USC defense being better than their offense certainly sticks out. You’d be hard pressed to find a defense worse than SC’s last year. I’m sure there’s talent coming in and all that, but shooting up to the 16th best defense seems to be jumping the gun a bit.
And Colorado is clearly the most overrated team by a mile. A 4-8 team with an 8th offense and 20th ranked defense? Nah, sorry, that doesn’t pass the eye test. Their offensive line was putrid and their defense constantly and consistently got dog walked.
Realistically, most of the G5 is probably worse on defense than USC, they just play worse offenses most of the year.
I'm not defending them being in the top 25, but if the goal is to emphasize the talent disparity between big and small schools, some of these ratings make more sense. Same with LSU.
I’m sorry but most G5 defenses are not worse than Lincoln Riley defenses. His defenses are just that bad. But we’ll see if that remains true with the new defensive coaching staff
The rankings aren’t done well. Ohio St has 5 players on their offense that will go in the first 3 rounds of the NFL draft. But I’m guessing because 2 of them are running backs, one got delegated to backup.
For real! Since it’s based on player ratings, I guess some of Tennessee’s unproven starters are being undervalued. Ethan Davis at tight end and Lance heard at tackle for example. Also teams don’t get a rating premium from coaching … no heupel ratings bump.
Yeah man what the fuck. We were above average last year with Milton playing QB and Heup having to play conservative cause he didn’t trust him. It will be much better with Nico and our new additions. Plus I’m assuming we’ll be ranked around 15 to start the season so why not give us something in the top 25?
The defense being an 84 is substantially more damning. They've got some solid transfers but offense should probably be 78 and defense should probably be in the mid-60s.
I would give the benefit of doubt that their offense is being boosted by a few high rated skill positions. If rumors are true both hunter and sanders are 94+. But they are saying their transfers like will Shepard and Dallan Hayden and freshman like seaton Jordan are bringing it up to 89 and that’s just unbelievable
The fact that Michigan has a top 10 defense but not a top 25 offense but yet Colorado has a top 20 offense/defense and didn’t make a winning record last year lol
https://preview.redd.it/sqm19kyvb69d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a0783b03089f6a9db925954b5d64a550864c18e9
Look I expect everyone to mention Colorado defense (for good reason) but the fact that both NC State and Utah are both ranked top 25 offenses when both ranked in the 90’s last season is almost just as egregious to me lol.
To be fair Utah’s offense was incredibly hobbled last year. They started actual 3rd and 4th string walk on quarterbacks all season, best receiving threat at TE out all year and had to literally convert a safety to have enough rb depth. I don’t necessarily agree that they should be a top 25 offense but basing this year’s offense off of last years in this case is probably not very accurate. They will be exponentially better this season with a veteran qb and a preseason all american at TE assuming they stay healthy.
The Cam Rising effect is in full gear haha. When you have a 25 year old quarterback I guess that factors into the rankings. I didn't realize Cam has been in college since 2018.
Utah had one of the most devastating injury bugs I’ve ever seen from a football team last season. They’re mostly returning their 2022 offense not the 2023 one.
Utah was a mash unit last season especially on offense. They basically have last year's entire offense returning and half of the year before 's offense when they won the league and most of those guys barely played last season.
NC State? Highly ranked QB transfer and Elmo shrugs gif
State actually showed flashes of a good offense last year, and now they have a legitimate quarterback, decent to good running back, and KC is coming back.
NC State is getting McCall from Coastal as QB (our biggest hole by far last season) and KC Concepcion was one of the top wide receivers in the ACC by the end of the season as a true freshman and is set to have a massive sophmore season. I am very confident that this ranking isn't that crazy, just wait and see.
I think they made Utah so good to make Colorado not the best big 12 team. Which is crazy because Colorado should be near the bottom of the big 12, not a lock for the championship game.
I think they made Utah so good to make Colorado not the best big 12 team. Which is crazy because Colorado should be near the bottom of the big 12, not a lock for the championship game.
Man when I said it was G5 Hate Week, I wasn’t kidding. You’re telling me the only G5 team on EITHER list was a team that finished FOURTH in their conference last year? You’re telling me that of the 9 10-win G5 programs last year, not a single one has a better offense or defense than 4-8 Colorado??? 5-7 Florida???
