2024 Preseason Coaches' Poll

why is Duke first Duke's 20 oh you're doing okay all right you're going in reverse I got it all right all right well uh little bit of a jumbled start there but we are doing our pre-season coaches poll reveal um today I am uh Brian I am the Wisconsin the commissioner for cffb I'm joined by ever faithful Lewis who is a bayor Lou how are you today uh I'm good I'm ready for football it's like one of the few times like the last couple years where I've actually been ready for like fantasy football same I think uh this time of year I'm getting a little more into it asked me a few weeks ago I probably was not paying that much attention um but today we're just going to kind of go through we had a very abbreviated coaches poll period I apologize I was on vacation for the last like 10 days so I really didn't have access to spit stuff out at people but we got about 14 submissions for votes that's right uh and we're just going to review how people voted uh this really doesn't have much of a bearing on anything it's just a fun exercise as well as allowing us to kind of do some um distillation on who we think the top teams are as well as getting kind of a consensus so we're just going to go through the top 25 um we'll kind of review the teams and what we think of them uh per personally Lou and I and we'll kind of run through a simulation at the end that is based on the Martin metric we oftentimes refer to this in the league uh through multiple projections periods throughout the the year but it's just a a projection model that is ran through um some projections that MFL creates and we just kind of aggregate them and run it through what a icted season is using those projections so we'll kind of do that at the end but uh not to make this long intro any longer but um with that all said our top 25th team in the coaches poll this season is Duke out of the ACC um Duke got seven top 25 votes putting it right at the edge there um it is a team that I think is properly placed um it looks like it's got a few pretty good players but there is some um depth kind of lingering questions where it's not too top end it's got good enough depth but um I think it's a team that probably will uh probably fit right around there unless some surprises happen on its roster um scheduling wise it's got a pretty mixed bag in terms of non-conference plays teams like that are projected to be pretty easy like um Purdue and then it's got tough opponents like Central Michigan and Arkansas State um it does seem to have the benefit of playing in the ACC Coastal which we'll see some general Trends on that group uh over the year but it should hopefully allow them to pick up some easy wins against teams like Georgia Tech pit Virginia Tech Virginia uh with only some real teams to worry about is is North Carolina and potentially Miami so that's a team uh in a nutshell um there's projected to go 9 and3 and 7-2 in conference which puts them uh projected to be the second or tied for second I don't remember what exactly uh in the ACC Coastal I don't know Lou if this feels right for you or not but yeah so I had duke it a little bit higher than 25 when I put my rankings together I had them at 16 um and I think really what you're looking for out of a top 25 is like a solid eight uh then maybe you have a couple little depth pieces and uh then you kind of like nitpick things right like what are their by weeks look like what does the schedule look like what is uh you know quarterback depth look like cuz you that's where uh I mean small little things like that make the difference like if you only have one QB more often than not if you're playing you know a solid competitor he's your quarterback on a buy like most of the time that gets chocked up as a loss so um here we've got two quarterbacks with differing buy weeks so that helps um and then I just this there there's a solid for for me I have it a little bit higher like I said than the 25 but I like the eight that are there but then maybe as this team kind of develops throughout the season you pick up like a Jonathan Brooks I would assume he's playing Malik Neighbors um that kind of gives him almost 10 guys to rotate which at that point again if if everything stays healthy I think that that's that's a pretty solid kind of 10 and they also finished I mean it was a pretty good team last year they finished 10 and three last year so um I I think again in the ACC they probably can put up you know similar you know similar stats in in that win loss column I think it's generally kind of appropriate with um where it sits I think they play in a weaker division they play um they have a kind of competitive team I think you're like you're saying they're in the top quarter of the lineups that you'll see but when you start getting up higher and higher you need to kind of even have better than what they have to make it higher than that so I think they're properly placed too they could maybe get a little bit higher depending on how teams win or lose throughout the season and if they do play kind of a soft division schedule I think they could um catch up on some people to maybe make it up to that 16 Mark like you were alluding to so that's Duke uh number 24 is see here Northwestern thank you you're welcome Northwestern out of the Big 10 um this is Benson's team Benson has had a lot of good teams over the years uh and this one isn't really much of an exception it's supposed to play a score a lot of points uh has some really good topend pieces like am run say brown uh Kenneth Walker uh Sam lorta is also a really good asset to have um and it somehow acquired two quarterbacks which it desperately needed this uh auction which I all expect one of them is playing this year I don't know if it's going to be Nicks or Caleb Williams I'd assume Caleb but um I don't know if this team is going to have the ability to hold its own it does seem to play a pretty tough schedule playing teams like uh Kent State Michigan I think it h happens to have a unfortunate bye where it's projected to lose it plays uh with wiconsin it also plays uh Iowa another stronger team as well as Illinois and Nebraska is not supposed to be any of a uh any bit of a slou so I think he is going to be um still competitive going to have a bigger challenge than he did uh the last couple Seasons um I do think he will be really good still um and if he some of these games break his way he could really fly up the ranking boards but um yeah that's Northwestern they ended up with six top 25 votes uh and got in at the 24th spot so um plus I had just a few higher spots than um than Duke and in in people's polls but I don't know about your thoughts there Lou um I didn't I didn't have them in my top 25 they were on my list they were I'm trying to find who else I want to say like I had them Michigan I'm like old school so I write all that [ __ ] down so I'm looking for like the scratch P piece of paper that I was like scratching out teams on but I don't have it in front of me but they they were on my list of can like do I put them in the top 25 and they would have been slotted in into this spot like as I was coming down to the last couple spots um I had I think I might have had Cincinnati on the list I think I had Northwestern um Michigan just like teams that were all kind of in that category and UL I left Northwestern off for teams that I thought maybe had a little bit of more potential upside if if things broke right for them um I like it I like the running backs the the three you know the three running backs there uh I just I'm not crazy again like I everybody seems to be crazy about the rookie quarterback groups and there's a big difference I think I mentioned this when somebody didn't like where I had a different team ranked but Caleb you know Caleb Williams and Bon knck like yeah you have quarterbacks but you don't know where those guys are going to fall right like you want them to be good we think they're going to be good but like like I said in the example there's a difference between getting a CJ Stroud and a Bryce young and so like if you end up with a Bryce Young on the quarter like again nothing against Bryce young but like you're going to lose like if you have like a better team at I don't know how to say like I don't know how to be like without being mean like you're going to lose when you go up against teams that are starting like Trevor Lawrence and um I'm trying to think who else puts up CJ Stout and just the the better quarterbacks and the better team so like where where I see teams making up a lot of ground is where they have like that stud quarterback that can put up like 30 points in a week and I'm just I'm not sure again without seeing it that you get it from the rookies I mean he has two chances at it but um I I just struggle here in terms of like again that solid 8 depth because you're just back in the category of playing tight ends and I hate tight end yeah I think that's where I would I would kind of fit too I would be worried a little bit about their ceiling I think I've voted Northwestern to be 18th in my in my submission but I do worry about their cealing like Caleb Williams could be really good but I have no idea if Caleb Williams is going to be this good um I also don't know if I'm putting a lot of faith again another another season of Trey McBride or Sam laapa scoring as well as he did I mean last year it was Aman Ross St Brown and Sam lorta essentially for the Lions and now we're supposed to expect Jameson Williams as like this vaunted second option that's coming along I just only think there's so many targets to be seen out of an offense like that so we'll see I I think we are probably seen a slight retooling like this is going to maybe be one of his last seasons for the next couple years competing really hard like this I think we'll see a SL