Tag: preseason power rankings

2023 preseason College Football Power Rankings

2023 college football preseason power rankings.

It’s nearly that time. Football time in America is right around the corner. Fall camps are opening, and we’re less than a month from the Oklahoma Sooners’ season opener.

This season will be the last of the currently constructed Power Five, and 2024 will be the first season of the realigned college football landscape. The Pac-12 as we knew it is gone. The SEC, Big Ten and Big 12 will play their first seasons as 16-team conferences next year, making 2023 the last chapter in this alignment era.

As we’ll do here each week during the college football season, we’ll rank the top 25 college football teams in the country. Before the first USA TODAY Coaches Poll drops on Monday, Aug. 7, let’s take a look at the preseason power rankings.

Seahawks circling the drain in 2022 preseason power rankings

While Russell Wilson’s Broncos are near the top, the Seahawks are appropriately circling the drain of Doug Farrar’s new preseason power rankings at Touchdown Wire.

The 2022 NFL preseason is about to begin. The Jaguars and Raiders played the Hall of Fame game already and this weekend the other 30 teams will get involved. The Seahawks are scheduled to get their first look at real competition on Saturday when they visit the Steelers. There are a lot of compelling reasons to watch, but fans should embrace realistic expectations.

All will be forgiven if they find their next franchise quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft. For now, this team is in transition – particularly at the game’s most important position – and that’s not an ideal place for any team. While Russell Wilson’s Broncos are near the top, the Seahawks are appropriately circling the drain of Doug Farrar’s new preseason power rankings at Touchdown Wire. He has them at No. 28 for obvious reasons.

“Trading Russell Wilson for a whole bunch of draft capital was a questionable move, especially considering how badly this team had drafted over the second half of the previous decade… Wilson covered up a host of offensive sins through his tenure in the Emerald City, and with Geno Smith and Drew Lock battling it out for the starting job, wethinks we’re about to find out just how much that was the case. The 2022 Seahawks are playing, to a large degree, for the 2023 draft.”

There’s always a chance these Seahawks can defy expectations and be a respectable – if not a dominant team.

If they get strong rookie seasons from Charles Cross, Abe Lucas, Coby Bryant and Tariq Woolen it would go a long way in that direction. However, their ceiling (and basement) will ultimately be determined by how Geno Smith and Drew Lock perform.

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Texas listed as one of five overrated teams in preseason college football poll

After USA TODAY Sports released their preseason coaches poll on Tuesday, Texas was mentioned as one of the five overrated teams.

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That didn’t take long.

Shortly after the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll was released on Tuesday, Texas was mentioned as one of the top five overrated teams listed. The Longhorns landed at No. 19 in the poll, which is fairly realistic considering the situation that they’re in.

Texas hasn’t yet accomplished enough to be listed higher, nor do they know who the starting quarterback will be, but the Longhorns certainly have the talent and a promising coaching staff to be mentioned within the Top 25.

Here’s why USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith believes Texas is overrated:

Expectations are always high for the Longhorns, so don’t expect much of a honeymoon for coach Steve Sarkisian. Difficulties come right away.

First, he must figure out his quarterback situation with four-year starter Sam Ehlinger off to the NFL. Neither Casey Thompson nor Hudson Card have seen significant action except for Thompson’s impressive second half of last year’s bowl game. Add to the equation that Sarkisian’s offense isn’t an exact fit for what was run the past four years under Tom Herman and there are some expected growing pains. The problem is that there isn’t much time for that with No. 23 Louisiana-Lafayette visiting in the opener and a trip to Arkansas the following week.

New defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski has his own challenges. Texas hasn’t broken the top 50 in scoring defense in the past three years. With all the other Big 12 contenders returning starting quarterbacks, more will be expected out of this group to possibly contend in the league. – Erick Smith

Notre Dame, USC, Miami, and Ole Miss were the other four overrated programs mentioned.

While Texas certainly has their work cut out for them this season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Longhorns finish the 2021 season ranked higher than No. 19.