AP Top 25 poll reaction: CBS Sports staff picks five early frontrunners that could finish season unranked

The Associated Press Top 25 poll was released earlier this week, putting the college football season officially on the horizon. With high praise comes lofty expectations, and historic data shows that at least one team ranked in the initial top 10 will finish the season unranked.

Since 2000, 45 preseason top-10 teams have finished the season unranked. USC was the most recent team (preseason ranked No. 6) to fall victim, and three programs fit the bill (Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Baylor) in 2022.

When examining the preseason poll, there are reasons to believe one of this year’s top 10 teams could follow a similar fate. While it would take something catastrophic for Georgia to go from preseason No. 1 to unranked, there are compelling cases for Florida State and reigning national champion Michigan to take a step back.

The Wolverines begin a new era this fall after winning their first national title since 1997. Sherrone Moore replaces Jim Harbaugh, who bounced for the NFL for the vacant job with the Los Angeles Chargers. Moore is tasked with replacing over a dozen key players who departed the program for the next level. Florida State also lost several key contributors from last year’s team. The Seminoles are looking to bounce back from a bitter end to the 2023 campaign that included a snub from the College Football Playoff field and a blowout 63-3 loss to Georgia in the Orange Bowl. 

Preseason top 10 teams that finished unranked since 2015

2023USC62022Texas A&M62022Oklahoma92022Baylor102021Texas A&M62021Iowa State72021North Carolina102020LSU62020Penn State72020Oregon92018Wisconsin42018Miami (FL)82018Auburn92017Florida State32016Notre Dame102015Auburn62015USC82015Georgia9

Our CBS Sports experts weighed in on which preseason AP top 10 could join…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ap-top-25-poll-reaction-cbs-sports-staff-picks-five-early-frontrunners-that-could-finish-season-unranked/

Author : Cameron Salerno

Publish date : 2024-08-13 18:43:28

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