Jul. 19—***
Are you ready for the most college football ever? Twelve teams in the playoffs means eight more postseason games than before. What used to be three is now 11 to decide who is best,
The favorites might dominate in the first two rounds. Or the semifinals will be filled with bottom seeds. We can only hope.
Kick back, relax and enjoy every moment of it. As a primer, I will use this space over the next month and half to count down my preseason Top 50. I welcome complaints and disagreements I might even include them in future stories.
And away we go …
After a rocky first season for coach Brent Venables, the team won 10 games in 2023, including a victory against despised Texas. … The defense welcomes back six starters, none better than linebacker Danny Stutsman. … Safety Billy Bowman Jr. ranked among the national leaders with six interceptions. … Jackson Arnold started the bowl game for the Sooners after Dillon Gabriel entered the transfer portal. He also got time last season when the starter was banged up. Arnold threw for 361 yards in the Alamo Bowl loss to Arizona. … Both the starting kicker and punter are back on what have been oustanding special teams at Oklahoma in recent years. … SEC favorite Georgia isn’t on the schedule. And the nonconference slate is soft.
Yes, Arnold threw for a lot of yards in San Antonio. But he also had four turnovers in a close loss. … This is not the Big 12. There are no weeks off. … Only two starters return on offense, none on the line. Recipe for disaster in a league that knows how to play defense. … Venables has a new offensive coordinator. So that makes a lot of changes on the side of the ball opposite the expertise of the head coach. … Top 5 Texas is on the schedule in Dallas. Oklahoma travels to Mississippi, Missouri and LSU and hosts Alabama. Good luck with that.
50. Maryland Big Ten
49. Colorado Big 12
48. Georgia Tech ACC
47. Tulane American
46. UCF Big 12
45. South Florida American
44. Appalachian State Sun Belt
43. Rutgers Big Ten
42. Virginia Tech ACC
41. Texas Tech Big 12
40. Liberty Conference USA
39. South Carolina SEC
38. Washington Big Ten
37. North Carolina ACC
36. Boise State Mountain West
35. Memphis American
34. Kentucky SEC
33. Nebraska Big Ten
32. Florida SEC
31. Auburn SEC
30. SMU ACC
29. Wisconsin Big Ten
28. West Virginia Big 12
27. Iowa State Big 12
26. NC State ACC
25. Iowa Big Ten
24. Arizona Big 12
23. Louisville ACC—July 13
22. Southern California Big Ten
21. Kansas State Big 12
20. Texas A&M SEC—July 16
19. Kansas Big 12—July 17
18. Miami ACC
The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
