The 2020 Preseason AP Top 25 was released. Here are the topics that matter with the overrated and underrated teams, and which conference got the most respect.
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3. The AP Poll ranked teams that aren’t playing
It’s going to be the year the AP ranked teams that aren’t doing the whole college football thing.
The AP voters got their rankings in before the Big Ten and Pac-12 decided to postpone their respective seasons, but unlike the Coaches Poll that came out before the conferences went dark, the AP didn’t release its top 25 until a few weeks after.
There was time to adjust.
It’s just not that hard to take the rankings as created by the voters and take out the teams that aren’t playing a 2020 fall season. It took me less than ten minutes to come up with the revised rankings.
If teams aren’t actually playing college football, then what’s the point of putting them in a ranking for a season? The Kansas City Chiefs are playing just as much college football in the fall of 2020 as Ohio State and Oregon are.
This was an easy way for the AP Top 25 Poll to shine a light on programs that normally would struggle to get close to the preseason top 25.
Appalachian State and Memphis would’ve been in. How much would it have mattered to a place like Arizona State, or Louisville, or Kentucky to make a preseason top 25 of teams actually playing?
And now what do you do? What, you honored Ohio State by giving it a preseason No. 2 ranking? All that does is mock the fan base with the Christmas present they don’t get to open.
But there’s a reason for all of this …
Maybe the AP has this right. Maybe there won’t be a season after all, all the teams will cancel before it all gets going, and the preseason top 25 is a representative snapshot of what the season was supposed to be like.
Just call it an awkward moment in this year when everyone is trying to adjust on the fly.
NEXT: Who is, technically, overrated in the AP Top 25 Poll?
4. Who is, technically, overrated in the AP Top 25 Poll?
So who’s overrated?
This one is tough, because so many teams should be higher because of the teams that aren’t giving it a go.
At least, according to the CFN Preseason Team Rankings – based on how good the teams are to start the season – the five most overrated teams (based ONLY on the teams expected to still play) are …
No. 5 Oklahoma
There are a whole lot of question marks. The Sooners are still more talented than anyone in the Big 12, but Spencer Rattler has to be Baker Mayfield-Kyler Murray-Jalen Hurts amazing, the running back situation is a bit thin – to be nice – and a few key parts are going to miss the first few games.
– Oklahoma Preview
No. 20 Cincinnati
It’s a good, strong team that doesn’t have the sure-thing pop and explosiveness in the passing game of a UCF or Memphis – at least when it comes to the Group of Five programs. Take out the teams not playing and the Bearcats are No. 13 – that’s way high, even among the remaining schools.
– Cincinnati Preview
– 50 Best College Football Players of 2020
No. 23 Iowa State
This would be about the right ranking if the programs not playing were out of the mix. It’s a good Iowa State team with a quarterback in Brock Purdy that everyone knows, but being ranked ahead of Iowa, Tennessee and Virginia Tech – even though Iowa isn’t playing – is a bit much.
– Iowa State Preview
And then there are the …
NEXT: The five most underrated teams in the AP Top 25 Poll …
3. Who is, technically, underrated in the AP Top 25 Poll?
Virginia Tech
It’s almost like the voters are falling for the shiny ACC object. North Carolina is good, but being 18th while Virginia Tech isn’t even in the top 25 has the calibration a bit off. Outside of Clemson and Notre Dame, the Hokies might just be the third-best in the conference.
Also having a problem getting respect from the ACC …
– Virginia Tech Preview
Pitt
This Panther team is loaded, and there’s absolutely no excuse to not get at least one vote in the poll considering the voters submitted their ballots before DT Jaylen Twyman opted out. Without the Big Ten and Pac-12 teams in the mix, the Panthers are top 20-worthy, if not top 15. Again, not … one vote … just like …
– Pitt Preview
South Carolina
The Gamecocks got dogged in the 2020 Coaches Poll, too. They got as many votes in both preseason polls as you did.
South Carolina – in terms of talent – is at least fringe top 25-worthy, and is a much, much better team than Navy (6 votes). SMU (3 votes), and Northwestern (1 vote). Bad records are not supposed to equate to a bad preseason ranking.
– South Carolina Preview
NEXT: It’s an SEC and Big Ten world …
2. It’s an SEC and Big Ten world, and now there’s no Big Ten
Clemson was ranked No. 1, as expected. And then …
Nine of the next 12 teams were from the SEC and Big Ten, and 13 of the top 25 were from those two conferences.
You were promised there wouldn’t be any math, but more than half of the AP Top 25 poll was taken up by the SEC and Big Ten, and it could’ve been even more lopsided.
In all, six Big Ten teams – Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa – are now out of the mix, but only three other ranked teams – Oregon, USC and Utah – won’t be playing.
Why does any of this really matter?
Considering the SEC will play an SEC-only schedule, the toughness of getting through the league will be weighed even more once those nine teams are out of the Week 1 rankings.
Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and possibly others will all spend at least a little time in the top 25.
NEXT: Final Overall Thoughts, Observations
1. Final Overall Thoughts, Observations
– As always, here’s your reminder for this time of year. The AP Top 25 is a fun exercise. It’s still historically relevant, and it still helps to shape public perception, but the College Football Playoff rankings are it. They’re the ones that matter, and they’re the ones that have to be scrutinized hard. They’ll be coming out on November 17th.
– So … DON”T ANALYZE THE AP TOP 25 WHEN IT COMES TO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF.
No, the American Athletic Conference doesn’t have a better shot at getting into the CFP top four because it has two teams – Cincinnati and UCF – ranked in the top 21. It doesn’t even matter if those two are in the top 15. That doesn’t mean an AAC team can’t make it in, but the CFP members have to act as if no other poll system exists.
– Four of the top six teams have a new starting quarterback, and Ohio State isn’t playing this year. 12 of the 16 teams in the top 25 that are still playing, though, have a returning starting quarterback. What does this mean? In general, voters like the teams that appear to be set under center, but brand name top programs are still going to get enough love to overcome that.
– Notre Dame is going to be fascinating. Now that it’s an ACC team for this one season, it’s going to give the conference that No. 2 team it’s been missing ever since Florida State took a dip. Once the rankings are redone and the Irish are 7th – or better, going forward – the ACC will be a whole lot more fun to watch.
It won’t just be a lot of decent teams going at it, and Clemson bludgeoning whatever poor soul is in its way. Notre Dame will get that much more attention – like it needs it.
– This is a weird, strange, rough, ugly year, and it’s sad to not have the Big Ten and Pac-12 around. But the AP Top 25 poll came out – the rankings have been rolling since 1936 – and the world keeps spinning. None of this seems normal, but college football is trying.