slight a slump next year when players like Aman RA are graduated and he has potential decisions about like Kenneth Walker who I think's got an award tag to him tripon Williams I think's got a as a senior too um and he'll have the quarterbacks in place to like quickly rebuild but um I'm wondering if this might be one of a slight rebuild is in order for Northwestern but he he did really well with um setting himself up at number 23 though we're going to stay in the Big 10 actually the Big 10 West and go with Iowa Iowa is a very interesting uh Team it is projected to do well it's projected to also have some pretty good dep but when we do the projections it seems like it also has one of the hardest schedules um set for it and I think it's actually got the third highest projected opponent all play so I think it's going to be a gauntlet if he can win a few games and switch it up I think he could really fly up rankings and maybe have a shot at it at the um playoff which is 16 teams this year if people don't remember um he got a few bit of love but he got really high votes he got two top five votes in the coach's poll so someone believes in this team um I would also be a little worried about like Jamar Chase it seems like this team's going to be heavily relying upon um those two wide receivers to put up points and as Lou alluded to the the unknown with a rookie QB so this kind of seems like a really tossup could be really great team teams that want to score a lot of points has a really tough schedule uh could really hold it back but um not sure what your your thoughts are on Iowa at all do yeah I mean same thing again we're we're again I I didn't have them in my top 25 and I don't think that they were even on the list of the four or five teams that I left off my top 25 so I probably have them outside the top 30 uh would be my guess but um he yeah again same thing even if you don't go with the the rookie QB it's will Levis which where that compares against the quarterbacks in this league he's going to be to the bottom portion of that at least based off of what we saw last year uh we're back into all the tight ends with the Michael Mayers Trey mcbrides Kyle pittz um I think leaport is on this team too um so you're just back and again it's very similar you're relying on what we just said leaport St Brown uh again the Lions offense and so really for me like the the difference here why I left this team off is um the emphasis on like the running backs I mean we we've we're going to see better groups of running backs we've slightly tinkered with the rules there and may or may not make running back more valuable um but again like you're talking about guys like Tai Spears Brian Robinson like that's the best of what he's got to offer and I just I don't think that that's going to be enough when you're going up against some of these teams that have um you know two three four guys that are scoring 200 plus points from that position I just you know in this season I just I don't think he's going to be able to measure up against those yeah it' be tough especially with the heavy teams he plays West Virginia and North uh Carolina State Boise Michigan Ohio State those first five games are all really really pretty good teams and then you know you still got to play the rest of the division so I don't EnV Iowa he's likely looking um up trying to figure out how to make this go uh one more big 10 team to get through here at 22 is uh Andy of Illinois Andy got seven votes in the top 25 this year Andy is also defending Big 10 Big 10 Champion um the projections don't seem to love his chances I think he lost CD lamb last from last year as well as maybe someone else of note that I can't remember right now but he had a few graduates so it's obvious that he could probably see a dip in how well his team hits uh that seil still projected to be really good um plays a pretty good schedule uh supposed to be raided in the top 30 with some pretty tough opponents um but not nearly as severe as Iowa he um has players like pie NCA Nico Collins jir Gibbs Garrett Wilson I do a little worry that right now his projected eighth slot is De Mario Douglas so there might be a little bit of a fall off on that eighth spot and the rest of that depth on his team uh to really kind of carry him through a a tough season but Sil projected to be a top 25 team uh third in the Big 10 West so he can definitely try for a division title or to defend his division title and Conference title so that's Andy Andy always puts a good squad together um not sure what else feels necessary to say but if you got anything for it Lou would definitely hear praise for L and yeah um 12-1 last year he's I I had him at 21 so kind of right around um this this spot where we've got him uh he was one of I think four teams that were in my top 25 that that made the shorten version of the playoffs last year um I I like it and again it's probably a team that uh it's still a really young team with the exception of pie I think who's a junior I think most of his other contributors are freshman sophomore range uh I could be wrong but I think how heco are also like Juniors but otherwise everything else should be pretty uh his copy say red shirted sophomores but they could be wrong I don't know but but um so it looks like he's done a really good job managing because the one thing when you said Drake may I was like really like you've got pretty it I like to see because without looking he probably spent you know 50 or $60 on Drake May and would have liked to see maybe throw that at another position player and and solidify yourself but I it's just a really young team I think he's set up for this year and next year honestly based on the moves and as you go along if you get something out of jayen Wright or Trey Benson um I I think it makes this team better but I I really like his and and he's got Xavier worthy so I really kind of like the pieces he's got and then he's gotten some younger guys to kind of fold in there it'll be interesting to see how um he Maneuvers the red shirts because it looks like he's more cautious than he is uh you know trying to to burn red shirts to to get wins now yeah I think he's pretty realistic with the shot of his team so he's if he's not going to be able to win a division or conference or or whatever I think he'll just kind of roll the dice and and go with it but you never know I think last year he pushed in like nkua and stuff like that because um he was winning and and doing much better than he thought he did so he can pivot uh moving on to number 21 we're moving out West to Oregon State this is interesting this is a very interesting team um projected to score really well also projected to uh win a lot of games has a schedule but also no quarterback I I I think it's cuz he's got an incredibly topheavy rest of the roster and is getting a big Boost from the projections thinking like Justin Fields is going to do something um but yeah that's a very interesting predicament for this group um I'm not sure what to make of them but has really great topend talent Bean Dua Collins chase Pacho uh slight drop off with Spears and Coleman projected to be uh his other starters but the QB situation is pretty weird uh with Justin Fields projected to be his starter and really his only starting option at the moment but I don't know I don't know what to make of him I if he he's got somewhat of a easy schedule to start the season plays a few tough teams in the you know slightly tougher teams in the middle of the season but seems to be still projected to win a bunch of games I'm not sure what to make of them yeah I left them I mean I left them off of my top 25 um as soon as I saw that they didn't have a quarterback I I removed them not to mention Jason likes to argue with me in the in the slack channel so I bumped it as soon as I saw he didn't have a quarterback but um you get the same thing you have an issue like Jamar Chase if he doesn't play week one not only now do you not have a quarterback you don't have Jamar Chase and so the the top heaviness you're now looking at nothing from your quarter I mean I guess you would have to start Justin fields and hope that the Steelers use packages for him I mean that's your only saving that that's really probably the only saving grace is that that the Steelers will um yeah that they find a way to put him in there and you get points for that um but but outside of that most weeks you're not going to get a whole lot from that position and then I don't know without without Jamar chase you know if he misses you know if he misses a week or misses two weeks depending on when he signs or if he signs um his stuff it's just going to be kind of a weird thing to monitor but I left them off my top 25 again just cuz the fall off from the top end Talent is then meaning you're starting guys like okay is James Williams going to have a good year or rely on Wale Robinson and and nothing against you know those guys but that's a steep fallof when you're talking about a difference between like Jamar Chase pukaa Nico Collins it's just a massive fall from from those guys to to even a Christian Watson it's just it's it'll be interesting they'll win games don't get me wrong but I think that they're also going to lose games and I think that they also benefit I can't remember when I was looking through but I want to say the Pack 12 is just general is weaker than some of these other conference uh I think it's more equally distributed I think the Pack 12 is not nearly as topheavy maybe that's what it is any threats to to correct I think they're they're not as nearly spread out as like the ACC the the Big 10 um SEC even I think they've kind of all like held their assets they haven't really had such big transfer markets or a consolidation of of uh players uh especially the north compared to the South