To be fair, 35 points should be the minimum a team should score when your starting QB turns the ball over 3 times deep in opposing territory and a decent chuck of your teams 160 total yards came from your backup quarterback running for his life in the last 2 drives of the game in garage time.
I don’t disagree, and I think if DeJean was healthy that would have helped but we still had 232 rushing yards at 4.3 per attempt against a top 20 rushing defense. Not saying we should be top 10 offenses in this game but ain’t no way in hell we should be below Colorado or A+M
Yeah you’re right. Every team has its bad days. Tennessee should absolutely be rated above both though. Knowing how they rated some of these teams, I’ll be real salty come tomorrow and Iowa offense is incredibly low. Given that Colorado managed to get an 84 defense despite a bottom ranked defense, Iowa should get at least a functional offense despite having a bottom ranked offense.
Come on man, our defense was awful but the offense was and will be great. We were the 6th highest scoring team in the country. Our QB was the 4th leading passer in the nation last year by yards, 5th by TDs and he’s returning. Our RB next year was South Carolina’s starter.
Not meant as a slight to you at all, my apologies. Moreso meant that there’s a ton of other talented G5 teams as well as y’all, just used the standings from last year as an example
2023 NCAA statistics:
- Total Offense: 9 G5 teams in Top 25
- Scoring Offense: 6 G5 teams in Top 25
- Total Defense: 7 G5 teams in Top 25
- Scoring Defense: 6 G5 teams in Top 25
There are good G5 teams. Ohio had a top 6 defense in both total and scoring defense, why not have them be low 25? Tulane acquired a 4-star QB (who was a 5-star coming out of HS) and 3 4-star receivers in the portal (from Bama, LSU, and USC), why not have them on the offensive list for their potential?
I get that they’re G5, so the SoS is low, and I also get that a lot of those schools have been hit by the portal, but you can’t seriously tell me that **USC** has a better defense than 118 schools, or that **4-8** Colorado is a top 15 school
When you go look at something more accurate and adjusted for schedule like SP+ you find 4 G5 offenses in the top 25 and 2 G5 defenses in the top 25. And one of those offenses was from now in a power conference SMU. Additionally the transfer portal picked the G5 rosters clean.
Yes, USC's defense and Colorado are stupidly rated. It doesn't change that the G5 ratings are pretty accurate. By the end of the season, there will be 3-4 top 25 offenses and defenses from the G5, just like always. The problem when you are rating with cold, hard facts and real players is that we have no idea which teams those are from the G5 in the preseason.
That’s based on statistics bro, they play weaker schedules. Their talent is also considerably weaker. This is probably right where it should be and will in theory make it harder to just have a world beater G5 after one season
I know this has already been said, but I think Colorado is extremely overrated in both categories! Also, I attend Texas A&M, but I have no doubt that they are also rated way too high on both counts, maybe two or three points less on each
I just don’t have much hope going into the season considering we weren’t even top 25 at the end of last season you know. I will have to be convinced after watching a few of the first games.
Yeah I feel you for sure. My optimism is that the Elko will figure it out and Klein's offenses were really good at k state
We have one of the best blue chip ratios too, https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/s/ECP2H8o6EL
Defense I could understand. But as high powered as our offense has been, and we didn’t even crack the top 25? That’s laughable.
Not to mention the Neyland snub as well.
Only thought is that for whatever reason Nico has been GROSSLY underrated by the devs and it’s pulling the entire offensive down.
Realistically I was thinking offense would be top ten, maybe fifteen and defense would have been somewhere #20-25
Yeah Don’t get me started on Neyland, that’s just laughable.
i’m a Kentucky fan and this baffles me. home field advantage snub for you guys as well. i’m still looking forward to playing that rivalry game in Knoxville though
Based on SP+ offensive pre-season rankings.
Oklahoma State #13
Tennessee #14
Kansas State #21
Liberty #24
West Virginia #25
All absent from the top 25, instead we get.
8. Colorado (#46)
16. NC State (#56)
21. UCF (#54)
24. Virginia Tech (#42)
Pleasantly surprised as well. LSU fans were ranting all over Twitter and didn’t like it when I mentioned that we consistently held every similar opponent to less point than they did last season
I’m Heupel’s coaching career (OC and HC) he’s had one offense ranked outside of the Top 15 and it was in large part due to having Joe Milton as QB and injuries at WR.
