. Kevin Hogan, who hasn't consolidated the gains made at the end of the 2012 season, is back for his senior season.
14. Ole Miss: The Rebels' season came undone when receiver Laquon Treadwell was lost to injury against Auburn. Ole Miss would lose that night and twice more. Treadwell is capable of making any quarterback look pretty good, and the Rebels should again have one of the nation's better and faster defenses.
15. Boise State: Turns out there was life after Chris Petersen. The hugely successful coach left for Washington after the 2013 season, and all Boise State did in Year 1 under Bryan Harsin was go 12-2 and upset Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl. The Broncos must replace quarterback Grant Hedrick and running back Jay Ajayi.
16. Auburn: The big noise in the Loveliest Village is the return of Will Muschamp, fired by Florida as head coach, as defensive coordinator. But Gus Malzahn's raging offense wasn't quite as outrageous in Year 2, the consequence being that Auburn finished 8-5. And quarterback Nick Marshall, the orchestrator of that offense, is gone.
17. Arizona: The SEC West might be the nation's second-toughest division in 2015. The Pac-12 South has the two L.A. teams, the two Arizonas and Utah, all of which finished 9-4 or better. The Wildcats should again be strong because of coach Rich Rodriguez, who has risen above his Michigan failure, and linebacker Scooby Wright, who's great.
18. Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets lose their two best receivers and four running backs from the team that was 11-3, routed Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl and finished No. 8 in the Associated Press poll. That might augur a drop-off, but quarterback Justin Thomas, who made Paul Johnson's offense work as it hadn't since 2009, returns.
19. Arizona State: The Sun Devils have won 10 games each of the past two seasons, and they return 16 starters on offense and defense, twice as many as a year ago. Running back D.J. Foster chose not to leave early for the NFL, and Mike Bercovici is expected to be an upgrade at quarterback over Taylor Kelly.
20. Texas A&M: The Aggies poached defensive coordinator John Chavis from LSU. That alone should make A&M dangerous, but there's also recruit Kyler Murray. If the heralded quarterback winds up in College Station, he could start as a freshman. Murray could also be a Round 1 pick in the MLB draft and put football on hold.
21. Wisconsin: The Badgers have seen their share of upheaval. Two years after coach Bret Bielema left for Arkansas, Kevin Andersen bolted for … Oregon State? Undeterred, Wisconsin beat Auburn in the Outback Bowl under athletic director and former coach Barry Alvarez, and now Paul Chryst, once a Badgers player, gets to try.
22. Tennessee: The Volunteers' schedule was so arduous — five of their six losses were to ranked teams — that finishing bowl-eligible was, for once, a real achievement. This figures to be the season when Butch Jones' heralded recruits hit big. With Florida in flux and South Carolina in retreat, there's room to move in the SEC East.
23. Oklahoma: Picked No. 1 in preseason by Sporting News, the Sooners finished 8-5. They still have a quarterback who was MVP of a Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama in Trevor Knight and a freshman back who gained 1,713 yards in Samaje Perine. In 2015, this proud program could be much better or (shudder) even worse.
24. Missouri: Having won the SEC East two years running, the Tigers have become the best example of the whole-being-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts. They rarely sign a big-name recruit. They never look overly impressive. They just beat a lot of opponents who have bigger-name recruits. Gary Pinkel can really coach.
25. LSU: When Chavis left for Texas A&M, it was reported that he had wearied of having to compensate for an underperforming offense. With Kevin Steele, who was fired by Clemson in 2012, stepping in for Chavis, this program might fall fast. And that's even with the gifted Leonard Fournette doing his star turn at tailback.
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