Ah yes, the Georgia Bulldogs sit atop the throne of college football, finally defeating the evil empire, the Alabama Crimson Tide - just as I predicted in my earlier article. I hope you also took the Dawgs (-2.5) and made a fortune. My wife, Betty, and I have just finished funding our trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas for April 1-3 to enjoy the Arkansas Derby and several hours at the bathhouses. Not to mention several meals at McClard’s and Rolando’s. Due to my winnings from Monday night, we're staying in a parlor suite at the Arlington.
Now that the college football season has ended and we've turned our attention (temporarily) to college basketball, I wanted to type up a piece for you to read at your leisure over the coming weeks and months. It's taken me a few days to synthesize data from all over the interwebs and also put out phone calls to a number of my former colleagues in the media ranks. I have compiled my pre-pre-season college football rankings, which will serve as the basis for my pre-season rankings later this summer.
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Texas A&M
- Notre Dame
- Baylor
- Michigan State
- Utah
- Michigan
- Arkansas
- Ole Miss
- Miami (FL)
- Kentucky
- Wisconsin
- Iowa
- Pittsburgh
- Wake Forest
- Oregon
- Texas Tech
- Cincinnati
- Minnesota
- NC State
- Purdue
- Oklahoma State
I'd like to take a moment to explain a handful of my rankings. Some might not make sense to you, the reader, but it's plain as day to me why I have them the way I have them on this ranking.
1) Oklahoma - With the departure of Lincoln Riley and hiring of Brent Venables, this is by and large the greatest "addition by subtraction" in the history of collegiate athletics. The Sooners have rid them selves of a “man” who apparently could not even bench press the 45lb bar, for someone who was a forced to be reckoned with when he played college football at Kansas State. My best analogy is this - rather than having the kids move up from the kiddie table to the adult table at Thanksgiving, we just threw the kiddie table outside. One of my all-time favorites, Jerry Schmidt, is back as strength & conditioning coach, and will turn these boys into men. No doubt the Sooners earn #8 next season.
5) Texas A&M - I placed them here because, well, $30,000,000 can buy you a recruiting class, but it still can't buy a title and it certainly can't get rid of the aggy. I fully expect Texas A&M to have a great season but come up short. But of course, the Aggies will have an excuse as to why that happened and then tell us all how next year (2023) will be the year. They are about as bad as Chicago Cubs fans - but at least the Cubs don’t believe they’re an additional branch of the U.S. military.
20) Texas Tech - I may not be able to refer to them as Taco Tech for much longer. They got one heck of a coach in Joey McGuire. It appears as though the Red Raiders are starting to take the sport of football seriously, as they move on from the dink and dunk air raid offenses that have been so prominent for the past decade.
25) Oklahoma State - I'd have them as a pre-pre-season Top 10 team, but they still have Spencer Sanders as their quarterback. His return is one of the greatest "subtraction by addition" examples in college sports. In the Big 12 championship game, it was a tale of two Spencers. He was horrendous and made more turnovers than a baker, but then had flashes of mediocrity. He simply can’t get out of his own way - meaning - he should volunteer to ride the line for the betterment of the team. I fully expect the Pokes to lose 2-3 games at minimum.
Oklahoma is a volcano about to erupt. 🌋 We are about to witness the next glorious chapter, perhaps the greatest yet. No.1? It just could be.
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