if we're once we get to the South or talk about some of the Pack 12 South teams I think we'll see more of that disparity between the top and the end somehow this team is is projected to tie for first place in the Pack 12 North I like to your point I have a hard time believing that that'll happen unless something really breaks his way regarding Justin Fields like even if by week five he gets Justin Fields starting for him for the rest of the season then I could probably start believing some of these things I have a harder time believing that some of these projected points will stick without a really substantial consistent output from a quarterback it it seems hard to believe but that's where it is all right moving on to number 20 we are up to here with since cinnati first Big 12 team Tony out of Cincinnati I think did pretty well last year maybe not as high as he's projected to do uh this season um got eight eight top 25 votes um as highest so far that we've seen projected as score pretty well um has a pretty weak schedule if you ask me comparatively to other people which I think helps his projected win total um has some pretty good pieces with etn Walker stoud to kind of set a corner Cornerstone foundation for his his team um do a little worry about the depth after you get to like Chase Brown and and Jonathan Brooks uh what comes after that but plays I think the benefit of a weaker schedule with some pretty good assets to kind of get to where he's at but still projected to score quite a few points um I don't know if you have any thoughts about how how well he might Faire with the the big 12 North or anything like that yeah um this is one I mentioned uh Cincinnati earlier uh they were on that very short list of teams that I left off of the top 25 um again I just like just in taking a deeper look at it I think if you were I know it makes it easier but like if we didn't have the projected ranking so that people could actually look at the teams um and just kind of give them a fair Shake I think more often than not people would leave Cincinnati off of their list um but with with the projections giving them so many wins I think it's just like okay if you just look at these and then just kind of resort them you get something I think that's really kind of what benefited Cincinnati um they were nine and four last year so again not a bad team but he was I think in a better spot I can't remember who graduated from here but I want to say he was in a better spot um last season um but I just I don't again this is one of those teams where I just don't see the Firepower like there's some solid players on here but there's not enough of them even if you compare this team to what we just saw in Oregon State like Oregon state had bigger better Firepower outside of not having a quarterback um here you're looking at I don't know you're starting to talk about like Z flowers and two too at well playing meaningful steps and and Alec Pierce maybe and I I think that there's too much lineup tinkering like he's going to have to set the right lineup every week as opposed to just rolling out his studs which the the better teams in the league you know will do so um I it's just not a I don't see it although although the projections like him I I just I'm not really I'm not really it also looks like I mean the schedule yeah I mean it really likes I mean like he's got Wyoming and Maryland who aren't projected to score a lot of points Texas is garbage um Iowa state is practically a free win at least they were last year I can't imagine they've gotten much better um they've got Kansas on here who was I want to say has won the B he he's won the Big 12 many years we been the team right but but he is completely restarted um and will red shirt all of his guys Kansas state is doing the same thing so he's really and army stuck in the middle so he's really playing one two three four without playing me he'd probably throw me in the bottom bottom four as well of the Big 12 he's probably you're not in the North though you're in the South yeah no no I know but like I'm talking about like the entire conference like if you've put the whole conference together he's probably playing the bottom five teams you know so he he's gotten he's gotten kind of you know just kind of how the big 12 Falls there um I I think you're going to see like the uptic the Big 12 better the better teams are going to be like your Houston your SMU your Texas tax even Oklahoma State's gotten somewhat better they're all in the South whereas the the north seems to uh be fading and fading fast uh I I mean we're going to get to it I think the North's got some good top end teams I don't think they're nearly as good as like as a group as the South the south is a little bit better but right I think he benefits from a really soft schedule this year I I I don't think we've noted it but I think the biggest benefit for this team is they have CJ Stroud I think this is our first copy of CJ strad we've seen we've seen some parties and stuff like that if CJ St even reach as remotely what he did I think he's going to carry a few teams just like I think he did for Cincinnati last year or did he play two one of the two but um I think the he stra could carry a few teams to a few he he read he red shirted St last year so yeah if anything I think he he's got a really easy schedule he he's got to score points to carry himself forward or hope some team stumble that's that's absolutely necessary and then I think stoud could potentially be a Difference Maker if things break the right way but that that's that's Cincinnati number 20 uh yeah number 20 number 19 moving to the Big 10 East lot of big 10 teams so far that's Navy Navy is a defending champion won the Big 10 East I think again last year so I think it's won it twice um projected to be think right outside the top 25 or right around it with a scoring wise definitely lost some assets last year with I think it had Jaylen Herz and a few other guys tried to retool with like Harr uh Marvin Harrison Jr and things like that but still has some good assets I don't think it's nearly as talented as it had um a year ago or even two years ago plays a pretty decent schedule especially non-conference wise um but the Big 10 East is a is a bit of a softer uh division just like we were talking about the big 12 North no real scares I think Navy's going to kind of Walt through it maybe even sleepwalking but um could potentially be there for an auto bid because of the soft schedule but still will score some points don't think it's nearly as good as it was last year um but yeah Navy and Salvo their coaches pretty Savvy with the step so I imagine he's he's ready to hit the rebuild or reset and retool his team quickly here yeah I I like Navy I have Navy at 17 uh they were 11 and two last year I don't think yeah um I'm trying to think looking at them like I just again you're another team with Brock pie which we talked about um but then there's some good like Jerome four is going to pick up some run and we haven't talked about him yet uh he'll have some run for at least the first half of the Season uh there's a Naji Harris which I think none of them have graduated yet so I think that that that's just kind of you know he's got the last one hanging around um some then some of the other depth guys you're talking about like not great but like solid pieces in Tai Spears um Stevenson uh Jaylen Warren so I I I think it's a team that has some good depth to it and I think that again if it's a Savvy owner that can kind of figure out how to maneuver this um I think he's in good shape but but it's also for much depth that it has at the running back position it's lacking that at wide receiver um but uh again the one thing I think I had him just cuz of schedule um just projected projected wins but like they could is is a team that could easily start out like 0 and three um and then just run through the big uh the Big 10 there because I think that they have do you have it yeah you sorry I was looking to see what you had on your screen but they have uh they have Marshall and and we'll talk about them at some point um Boise State's really good even though I don't think I had them ranked um West Virginia is higher I'm high on West Virginia just being in the you know the Big 12 um I like them and so like there's a chance that Navy goes 0 and three and then runs the table the rest of the way even though they have a projected loss week nine against Ohio State um I don't think there's too many of the other matchups that are relatively close in terms of projections so uh it's more of a schedule thing for me but it is a solid team and and again I just not like bitter or anything but we are starting for running backs and for a team that has running back depth that role change definitely helped Navy uh I think for sure given that they had uh quite a few graduating wide receivers from last year that they lost out to um I think I don't think they had CD but I think they had some other senior assets like iuk and stuff like that no they didn't have iuk but Debo I think they had Debo and pieces like that too so yeah um definitely benefits so number 18 we are back to the Big 12 Tulsa a surprising team from last year I don't think anyone thought Tulsa was going to be nearly as good as they ended up being projected to even be better this year um I think when we talked about the recruiting video this was a team Lou you were pointing out making some very curious decisions around especially quarterback has a lot of depth at quarterback if I remember with like three different quarterbacks now on roster uh don't think they'll need all of them this year um definitely helps their depth uh when it comes to uh assets um but has some projected good teams we mentioned the Big 12 North already this is another team that's supposed