But yeah suddenly Tennessee is going to fall outside the Top 25 in offense…
We're going to be severely under ranked lmao. I've already accepted that I'm going to have to take over the lowly UT program to build us into a powerhouse...
Honest take and trying to remove my bias. Im happy to be wrong, so nothing personal.
Offense:
* Miami is too high, shouldn't be in the top ten at least
* Penn State is too high (which I wont complain about when playing the game)
* NC State should be in the 12ish range
* USC could be bumped up 3-5 spots
* LSU and OSU could be dropped 1-2 spots each, but that's nitpicking and just because of replacing the QB position
* Colorado is too high, but still should be in the top 25. Probably in the 13-15 range
* Surprised Ole miss is this high with everything they lost. Could easily see them in the 16-20 range
* Tennessee should absolutely be top 20, albeit in the 12-20 range most likely
Defense:
* Even when trying to avoid my bias, Penn State should be top 6
* Notre Dame should be just outside the top 10 at the highest
* Michigan is probably more suited for the 8-9 range just on talent lost to the draft
* LSU should move up 5ish spots
* Colorado should not be in the top 25
* USC shouldn't be in the top 25, at least to start the season (DLC can fix that later)
I know we lost our entire team, so I’m not surprised but I do actually find it amusing we played in a National Championship game 6 months ago and we aren’t on this anywhere. What a ridiculous offseason
Colorado’s total defense was 127 out of 130 teams last year. Their defensive ranking is absolutely laughable, not to mention their offensive ranking is about 25 spots too high.
The Ole Miss disrespect is wildddd comms. We are talking about unanimously regarded playoff contender with one of the best Offenses in college football. Tied with Clemson and Penn State????????????????? Behind anyone not named Georgia/Oregon is funny. Clearly DEVs are homers
Homer issue but why is OSU's defense rated #1 let alone ahead of Michigan when Michigan's defense was the deciding factor in The Game the last 3 years. Especially when Michigan is returning a ton of d-line talent and an at worst top-3 starting corner.
I haven’t kept up on who M has coming back, but OSU has at least 2 corners coming back highly skilled (not on same level as Will I’ll admit) Downs transfer, and D line mostly back. Biggest question is LB, but former safety and Simon will be main stays. How similar that is to M and the talent you had leave I am not sure. Also, not sure who you have incoming but that’s just the reasoning I can think of. Iowa also was underrated in the ratings. But it isn’t about paper it’s about results. Congrats on the Chip last year.
Michigan is returning their two best interior lineman and probably their best edge rusher from last year(Josiah Stewart who blew up the last play in the rose bowl). Additionally we've got a ton of solid depth at linebacker including jaishawn barhan who started for Maryland last year. Admittedly losing Keon Sabb to the portal and Rod Moore to injury hurts our depth at safety a ton and probably makes it our weakest role right now. So I could see that being a major part of the difference, especially if they're taking Moore's injury into account.
Thanks for the congrats and for what it's worth, I do think OSU has the inside track to win the conference this year. Y'all are due
I wish it was broken down to instead of just an overall rating for either side, to be like run offense and pass offense, and then like pass rush, run defense, and pass defense
It’d be something little but could help show what the team does well in, or not
As an unbiased Florida fan, our defense has been bottom 25 since 2020. Makes no sense. I think you could make a better case for our offense to be top 25 but completely reasonable for neither to be top 25 also
Everyone wants to hate on Colorados ratings but this is based on the player talent. It doesn't take into effect the subpar coaching and terrible schemes.
These are what Colorado should perform like with the level of talent they have, not how they'll actually perform.
Yeah, and as much as it pains me to say as a Mississippi State Bulldog, I was surprised not to see Ole Miss ranked near the bottom of the top 25 in Defense (13 for offense sounds about right for them). I'll give a pass on EA excluding Mississippi State for a top 25 defense (our defense is typically one of the best in the country but with a seemingly non-existent offense last seaon, the defense wears down when having to play a majority of the game, no matter how good it is) Frankly you could add a lot more SEC teams on the defense side
the ducks finished third in SP+ last season, and have the 2nd best transfer class and the 3rd best recruiting class going into this season, so it makes sense they’re rated so high.
USC defense being better than their offense certainly sticks out. You’d be hard pressed to find a defense worse than SC’s last year. I’m sure there’s talent coming in and all that, but shooting up to the 16th best defense seems to be jumping the gun a bit.
