By Maty Baines
College football season is upon us and that means cancel all your plans for your Saturdays because you should be watching college football all day. The rankings have been updated and to no surprise the defending national champions Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama is very heavily regarded in the college football world and it’s no surprise because they have the voted best coach in the nation Nick Saban. The Tide’s defense is the considered the best in the nation and that is not the easy considering that they are in the SEC. There are many good teams this year but Alabama sits atop of the rankings for now.
The second ranked team in the nation is the Clemson Tigers. The Tigers lost to Alabama in the National Championship in a tight game. The Clemson Tigers have really had a strong last three years. Coach Dabo Swinney has turned the program around and made them a title contender every year. Deshaun Watson is one of the front runners along with three other players to win the Heisman Trophy. Don’t be surprised if the Tigers are in the college football playoff.
The Oklahoma Sooner’s are ranked third and that is no surprise due to the play of Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield will carry the team as far as he can then the defense will need to step up.
The fourth ranked team in the nation came as a bit of a surprise for me and that team is Florida State behind one of the best running backs in the nation in Dalvin Cook. Cook is one of the most explosive runners in the nation and can run for days. Florida State lost Jalen Ramsey to the NFL Draft but they have one of the best defenses in the nation for the their defensive line. I do not expect Florida State to be in the final four but they could make a late run against ACC opponents and surprise a few people.
The fifth ranked team in the nation is Ohio State. The Buckeyes are lead by the experienced T.J Barrett and he is now the heart and soul of their team now that their big names have left for the NFL. The defense is not as stout as it was and the offense is not as dangerous. In my opinion the Buckeyes are a not a top five team in either the preseason or the end of the season.
The sixth-ranked team in the nation is the LSU Tigers. One word to describe this team is with one word: Heisman. Leonard Fournette is the most dominant player in college football and is expected to win the Heisman. They have a good enough defense to win them a championship, so watch out for LSU.
The seventh ranked team in the nation is the Stanford Cardinal. The Cardinal are stout in every way from defense to offense and special teams. Christian Mccaffrey is one of the other Heisman front runners and has been noted as the best player in the Pac 12.
Notre Dame is ranked eighth, but not for long the Irish has had six players suspended in the last two weeks and they are not a stout team first of all but, they do have two very good quarterbacks and that could give them the upper hand in a lot of games.
The ninth ranked team in the nation is the Michigan Wolverines and they are stacked with Jim Harbaugh coaching a team that fully believes in him and a defense that is one of the best in the nation. The question at hand is the quarterback but that will figure itself out in the long run.
The last and final team that is ranked in the top ten is the UCLA Bruins. The Bruins have lots of talent on the defense, and they are very fast. I expect them to be in the top 25 by the end of the year.
Tune in to all the games to see if your team makes it to the championship.