The SportsBoss: 2012 NCAA Football: Pre-Preseason Rankings

The coaches poll as released earlier this week, and with that in mind I would like to publish my initial, pre-preseason NCAA Football rankings for 2012. Pre-preseason you may ask? Yes, these rankings will be as of now, and the work I have done thus far which includes reading each BCS team preview from College Football News, taking notes, then comparing those previews to that of Phil Steele in his magazine, and finalizing my notes on each team. In the coming weeks I will be doing more work on the non-AQ teams, along with additional details on the BCS conference squads, which will lead to my official, final rankings which I will post right before season begins. I also will be updating my rankings this year each week, by Wednesday, with notes on the prior week's action.

Here is how I see the teams currently, these rankings exclude Ohio State because of their sanctions, and teams are ranked as far as the talent they will have when at full strength (meaning, UGA will be missing quite a few of their secondary pieces early in the season, but they are slotted at #2 when they have everyone in the lineup) - these are not meant to project what a team's final record will be as, for example, Louisville at #20 plays in the Big East and although not as talented as say Alabama, because of scheduling they could finish with a better record). I also will include the coaches poll rank, and one quick point on the key to their season:

#1 Florida State (7): Manuel needs to stay in one piece, defense is championship caliber
#2 Georgia (6): Find a replacement for Crowell, defense is championship caliber
#3 USC (3): Offense will be tough to stop especially with Redd addition, will defense match?
#4 LSU (1): Mettenberger, and the passing game will be critical
#5 Alabama (2): Lose a ton of talent on defense, how long will it take to get up to speed experience wise?
#6 Oregon (5): Offense will again be strong even with new QB, but will defense do enough-similar to USC
#7 Clemson (14): Potent offense, need rushing defense to step up, talent is there
#8 Oklahoma (4): Huge disappointment last year, will QB Jones rise to challenge w/o Broyles unlike LY?
#9 Texas (15): QB Ash looks to be FT starter, can he do enough as rest of team is very sound
#10 Michigan (8): Coming off 11 win season, but alot of smoke and mirrors to me.
#11 West Virginia (11): Move to B12, how will defense hold up in high octane passing attack league?
#12 South Carolina (9): Will Lattimore get close to 100%? Need more explosion from off to win SEC
#13 Kansas State (21): Got seemingly every break in '11, will that continue?
#14 Arkansas (10): Petrino loss will be bigger then many expect, and need to find replacements at WR
#15 Virginia Tech (20): Loss of RB Wilson will hurt, can QB Thomas pick up slack with air attack?
#16 Notre Dame (24): Who will play QB, and will Kelly stick with him? Good supporting cast, not great
#17 Michigan State (13): Killer defense, but loss of Cousins will hurt.
#18 TCU (17): Finally get to the B12, will have the passing game to be effective, but lack depth overall
#19 Florida (23): QB concerns, along with questions at skill spots. Defense is championship caliber
#20 Louisville (NR/27): My Big East co-fav, solid offense, Charlie Strong doing a fine job
#21 South Florida (NR/34): BE co-fav, can QB Daniels finally live up to the hype in his final season?
#22 Wisconsin (12): Loss of QB Wilson will be bigger then many expect, how will new QB O'Brien do?
#23 Tennessee (NR/43): If healthy, passing attack will be best in SEC. Can defense match?
#24 Washington (NR/26): Critical year for HC Sarkisian and Huskies. Do they have any defense?
#25 NC State (NR/35): Like UW, hot seat season for HC O'Brien. Need big time QB play from Glennon

I will be back towards end of August with my final preseason rankings. For now, those are my thoughts - and hopefully it will spark some conversation as my favorite sport, college football, is almost upon us!

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