And Colorado is clearly the most overrated team by a mile. A 4-8 team with an 8th offense and 20th ranked defense? Nah, sorry, that doesn’t pass the eye test. Their offensive line was putrid and their defense constantly and consistently got dog walked.
Can't have the cover star who plays both ways be on a garbage team in the game I guess
Realistically, most of the G5 is probably worse on defense than USC, they just play worse offenses most of the year. I'm not defending them being in the top 25, but if the goal is to emphasize the talent disparity between big and small schools, some of these ratings make more sense. Same with LSU.
I’m sorry but most G5 defenses are not worse than Lincoln Riley defenses. His defenses are just that bad. But we’ll see if that remains true with the new defensive coaching staff
The rankings aren’t done well. Ohio St has 5 players on their offense that will go in the first 3 rounds of the NFL draft. But I’m guessing because 2 of them are running backs, one got delegated to backup.
Alex Grinch should demand his job back at USC with a copy of this in hand
As a UGA fan, where is Tenn offense?
yeah. thats baffling
For real! Since it’s based on player ratings, I guess some of Tennessee’s unproven starters are being undervalued. Ethan Davis at tight end and Lance heard at tackle for example. Also teams don’t get a rating premium from coaching … no heupel ratings bump.
Massive UGA W
Thank you! 🙏
Yeah man what the fuck. We were above average last year with Milton playing QB and Heup having to play conservative cause he didn’t trust him. It will be much better with Nico and our new additions. Plus I’m assuming we’ll be ranked around 15 to start the season so why not give us something in the top 25?
Well they did lose star qb Joe Milton /hj
Colorado shouldn’t be a 89 offense.
They made Colorado the 10th best team in the game. Madness.
They won’t be ranked come week 4, it’s insane.
Week 2*
The defense being an 84 is substantially more damning. They've got some solid transfers but offense should probably be 78 and defense should probably be in the mid-60s.
Ya, seeing their offense rated the same as Ohio State just doesn't sit right with me.
I’m calling it ..first year of dynasty. Colorado is going to be in the final four of the playoffs. Lmao
If I run into that I am turning the difficulty down to freshman just for that game.
I would give the benefit of doubt that their offense is being boosted by a few high rated skill positions. If rumors are true both hunter and sanders are 94+. But they are saying their transfers like will Shepard and Dallan Hayden and freshman like seaton Jordan are bringing it up to 89 and that’s just unbelievable
And shouldn’t have a Top 100 defense but here we are I guess.
The fact that Michigan has a top 10 defense but not a top 25 offense but yet Colorado has a top 20 offense/defense and didn’t make a winning record last year lol
I was whatever about this. We lost a lot of our offense. I’m *not* happy that the big house isn’t on the toughest places to play list though.
https://preview.redd.it/sqm19kyvb69d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a0783b03089f6a9db925954b5d64a550864c18e9 Look I expect everyone to mention Colorado defense (for good reason) but the fact that both NC State and Utah are both ranked top 25 offenses when both ranked in the 90’s last season is almost just as egregious to me lol.
To be fair Utah’s offense was incredibly hobbled last year. They started actual 3rd and 4th string walk on quarterbacks all season, best receiving threat at TE out all year and had to literally convert a safety to have enough rb depth. I don’t necessarily agree that they should be a top 25 offense but basing this year’s offense off of last years in this case is probably not very accurate. They will be exponentially better this season with a veteran qb and a preseason all american at TE assuming they stay healthy.
The Cam Rising effect is in full gear haha. When you have a 25 year old quarterback I guess that factors into the rankings. I didn't realize Cam has been in college since 2018.
The last two years Cam Rising played Utah was a top 15 scoring offense
Utah had one of the most devastating injury bugs I’ve ever seen from a football team last season. They’re mostly returning their 2022 offense not the 2023 one.
Okay so that makes a lot more sense, thanks for contextualizing it for me lol
Utah was a mash unit last season especially on offense. They basically have last year's entire offense returning and half of the year before 's offense when they won the league and most of those guys barely played last season. NC State? Highly ranked QB transfer and Elmo shrugs gif
State actually showed flashes of a good offense last year, and now they have a legitimate quarterback, decent to good running back, and KC is coming back.