to play a pretty soft uh division schedule and an even softer non-conference schedule teams like San Jose State and Arizona state which are supposed to be pretty low on the projections so going to benefit a lot is going to likely need um some help is projected I think to one of its two losses to is by like 0.6 points or something like that to to Marshall so a good team um could right be there for a conference Championship if if a few games break its way because it's it's playing a softer schedule yeah I like I mean I like Tulsa I thought Tulsa had a chance to be a much better team than what they've currently got on paper um going back to your point of the auction this was a team that had Brock pie and then elected to spend $61 on Trevor Lawrence for a single year Trevor Lawrence not right for for a single year of Trevor Lawrence at 61 and then doubled down and spent another $61 on JJ McCarthy so they spent $122 on quarterbacks when they had Brock pie and I'm going to go out on and say that they're going to start Brock party every single week I like I maybe except for the byee I don't know but that's what I would I mean I meany McCarthy's got an easy red shirt option but um so it's just a team that that could have done a lot better I think the only other major pickups were Blake Corum and Roman Wilson but uh super solid team they were again like I think they surprised they were at 8 and5 or 9 and four last year something like that um I I think again with the schedule the the Big 12 is is weak and again part of that was because it's been weak but then we've also had teams to um for whatever reason just kind of decide to to go into rebuild mode and it's not even like an like a slow rebuild it's like burn it down to the studs type of rebuilds going on um in the Big 12 and so uh in terms of projections on there you're going to see Team that kind of get propped up by that but uh um it'll be interesting um big 12's always kind of interesting but uh I do think that this is one of the more like solid teams within the division I can't remember if I said where I had them right I have them slightly higher than wherever we were talking about I have them all the way up inside uh up inside yeah up inside the top 15 I've got them at 13 they're sitting comfortably up inside so they're they're they're at 1 uh for me I just kind of again with the the easy schedule and then just kind of the the solidness of the team there um they really have a chance probably to go undefeated I don't know what the projections have them losing but uh I can't imagine right now there's projected a lose to Mississippi State in week three and then Marshall in week eight um the only other close game projected is week 11 against uh West Virginia and they're supposed to win by less than a point so uh the games that are tight could go either way which could really impact their ability to like do well uh they're already projected to have two losses against teams that are ranked higher than them and I think if those things go that way they're likely right on the cusp of um of the playoff consideration for at large if and any one of these games like I don't know they get caught by Oklahoma or SMU and weeks four or five then it might get a little dicey because again the softer schedule does potentially hurt you if you're not playing enough harder not playing enough uh difficult opponents and other teams are they get a benefit over that so if they're getting caught by some other teams they could could be in in some trouble but yeah otherwise I think they will be uh pretty decent we are going to move all the way to Miner Miner has its first team in the top 25 for this season and it is Kent State the alma mater of Taylor nosering ZJ Kowski whatever how do you say his stupid polish name or whatever um their new coach is projected to have a really good season this year um has Anthony Richardson one of the few quarterbacks projected to have over 200 points um supposed to really Waltz through the Mac outside of one really tough game against Central Michigan uh really light schedule most of that's because of the division does try to play some tougher opponents with Northwestern and Alabama uh the season but otherwise supposed to rack up the wins does have a pretty good team team with Richardson Chase Walker Gibbs Marvin Harrison Jr Devon Smith um depth is a little concerning it's pretty much that roster of eight so if he can stay healthy score a bunch of points I think he'll be up there he's kind of a glass Cannon team as most minor teams are but um yeah I I think this is Ken State shot at being relevant this year which is ironic for the first year Taylor's not that the the help yeah and I think it was a weird uh like process getting there uh I think the offseason went way differently than like it would have if Taylor wasn't there and it's not a shot against Taylor but take shots against Taylor do it no um Ken state was one when I was kind of watching uh how they handled the offseason it was a little bit more aggressive than I thought it should be like they went pretty hard for Devonte Smith uh want to say like ridiculously hard $79 so um a a good bit of the the the budget was put to that obvious also they I think they also transferred Rashad white if I remember correctly they transferred Rashad white spent a bunch on Devon Smith and then spent even more on Marvin Harrison Jr right it was it was a weird process weird um and it and it seems to have helped in terms of top end talent but again like there's nothing on this team behind whatever eight they're rolling out like that like you you have no depth and again you're benefiting because the miners weaker but just for me I think we've seen like I've been in the minor we've been at this for a little bit Miner has to be like a team for them to come out and be this High they've got to be better than that like if we remember the first year or two Buffalo was really really really good and even you know winning games in minor and winning you know what winning the games that they scheduled the first couple weeks like it took them that that full kind of season to put together the full resume to get them inside the you know top 15 the top 10 top eight wherever they they finished and um for me I don't think that Kent States it I have one or two one two I got two teams definitely finishing higher in minor than Kent State and there might be like a third team that's worth mentioning um and so I'm just not told yeah yeah um I I really like have them ranked no I don't have I don't have them ranked I bumped them out I have different I have two different teams ranked in minor um Central Michigan which I'm sure we'll talk about uh if we don't that's a shame um Utah State should be ranked but not in this point like they'd be much lower um somewhere in the 20s um you did have Utah State Higher but uh Utah state is not make the top 25 in the but they're they're I think that's a team probably better and then uh I want to say I had them ranked higher until they they made a asinine comment in the group chat and so I dropped them but I want to say that [ __ ] where is it at I want to say that Ball State might be good um I think Ball State will be good I think they're they were right yeah it might be Ball State I think ball State's another one that could um I had I had to look on my sheet to see where I had but um again solid quarterback play from Ball State good running back like solid good running backs like there's four five running backs maybe six I like I mean there's a good there's a good bit of running backs there and then if you just have to start you know if you just are throwing in you know two wide receivers Garrett Wilson and Jaylen Wadd aren't bad options so I I think that ball State's going to be really tough too so I I'm not sure that again I I I've learned with minor you go with the depth over the the topheavy stuff and so I just think that there's probably three what is that three teams that are probably more solid than Kent State yeah the only benefit is Utah State the one out of the teams you mentioned does not play any of those other Mac teams that we talked about um which is kind of a shame that we don't really have any representation from the Mountain West so it might be worth dwelling on what Utah state is looking like uh to your point about Ball State ball state had five top 25 votes um good they they should they should they were on my short list of teams and then he made some comment I'm not even in glue but I you can like hover over the hasht tag they put in there and he wrote some ridiculous [ __ ] and so I was like nope kicked him off my top 25 so he's probably a you know what that's part of like like coaching I don't know what you call that discipline or coaching like mindset or whatever and he dropped the ball there for me so I had to I've been playing a lot of NCAA football so I had to kind of weigh how that you know takes his course over the season and so I I bumped him he's probably he's probably yeah his his Prestige pedigree so he he's probably sitting around 30 now for me instead of you know towards the bottom of the top 25 as it as it relates to Utah State I have I brought them up because we're not going to talk about any Mountain West teams in this uh in this coaches pool uh as it stands they're exposed to walk through the division I think outside of maybe one game against New Mexico state and Nevada they're supposed to walk through it and even those games they're supposed to to win sizeably they do have a pretty good depth Daniels um trying to remember they they have Levis right yeah Daniels Levis um then at running back kyen Williams Rashad white Brian Robinson khil Herbert's there um what the hell who's the old guy tore both his acl's UMR yeah acres is there and he looked halfway somewhat usable um then