There’s a better-than-decent chance the preseason AP Top 25’s release will represent a shift in the college football landscape. The last decade has seen only four teams — Ohio State (1), Alabama (5), Clemson (2), Georgia (2) — hold the distinction of preseason No. 1. That’s likely to change in a few months.
Texas is the favorite to start in the top spot. It did so in 247Sports’ post-spring Top 25. CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello has Ohio State at No. 1 in his post-spring top 25. Penn State could find itself ranked No. 1 like it did in Joel Klatt’s post-spring Top 25.
LSU, Oregon, and Notre Dame at least belong in the conversation. Clemson, which hasn’t really been part of the national title discussion since the advent of NIL, got my vote for preseason No. 1 in 247Sports’ too-early Top 25 voting.
There’s a fluidity among the 2025 projected contenders we haven’t seen in the last decade. Obviously, Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama haven’t gone away. But it no longer feels obvious that one of those recruiting juggernauts — they’ve made up the top three of the 247Sports Team Talent Composite rankings for seven straight years — is destined to win the national championship.
There’s a new era of parity in college football … sort of.
Parity to a degree
Yes, NIL and the transfer portal have closed the gap in college football. But it also depends on what gap you’re talking about. In the end, high school recruiting remains the ultimate separator.
Have portal boons led to leaps in talent level for teams like Arizona State or Texas Tech? Absolutely. But there’s a reason why every national champion since 2013 reached Bud Elliott’s Blue Chip Ratio (in which 50% of its roster made up of four-star recruits or better). There’s a baseline of…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/season-of-major-parity-for-college-football-in-2025-deep-contender-field-looks-to-break-glass-ceiling/
Author : Chris Hummer
Publish date : 2025-05-08 17:48:00
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