Way Too Early 2019 College Football Composite Rankings

Photo Via: Sporting News

It is everybody’s favorite time of the year; the week after the National Championship Game where loads of sports publications publish their way too early outlooks for the upcoming college football season. Surprisingly Alabama remained #1 on many of the polls despite Clemson’s 44-16 throbbing of them in the Title Game. However Clemson topped them on a slim margin my composite rankings.

I compiled 20 different Way Too Early Top 25’s, and used the method the AP Poll does for their rankings. This means a each #1 place garners a team 25 points, #2 24 points, #3 23 points, and so on until #25 which garners you 1 point.

The 20 Rankings that I used were:

1. ESPN
2. 247 Sports
3. Bleacher Report
4. NCAA.Com
5. Sporting News
6. Athlon Sports
7. USA Today
8. Dallas News
9. Fansided
10. Al.Com
11. HeroSports
12. CFN
13. My Own Personal Rankings
14. Sports Illustrated
15. Orlando Sentinel
16. ActionNetwork
17. CBS Sports
18. HatSports
19. Saturday Blitz
20. Yardbreaker

The Way Too Early 2019 Composite Rankings:

Key:

# by Team: Points

(#): First Place Votes

High: Highest Ranking Received

Low: Lowest Ranking Received

1. Clemson Tigers ACC 491 (11) High: #1 Low: #2
2. Alabama Crimson Tide SEC 489 (9) High: #1 Low: #2
3. Georgia Bulldogs SEC 457 High: #3 Low: #4
4. Ohio State Buckeyes Big 10 432 High: #3 Low: #6
5. Oklahoma Sooners Big 12 409 High: #4 Low: #12
6. Texas Longhorns Big 12 378 High: #4 Low: #13
7. LSU Tigers SEC 359 High: #4 Low: #13
8. Florida Gators SEC 354 High: #5 Low: #14
9. Michigan Wolverines Big 10 344 High: #5 Low: #11
10.  Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ind 337 High: #5 Low: #13
11. Texas A&M Aggies SEC 291 High: #6 Low: #20
12. Oregon Ducks PAC 12 285 High: #7 Low: #19
13. Washington Huskies PAC 12 260 High: #7 Low: #19
14. Penn State Nittany Lions Big 10 233 High: #10 Low: #19
15. UCF Golden Knights AAC 193 High: #12 Low: #23
16. Utah Utes PAC 12 146 High: #14 Low: UR
17. Wisconsin Badgers Big 10 143 High: 14 Low: #24
18. Auburn Tigers SEC 134 High: #11 Low: UR
19. Iowa Hawkeyes Big 10 111 High: #16 Low: UR
20. Iowa State Cyclones Big 12 104 High: #14 Low: UR
21. Washington State Cougars PAC 12 86 High: #13 Low: UR
22. Syracuse Orange ACC 68 High: #12 Low: UR
23. Missouri Tigers SEC 59 High: #18 Low: UR
24. Northwestern Wildcats Big 10 47 High: #19 Low: UR
25. Nebraska Cornhuskers Big 10 45 High: #18 Low: UR

Also Receiving Votes: Army 38, Stanford 33, Kentucky 28, Virginia Tech 27, Mississippi State 26, Michigan State 24, USC 20, OK State 11, Miami 11, Cincinnati 4, Utah State 4, Minnesota 4, TCU 3, Baylor 3, South Carolina 3, Fresno State 3, Houston 2, Boise State 2, Florida State 2, UAB 1

Outtakes from Composite Poll:

-Alabama and Clemson’s World: If the past four years have not made it clear enough, the outlook on the 2019 season shows once again that Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney have their programs in a tier above the rest.

-Loads of Big Games to look forward to in 2019: Many of the Top 15 teams play each other in conference and out of conference next year.

Here are the Top 15 Matchups: #11 Texas A&M @ #2 Clemson, #5 Oklahoma vs. #6 Texas, #6 Texas vs. #7 LSU, #9 Michigan @ #14 Penn State, #9 Michigan vs. #10 Notre Dame, #4 Ohio State @ #9 Michigan, #4 Ohio State vs.  #14 Penn State, #3 Georgia vs. #10 Notre Dame, #12 Oregon @ #13 Washington, #2 Alabama @ #11 Texas A&M, #2 Alabama vs. #7 LSU, #7 LSU vs. #8 Florida, #7 LSU vs. #11 Texas A&M, #3 Georgia vs. #11 Texas A&M, #3 Georgia vs. #8 Florida.

-The Top Programs Remain at the Top: The Top 15 is full of blue blood college football programs, both in a historical sense and recent sense: The Top 15 has combined for 15 National Titles, 29 National Title Game Apps, 65 Conference Titles, 61 AP Top 5 Finishes, 101 AP Top 10 Finishes, 168 AP Top 25 Finishes, 131 10+ Win Years, and 18 Playoff Apps Since 2000.

-Clear Idea for the Top 14 not so much for the rest: Through the compilation of these rankings, it becomes clear that most people think the teams from #1 to #14 are going to be step above the rest going into next year. However after Penn State’s spot at #14, the rankings had great variability regarding who should make up 15-25.  The Average standard deviation for the Top 14 Teams was 1.78 while the average standard deviation for 15-25 was 2.8. That is a clear divergence.