wide receivers I don't remember um wide receivers is definitely makes it up with Thea London Dell Rashi rice um Michael Wilson yeah a lot more depth on that two 2 two outwell and then there's some other like interesting guys like uh like uh just depth guys like fonte Turpin um who else Rond Del Moore but he got hurt so like that would have been a nice piece to have um but yeah so I think that there's there's enough like pop heaviness on Utah State when you're talking about like kyen Williams Rashad white even Brian Robinson than to mix it off with with the depth that and puka nikua like those guys are top end guys but then to mix it off with like Rashid Rice's and tank Dells that's those are just nice depth pieces and um I I think that in term terms of if you're going to weigh something where you've got I don't know 10 12 options on that team that you could start you know putting your starting eight versus uh Kent State where you really only have eight if something goes wrong Kent State's gonna um you know suffer and it's not even like an injury could go wrong it just like somebody has a bad week if you only have eight guys like you're not going to be able to to recover from that yeah I think Utah State for this example they do play a tougher non-conference schedule than Kent State does but Oregon State who we talked about and then Michigan who is actually a pretty tough out projected to be this year um I do think if it does have the Cakewalk that it's project that to have it could catch some teams where it's winning enough games that it elevates them higher especially if some teams stumble and lose some games that they're supposed to win that which undoubtedly happens so I I do think Utah State st's a good team I I don't know if I put them in the top 25 though for myself I used a pretty loose very basic um projection thing this year for my my own rankings no I didn't should have probably thought about them but they did get five votes and then we did talk about Ball State so I'll dwell on them because gives Chuck some love I no there's coaching pedigree Prestige down the window there's no I don't think that uh really really soft schedule again we've talked about the mac and then plays teams like Florida State North uh Notre game really the only tough outs is Ohio State Central Michigan and Kent State on its schedule which most of those games is supposed to lose so if Chuck played tougher schedules he probably got a little more love in the projections this way he's supposed to come out um you know halfway decent um but really needs some high scoring uh in his depth to come through he's going to win quite a few games this year regardless and did get five top 25 votes all around the top all around 25 so I think everyone who did vote for him thought he's right there at the cusp so he could be another minor team so we talked about Miner quite in depth there more than I thought we were going to we are going to move on to to number I forgot what number we were on state 16 oh NC State cool we're going talk about Jake now Jake NC State Jake is does again just like last year the same thing is going to play out this division that the ACC Atlantic is is a [ __ ] blood bath it's a war zone so I don't know what happened here but they've like really Consolidated the teams and they're all falling on one side of the division and then they had all the just chaos that happened with the transfer market this year with teams consolidating further like Clemson and not and North Carolina but still has to play a really tough division schedule projected to lose four of those games games against some really tough opponents plays a kind of middling non-conference schedule with Kansas State and Arizona State but man didn't really do himself some favors is really going to be relying on a rookie quarterback this year with Caleb Williams does have some really good pieces with am R st Brown Gibbs and Walker um I I don't think he got another quarterback did he he did he even get the Handcuff to Caleb I think it's just one and that's it no no he doesn't have any Caleb yeah so he's going to have like week seven against Syracuse might Doom his season right there and then where he's playing without uh Caleb Williams whereas Syracuse has Brock pry and Daniels to rely upon that week so like just losing those games because of by weeks could probably really hamper his ability to play for the division um yeah I I think because of the gaping hole he had at quarterback this year really set him back to being able to add some quality pieces to his roster but he did plug that hole with the best asset possible this season and is going to win some games and it's going to put up points but plays a really tough division um and then his QB depth is obviously an area of concern and he's not the only team that has to to deal with that factor but I'm not sure if you have thoughts on that and the AC see Atlantic as a as a whole um yeah I I think again I talked about it a couple of times but the rule change affects Jake probably more so than any other team in the top 25 um and he kind of screw you know kind of tried to fix that I guess and and it just kind of fell apart on him and it didn't help that he I think he was trying to fight over was it Tua that was available I can't remember yeah Tua Tua was available in the ACC I think that was the only one um and he lost out to North Carolina who also needed a quarterback desperately and so his pivot was to put all of his money on Caleb not all of it he didn't spend all of his money but he had to devote a sizable portion of his resources towards Caleb Williams um yeah but I mean he's still solid I had him slightly lower I mean he's still going to be good but I just not sure that he's is good um I think I had him at the bottom like 23rd or something uh just because of I don't know just lack of same thing that we've talked about earlier lack of sure thing at quarterback but then as you kind of round things out you're talking about like he's going to have to rely on like zamir white to step up like if that happens I think maybe he's in a better spot but right now this is a team that was kind of built around having three solid running backs and then um obviously he had some graduates at wide receiver but uh you know the depth there you know the am Ross St Browns Rasheed Shahed tank Dell um Garrett Wilson I I think it he would have liked it to be like okay throw a couple more you know throw a couple bucks at wide receiver and get things done but uh he had to get caught up in the [ __ ] Williams sweep staks because he didn't land a quarterback in the upper classman wild um yeah I I think it's just an unfortunate circumstance he probably made the best that he could out of it um and went with the most well-known asset he could possibly grab instead of risking it with like a A bonix or a drake May would you're not kind of confident that they're going to start Caleb was always going to start day one probably could have maybe looked at like a Jaden Daniels a little more closely CU I imagine he had a cheaper asset but that's here nor there Caleb could if he blows you know up and becomes you know as well as good as like CJ Stout he's going to carry a team much farther so that is uh NC State um I think at this point Lou's got to step off for some other commitment stuff I'm going to keep going and we'll move into the top 15 teams Lou thank you so much for joining me um I appreciate your time sir yeah sorry I would stay but I got a phone call so I got to go yep we'll talk to you later thank you sir all right number 15 moving to the SEC finally we're talking about Mississippi State brammy team team that got 10 top 25 votes this year bramy last year did a lot of wins had a very very weak uh opponent schedule and it I think cost him quite a few movement in the rankings he probably wouldn't have won as many games but it definitely held him back from uh reaching what he thought he he deserved supposed to be a way better team this year uh did bring in town like Jamar Chase uh from the transfer portal so definitely Shoring up and making that um uh offensive wide receiver position better got places like Keon Coleman in there to help plug um some some depth and and it has one of the very few Jonathan Taylor copies uh which is based on the projection supposed to be a real uh value ad here has a pretty decent offsite season schedule I think probably one of the tougher ones with Boise USC and Tulsa this year um and then plays in again we're seeing it more and more some divisions are just not nearly as as good and if you were to compare the SEC East to the West historically the West has proven to be lighter so does play some weaker uh cross-conference opponents with Florida and Tennessee still plays uh some cupcake teams with Texas A&M and ol Miss um and Auburn only loss this year is supposed to be to Arkansas and I think most of that has to do with by weeks so as the advantage of a lot of by weeks but week 12 seems to be a killer with by weeks this year in the NFL season so that could prove a downfall in terms of the ability to um push for a division championship and a conference Championship likely going to be right there at the cuser on the playoffs with an at llarge bid If he if he can win some of these games and no one sneaks up and and wins one up from him so that's brammy uh number 14 we're moving back to the ACC Atlantic with Syracuse Syracuse is run by Walter Walter's team I think last year did really really well if I remember correctly I think they played I don't think they made the conference Championship but they they played very well and is supposed to have uh another equally good team um has some really good quarterback depth uh projected had the second best depth in the league uh as it stands with two quarterbacks and and a ton of other