Which Teams Shockingly Missed My Pre-Season Top 10?

So we here at MotSaG have traditionally done our usual Top 25 poll every week and while those are fun to discuss and do, we have come to the conclusion that really no one cares about teams 11-25. If they are good enough they will move in the Top 10 eventually and if they aren’t they didn’t deserve the time we put into them anyhow.

How did I come up with my Top 10 you might be asking? Well I based it on how teams finished last year first and foremost. I then considered returning players and ease of schedule. I tried to not just blindly put in the usual teams unless they truly deserved it. Name alone wont get you on my list. I did not consider hypothetical situations of who could beat who and all that. Not that those aren’t valid ways of doing this it is just that it makes it way to difficult and these should not be difficult to do. So lets get to it shall we.

Top 10

1.) Florida State- This is a no brainer they won the NC and bring back a ton of talent and have an easy schedule with only 2 ranked teams #16 Clemson and #17 Notre Dame both of which are home games.

2.) Oklahoma- Oklahoma finished the season by absolutely destroying Alabama who was a freak play away from going to the NCG. They return a lot of players and have an easy schedule as well with 2 ranked opponents #10 Baylor and #20 Kansas State both of which are at home.

3.) Michigan State- MSU would have surely been in the playoff last year if their was one. They may have even won the whole thing. They have a tougher schedule having to play #3 Oregon, #5 OSU, and #22 Nebraska with only 2 of the 3 at home. They may have been #2 if not for losing some great players from last years team.

4.) Oregon- Oregon is coming off an 11-2 season with a bowl dominating win over Texas. They return most of that team. They host #8 MSU, #11 Stanford, #25 Washington, and on the road @ #7 UCLA. So their schedule as you can see is brutal. If they win 3 of 4 they are probably in the 4 team playoff.

5.) UCLA- UCLA is coming off a season where they won some great games and lost some bad ones. They have the talent and coaching to prosper. Their schedule is brutal though hosting #3 Oregon, #11 Stanford, #15 USC, and on the road against #19 Arizona St, and #25 Washington. Thats a gauntlet.

6.) South Carolina- They won 11 games last season including a bowl win over Wisconsin. They return a lot of players. They have a brutal schedule as well. Hosting #12 Georgia, #21 Texas A&M, #24 Mizzou, and on the road against #6 Auburn and #16 Clemson.

7.) Baylor- Yes Baylor lost to UCF. But they return a lot of talented players and have an easy schedule. They play @ #4 Oklahoma and host #20 Kansas State. If they can beat OU in Norman they have a great shot to go undefeated.

8.) Stanford- Stanford managed to win the PAC 12 and barely lost to a dominant MSU team in the Rose Bowl. They have a system that works extremely well in the PAC 12 against teams not use to 3 yards and a cloud of dust offense and attacking defense. Stanford’s schedule is INSANE… Hosting #15 USC. Away games @ #3 Oregon, #7 UCLA, #17 Notre Dame, #19 ASU, and #25 Washington. Not much chance for them to go unscathed.

9.) Auburn- Auburn was a couple of plays away from being a 4 or 5 loss team or the National Champs last year. They return nearly everyone and have the talent to win it all. Their schedule is brutal though. Home games against #9 South Carolina, #13 LSU, #21 Texas A&M, and away games at #2 Bama, #12 Georgia, #18 Ole Miss, and #20 Kansas State.

10.) Southern Cal- Coming off a 10 win season and a bowl win. USC has a plethora of 4 and 5 star players and the momentum to sneak up and win the PAC 12. A tough schedule will prepare them or could derail them we shall see. Home games against #17 ND and #19 ASU. Away games at #7 UCLA and #11 Stanford. Not to bad of a schedule considering some of the others in the PAC 12.

Just missed the cut

This was hard to do but I didn’t put Ohio State or Alabama in this weeks polls for the same reasons. They both lost their last 2 games last season. They both lost their starting All-Everything QBs. They both lost a lot of talent to the NFL draft.

They also though have the same positives in easy schedule and lots of talent on the team still. I imagine it won’t take long for both of these teams to move up into the top 10.

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