pieces has players like Collins Pacho mandre Stevenson uh Drake London uh has a decent non conference schedule uh Kentucky week one is projected to be a uh college game day um game so really tough schedule really tough game first week against Kentucky Nevada as we mentioned is not nearly as bad team um but does seem to catch some breaks if you were to look at this from a scheduled perspective against some teams with by weeks uh Clemson who we haven't talked about seems to also have a lot of buys this is where depth really becomes a value if you play a team and you both have by weeks and you got some better depth behind it you can play better those weeks um other games that you know NC State looks like he catches them in the nice week um and then play some pretty soft softer Miami's not that soft but Yukon is a little softer of an opponent in the cross conference matchups I think Walter's going to play very well uh going to be right there for the um division for the ACC this season um and will be very very competitive the only losses is projected in the conference is to Wake Forest all right number 13 is 13 it's Sor right I'm losing my spot here George should know that George our defending national champion Daryl of Georgia darl got nine top 25 votes got a little love I think because of being a defending Champion if I remember hearing some people say um lost some players last year I think he had CD lamb so big loss there to to Phil and I think had um T Higgins and stuff like that um Still's supposed to be really good supposed to have um players like Daniels come in I think he has just had Justin fields and obviously with that vacancy needed to fill it with something so um does have J Jaden Daniels does have will Lis on his team but has some really good assets with etn Chase white Wilson um Pickins is supposed to be one of his his better pieces um I think he's going to be good team plays a pretty weak schedule though and that might be what holds him back uh if he played maybe a little tougher offseason schedule he could probably be creeping up in the rankings a bit more but I think overall he's he's doomed to to go head-to-head against Kentucky this season in the East seems like those those two are the two teams that are are going to battle it out in the East and um seems to fall short um the last week of the season I think last year he got the better end of Kentucky the last week so they seem to play each other around the last couple games of the Season which seemed to have decided the last few division uh chances division titles um for that for that division in the SEC and um looks like they're they're about to do battle again so that's uh number 13 number 12 is Houston first Big 12 South team Houston Houston's another team that was missing a quarterback we had seemen to have a theme where some teams that had Jaylen Herz graduate last year who carried their their squad they had to fill it with some startable asset and they put a lot of money I think they put $150 to Jaden Daniels to secure that for this season to have someone to play you still have a bunch of players to play around them with Jonathan Taylor Aman Rin Brown if he had like a CJ stra that' probably be like the closest pen ultimate um top three you could you could have position puka deu is there does play in the South and as we talked about earlier South is a little light um and plays a kind of a middl non-conference schedule where I think Houston's going to be okay the only real tough out this year is supposed to be Marshall who is projected to lose everyone else is going to be kind of middling maybe a slight um hiccup could be there against um Oklahoma in week seven but Jake and and Houston's looking like a good team I think they're projected to win the Big 12 South pretty easily and comfortably um so we'll we'll see how well that that goes moving to 11 we're moving to our only or our our last Big 12 our Ace SEC West team and that is Arkansas Arkansas is one of the four teams projected to win all the games um coached by Robbie got five top 10 votes eight total not sure why we he didn't get more top 25 votes but got the people that voted for him thought he was going to be a good team uh was another team that was missing a quarterback this year after I think burrow graduated last year plugged that in with senior Tu a Tung of aloa and does have a really good good team around him um Kyon Williams Peko Gibbs Devon Smith Chris Drake London are all really good starters to have um did pick up B Knicks I think in the auction which will even help with depth if he needs it later on the season I don't think he will but you never know plays a pretty late schedule though um I think it's projected to be the uh 99th worst um or easiest schedule I guess the one of the easiest schedules however you want to frame that so if it could hold him back in terms of getting a high enough uh seed or ranking throughout the year because he's he's playing some really light opponents with like Florida and Missouri as cross conference playing Notre Dame um does play his rival his brother Ryan shout out Ryan uh in Arkansas State in week one um which is really supposed to be his toughest matchup outside of maybe LSU in week eight so plays really soft um not sure what to do with this it seems like it's it's his division to lose um outside of maybe Mississippi state but I think he gets the benefit of some five weeks so that's that's number 11 we're now moving into the top 10 we move to the Big 12 North Big 12 North coach is West Virginia at the top 10 spot uh coached by Bobby Bobby's had a pretty decent team I think each year he gets better and better uh and this year's no exception um plays a pretty tough nonconference schedule if you ask me all big 10 teams must really want to challenge himself with big 10 plays Iowa Ohio State Navy um plays some much softer cross-conference teams from the south and Baylor and Texas um and then his two losses this this year projected to be against Cincinnati and Tulsa uh if he could flip one of those I think he could jump um because he is projected to beat Marshall um and be up in contention but right now he's he's slated to finish third in the division um in the Big 12 North which is very much shaping up to be the tougher of the two divisions this year out of the Big 12 um I think Bob's got a good team we'll see how well killed Williams does if he booms or busts higher than what he's projected I think that'll make or break uh West Virginia's season here moving on to number nine I think we're up to who's that here getting more to a consensus at this point we are up to ld's team second highest I think our first Pack 12 South team actually Pack 12 South very topheavy it seems like this year um and Colorado state is projected to benefit uh pretty well from that LD I think last year had much better record than anticipated um with CJ stra coming on um and and some other assets playing very well is projected to still finish second in the division um I think it's supposed to be due to a 30 points uh loss in week 10 to Air Force I think that cost him the projected division plays a middling to week offseason schedule plays some much tougher uh cross conference in Oregon and Boise um I like ld's team I think he's got a great he's turned his team around after the first after his second season where he he didn't win many games and has put some much better pieces around him I think it he does benefit from a very soft pack 12 South with some really easy games against UCLA and Utah and Arizona State um and Arizona but if he can win the other middling teams of USC Colorado and and if you can definitely flip air Air Force's outcome I think this guy is looking at a division title for sure number eight is our favorite ACCC team The Perennial preseason number one Clemson um number one in our hearts is what I mean didn't get voted that way only got 10 top 25 votes out of 14 um seven of them were in the top 10 five of them in the top five people definitely think this team is there was one that needed to retool a little bit and definitely did uh and grabbed some Assets in the transfer portal to make this team right there to compete again after another season first six positions are really solid Lawrence kir Williams bejan Nicole Nico Williams or Nik Collins sorry not Nico Williams Jamar Chas and Travis etn and still has more depth behind that um a little worried about the QB situation if something happens he doesn't really have a backup um is projected to score really well I think outside of week 12 where some bi-week catch him he's he's projected to score a lot of points I think like the sixth most um projected points out of the the year projected to tie and I think win the U the division um I'll have to double check that one but very good team I think Daniel's going to have a a very competitive team this season so look out for um Clemson we're moving up to number seven here and or number seven missing num up here oh sorry to keep you waiting I think someone tied didn't even realize that Central Mission Central mission all right our top minor team central Michigan made the playoffs last year as an at large bid uh got 11 top 25 votes eight in the top 10 and one in the top five um projected as one of the top one of the four teams to go undefeated this year does play a very soft schedule as noted with other minor teams likely should have probably tried to slate some much tougher competition than Boston College and UCLA this year but um Brian's projected to have the best team in minor sweep the sweep the division uh has Lawrence Chase Pacheko Gibbs Devon aan aan uh jayen Waddles zamir white Sam leaport has depth around his pieces outside of those guys um as well as some topend Talent um if he loses any game like loses to Kent State or uh Northern Illinois or Ball State I think we could see much him tumble down the the rankings a bit given his his um his weaker uh opponent all play but definitely supposed to hold his own when it comes to defending his his minor Conference Championship uh this year again that's that's a central Michigan our top minor team this year so congrats to him moving to number six this is our top SE SEC team and that is uh Kentucky Kentucky is the defending no not defending I I said that they lost to Georgia last year as I alluded to earlier but was right there at the end forgive me he's always in a position Devin to have a competitive team always is uh another team that needed a quarterback badly plugs in Jaden Daniels to fill in his his set of uh his stable of starters has Jonathan Taylor has Aman Aman rain Brown puku Nua Kenneth Walker um has a bevy of of running backs to use this year um only one loss projected and that's supposed to come in week three against North Carolina um I think good team I'm would be remiss to think he doesn't have just a easy shot at winning the division I think he's just that good um unless something drastic happens with an injury I which I don't see I think his depth is is pretty decent too um I think Devon's going to be looking pretty Rosy uh here uh this season so Devon and Kevin Kentucky come in at number six number five I think is number five Air Force Air Force Air Force a our preseason number one last year still supposed to be really good was bassen a quarterback last year had a lot of issues with injuries causing him to not play as well um still could be a concern this year has plugged in bonix plugged in Marvin Harrison uh J to fill in his um really good lineup of Aman russing Brown Bean Bree Hall ra Andre Stevenson um plays like we mentioned with Colorado State plays in a little slighter slightly weaker uh Pack 12 South very soft non-conference schedule uh Florida Kansas Fresno State are all should be easy walks should be some easy wins but if he loses any of these games against USC Colorado Colorado State he could fall down the board is one of the four projected undefeated teams um last year was projected to be undefeated in the preseason definitely didn't work out that way um but I think he will be good again especially if he stays healthy he's going to be contending for for something there for sure in the postseason so that's Air Force at number five we're up to four and that goes to Wake Forest David awake Forest had a pretty decent team last year I think he was a 94 not quite as as good um as we kind of noted earlier he plays in the ACC Atlantic which is going to be a tougher out um like losses to just losing to Clemson and losses to North Carolina if I were to have guessed I would have probably suggested maybe not play North Carolina um this year maybe try to find a different opponent to play cross conference to make it a little easier um on the division uh plays a pretty pretty easy schedule non-conference wise with his only real um competition what is Washington State this year uh which Speaking of we haven't really talked about any Pack 12 North teams thinking about it now outside of Oregon State so uh Wade is supposed to be a good team uh Washington State I think that they're potentially going to be a Game Day game this year as a reminder any game day any games that is projected to have an average ranking between two teams uh for that week uh 15 and under is a game day where the each team will be awarded one and then the top game will be awarded $2 for um being game the top Game Day game um Lake four I think will'll be good really there to per help and um bolster the competitive uh fight that's going to come out of the Atlantic I think an 18 that's going to come out of the Atlantic is going to be especially if they can come with wins if a lot of teams are winning games and losing games they're going to hurt each other in terms of the rankings and probably make it so there's only like a couple teams that go to the playoffs this year but if these teams win or if a couple teams win a lot of the games that they're supposed to they're going to really rise in the rankings and Lake Forest being four shouldn't really be a surprise um number three is North Carolina so we're staying in the ACC thear heels coached by Matt really good team was another team that was missing a quarterback to fit is already really good team filled it with this offseason in the transfer portal with Tua has a bunch of other pieces with Taylor Chase Bree Hall Isaiah Pacho Gibbs like that's a really good top five um plays in the as you mentioned the coastal very light conference um so took a much tougher non-conference schedule than I think most um playing myself and Wisconsin LSU Kentucky is going to be another tough out and wake fors the first four weeks is is no small feat so even if he ends up two and two out of those top four weeks I think he'll make it up on the back end to still be a really good team um especially as he gets into later season where he's playing Georgia Tech Yukon Virginia and Virginia Tech I think he's going to make up his wins there to be right where he needs to be um at the end of the season so that's Matt and um North Carolina really solid team um this season and number two is Marshall Marshall is our year One National Champion has been contending the entire time this League's been operating uh Jay has put together a well-rounded roster has continued to plug in transfers to make his team even better while still finding uh rookies to supplement it all is uh I think even this year the same recipe putting more upper classman in I think he got Gibbs for like $23 from Kansas in the transfer portal so plug in almost 150 Point projected score and that's going to make your team even better um does play in the Big 12 North which you know could be um the more contentious uh conference and does play cross conference wise Oklahoma and Houston so didn't really do himself too many favors when it comes to the scheduling and what options he has available to him so put play schedule a little harder um and then still plays teams like Navy and tan which are are are good teams and we talked about Navy earlier so uh I think Jay and Marshall are going to be astounding got 11 top 25 votes got one single first place vote but got a ton of top five votes so everyone felt very confident that he was a top five team I agree with that sentiment um and we we'll likely see how well he can hold against a pretty decent and and Division and with number one it is myself uh I am got 13 votes in the top 25 12 first place votes I think the only vote I didn't get in the first place by every by people who voted was U LD put me at 17 said in the chat that I was to help me with the preseason curse because anyone that seems to get put in the top uh number one in the preseason rankings doesn't do so hot with Clemson and Air Force recent um teams that had stumbled after being almost unanimously voted number one by their peers um for me I think I have a well-rounded roster I think I have pretty good depth uh my schedule is kind of a mixed bag I don't think I play very difficult I don't think I play uh really easy I have a bunch of teams Texas Tech North Carolina week one Northwestern Iowa Illinois all really good solid teams that are going to score points um and then I play some weaker teams like Michigan State um and Purdue and Notre Dame and those things like that that should hopefully kind of give me enough uh of where I need to be um I did spend all my money this year on upper classman getting players like Bree Hall Devon Smith to round out my uh Rost um I did have some pretty good assets already in place with the Kua Chase uh beon and lence as well as Kenneth Walker so I don't think my team I think my team definitely is war warranted with being good the big question as I'm going to always say is QB I did not I was not able to secure a hand um second QB with a starting a known starting option um I have been able to secure handcuffs which are about your next best option when it comes to running a one QB strategy um so I think this team is good we'll see if it makes it its way through this um it would be cool to have it do well but um as we've seen history seems to say preseason uh number ones don't uh tend to to live up to their billing so that's the top 25 um as I have shared with this module that people have uh available to them we run a projection um here's the projections for teams as we sit with the end of the regular season so using all those projected points we are able to tabulate kind of how many what's your record and where you stack up so by the end of the season Wisconsin Marshall North Carolina Kentucky Air Force Clemson Central Michigan Colorado State Houston Arkansas Mississippi Big Forest West Virginia Kent State Georgia Syracuse Oregon State uh Tulsa Cincinnati Navy Michigan who we did not talk about but has a really good team uh NC State Duke uh Utah State who we did talk about and Ball State are all supposed to be in the top 25 by the end of the season so a lot of teams we talked about a few near the end of the top 25 that we didn't uh really dwell on um with some teams like SMU Northwestern Illinois Colorado Nebraska who are just looking on the outside in who could very well things break their way one or two games that could percolate up to the top so that's what supposed to be at the end of week 12 um moved to player Awards right now this as of right now the projected Heisman this year is supposed to go to Anthony Richardson of Michigan this would be the second national uh award that Michigan has won I think they won one with was it Debo I think Debo the first season they got a a national player award so that's something to note for Michigan they're supposed to do well and and Anthony Richardson's supposed to carry his team uh a long way and have a lot more value than other copies which is the whole intention of these Awards um followed by Kent States Anthony Richardson Scot copy Colorado States um CJ Stroud a lot of the CJ Strouds and Anthony Richardson because they're projected to score or northwards of 200 points you'll see at the top of these projections uh commonly and then um for running backs the top running back is projected to be Mississippi state's Jonathan Taylor uh because it scores so many points and as a sizable portion as for wide receivers Air Force's copy of Aman R st Brown is projected to U be the top Point getter for wide receivers um and most of the copies related to um on Raw because so much higher projection like 10 15 points 20 points higher than the next closest wide receiver you you see a lot of those copies um this doesn't convey conference Awards but you can see if you were to look at a conference kind of which player copies you maybe want to keep an eye on if you're a team and and want to keep track of awards that might be coming your team's way um you can kind of see who who might do what this season so that's the projected player Awards as we move to the projected postseason this will be the last thing we talk about uh conference wise conference championships we see Washington State and Air Force in the Pack 12 given that Washington State's projected to win the division let's spend some time with them because we did not talk about them very much so Wade we mentioned them briefly but Washington State played very well I think they won their division last year if I if I don't recall um not does play a little tougher off off non-conference schedule I think that's probably what hurts them the most in these projections uh playing Wake Forest and Clemson are are two really tough outs that they're projected to lose play as much softer c cross-conference teams and beats Oregon state who's the other projected top Pack 12 team but also stumbles a few times throughout the rest of the season with boy losses projected to Boise and surprisingly Cal that I think could really mix the bag and the Pack 12 um but right now supposed to win and I think a lot of that has to do with the week six game against Oregon state that tiebreaker they tied with the division could could prove very beneficial for whoever is supposed to win that so that's week 13 With The Pack 12 uh week 13 for big 12 when it comes to the championship is supposed to be Marshall verse uh Houston who we talked about in the top 25 um that game is supposed to go to Marshall projected projected Le SEC Kentucky versus Arkansas again those top two projected teams are supposed to be there with Kentucky winning out uh Big 10 talk about Navy kind of running through the Big 10 East really easily and then myself with the big 10 West uh with Wisconsin winning uh against Navy in the championship and then then the minor we talked about these two teams as well Central Michigan and Utah State fighting with Central Michigan winning and then in the ACC I think this is a rematch of last year with uh North Carolina and Clemson uh playing each other once again I want to make sure I'm giving that Justice if that was who ended up there last year not oh sorry wow last year it was Syracuse not not uh Clemson that that made it there but Clemson and and North Carolina are projected to be there for the the conference Championship games you could see a bunch of teams that made the bulll games Miami New Mexico State Arkansas State Fresno State and West Western Michigan somehow get enough games to be bull eligible reminder only need six wins a bunch of drags that have no business uh really winning six games we'll play a bunch of teams that they can win games and they will sneak into winning a bowl game um so teams like West Michigan and Fresno State are likely culprits for that uh Washington and TCU is supposed to be a a pretty decent bowl game um Vanderbilt Northern Illinois Illinois vers Michigan uh and then Oregon State vers Tulsa are kind of teams that you'll see rounding out the the blll game so what does that mean for our playoff our 16 team playoff field is um projected to be 1 through 16 myself uh Marshall is number two number three is North Carolina state number four Kentucky um number five air force six Central Michigan Seven Clemson 8 Colorado State nine Houston 10 Arkansas uh 11 Mississippi State Wake Forest West Virginia um Georgia gets in at 15 and number 16 is supposed to be Syracuse so that's our our six our field of 16 playoff teams you can see who is projected to win with not a lot of um upsets the only ones really being notable are West Virginia and Wake Forest will be fair we talked about this a little bit in chat the NFL seems to be insistent on a week 14 bye for some God forsaken reason uh and given the bracket of 16 um we are kind of just stuck living with that single elimination bracket requires a set number of weeks um and week 14 just happens to fall on that so the rationale is you get the benefit of 14 or 13 weeks leading up to that you get your player you're you're supposed to get your player barring any injury or trade or something like that but um you get 13 weeks of them to get you to this spot and then you kind of hope uh that something breaks your way um and you you win it you still the whole season is based on your end of season rankings for payouts so even if you lose round one and you were the number one team you still have a good shot of getting a lot of money if that works that way in week 15 we have Wisconsin vers Colorado State one one versus eight matchup uh two versus 7 is Marshall vers Clemson uh the two two um lower seeds of Wake Forest and West Virginia will play Central Michigan and North Carolina two upsets in this projected uh part part of the bracket with Clemson and and Wake Forest beating out Marshall in central Michigan um and then we get to the semifinal of Wake Forest vers Clemson North Carolina vers Wisconsin so three of the final four teams are all coming out of the ACC um pretty just illustrative of how topheavy the ACC really is projected to be this year um with Wake Forest projecting to beat uh Clemson by 03 points and then um Wisconsin projected to be North Carolina in a rematch of week one by less than a point that moves us to the final championship game of Wisconsin versus Wake Forest and Wisconsin is projected to win so with all that said and done here's how with all those wins tallied up how the end of season ranking would have happen if all this played out true it likely won't um but this is what it would look like with Wisconsin up at the top North Carolina Marshall Wake Forest Clemson Central Michigan uh Kentucky Air Force Colorado State West Virginia Houston Arkansas Mississippi State Oregon State we've talked about it we're just it's shocking it's shocking to see a really a non-qb team make it that high but if he does that's kudos to the rest of his Squad Kent State Georgia Syracuse Tulsa NC State Navy Cincinnati Northwestern Illinois Ball State Michigan rounding out the top 25 projected with Duke and Washington State looking right right there at them so that's kind of how the season is supposed to break this is just a fun little exercise for all of us to kind of get excited for the season and kind of see where our team really kind of measures up against everyone um I really encourage people to just have fun with this look through it peruse see how you maybe Stack Up ask questions kind of build some excitement for yourself for the season some reminders before we go make sure you set a starting lineup this week I don't really want to be tracking people down to remind them should be the first game of the season you should be ready to go make sure you set it up with uh eight starting players you need to have a a player in place for each position as I've reminded people you can start players on bu you can start injured players that's not a problem you just need to have a body in the spots uh weeks one through four you can start any freshman and still retain their ability to have a traditional red shirt applied at that point I will be opening taxi and IR here momentarily after I close this podcast so um feel free to play your freshman the first couple weeks a lot of these projections are factoring in rookies playing take it with a grain of salt there will be plenty of rookies that do not play even though the projected to be a high starter for a player because it just doesn't make sense for their eligibility purposes so things could change just based on that factor Alone um yeah those are the big things our next big activity is really going to be our deie draft that's set for week four I'm going to be reaching out to teams that have retention questions around um players that they want to retain uh for their eligibility rights um but yeah those are the big stuff um I'm excited we'll see how this season goes we'll see how well uh everyone measures up to what they believe um hopefully people have fun I think this is fun to see and have this exercise done it's fun to play in this this league and this have these seasons and see each week where you rank and how you stack up against other teams that's always the fun part and why we kind of love college football's format but um yeah with that said I'm going to close out Lou obviously thank you once again for joining me and for anyone listening we didn't even really bring up his team which is just bizarre to have uh really no mention of Baylor maybe outside of one odd mention but we didn't reflect on his his roster he didn't even make a plea for his team to be in the top 25 so shows real growth as a as a co-host for this stuff so thank you again Lou uh I will let everyone go have a great evening ask questions bring them up as you need it and we'll hopefully have a fun season together thanks everyone