NC State is getting McCall from Coastal as QB (our biggest hole by far last season) and KC Concepcion was one of the top wide receivers in the ACC by the end of the season as a true freshman and is set to have a massive sophmore season. I am very confident that this ranking isn't that crazy, just wait and see.
I think they made Utah so good to make Colorado not the best big 12 team. Which is crazy because Colorado should be near the bottom of the big 12, not a lock for the championship game.
Where did you get those rankings?
NCAA website: https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/21/p2
Thanks!
I think they made Utah so good to make Colorado not the best big 12 team. Which is crazy because Colorado should be near the bottom of the big 12, not a lock for the championship game.
NC state is especially surprising to me, I almost never hear about what they are doing in the off-season so I doubt any serious progress has been made
Four really big transfers Grayson mccall from coastal Jordan waters from duke Noah rogers from Ohio state Justin Joly from uconn All 4*
NC State has Grayson McCall coming in from Costal Carolina to play QB. So they are projecting. Also ACC sucks.
Oh dang, actually that is kind of big
Man when I said it was G5 Hate Week, I wasn’t kidding. You’re telling me the only G5 team on EITHER list was a team that finished FOURTH in their conference last year? You’re telling me that of the 9 10-win G5 programs last year, not a single one has a better offense or defense than 4-8 Colorado??? 5-7 Florida???
What about the Tennessee offense that put up 35 points in a bowl game with a QB on his first start against IOWA
To be fair, 35 points should be the minimum a team should score when your starting QB turns the ball over 3 times deep in opposing territory and a decent chuck of your teams 160 total yards came from your backup quarterback running for his life in the last 2 drives of the game in garage time.
I don’t disagree, and I think if DeJean was healthy that would have helped but we still had 232 rushing yards at 4.3 per attempt against a top 20 rushing defense. Not saying we should be top 10 offenses in this game but ain’t no way in hell we should be below Colorado or A+M
Yeah you’re right. Every team has its bad days. Tennessee should absolutely be rated above both though. Knowing how they rated some of these teams, I’ll be real salty come tomorrow and Iowa offense is incredibly low. Given that Colorado managed to get an 84 defense despite a bottom ranked defense, Iowa should get at least a functional offense despite having a bottom ranked offense.
I feel like both of us are gonna be big mad tomorrow lol
You, me, and a looooot of other people.
Come on man, our defense was awful but the offense was and will be great. We were the 6th highest scoring team in the country. Our QB was the 4th leading passer in the nation last year by yards, 5th by TDs and he’s returning. Our RB next year was South Carolina’s starter.
Not meant as a slight to you at all, my apologies. Moreso meant that there’s a ton of other talented G5 teams as well as y’all, just used the standings from last year as an example
All good man
Definitely better than Colorado but not sure who you would predict in the top 25
2023 NCAA statistics: - Total Offense: 9 G5 teams in Top 25 - Scoring Offense: 6 G5 teams in Top 25 - Total Defense: 7 G5 teams in Top 25 - Scoring Defense: 6 G5 teams in Top 25 There are good G5 teams. Ohio had a top 6 defense in both total and scoring defense, why not have them be low 25? Tulane acquired a 4-star QB (who was a 5-star coming out of HS) and 3 4-star receivers in the portal (from Bama, LSU, and USC), why not have them on the offensive list for their potential? I get that they’re G5, so the SoS is low, and I also get that a lot of those schools have been hit by the portal, but you can’t seriously tell me that **USC** has a better defense than 118 schools, or that **4-8** Colorado is a top 15 school
When you go look at something more accurate and adjusted for schedule like SP+ you find 4 G5 offenses in the top 25 and 2 G5 defenses in the top 25. And one of those offenses was from now in a power conference SMU. Additionally the transfer portal picked the G5 rosters clean. Yes, USC's defense and Colorado are stupidly rated. It doesn't change that the G5 ratings are pretty accurate. By the end of the season, there will be 3-4 top 25 offenses and defenses from the G5, just like always. The problem when you are rating with cold, hard facts and real players is that we have no idea which teams those are from the G5 in the preseason.
That’s based on statistics bro, they play weaker schedules. Their talent is also considerably weaker. This is probably right where it should be and will in theory make it harder to just have a world beater G5 after one season
I know this has already been said, but I think Colorado is extremely overrated in both categories! Also, I attend Texas A&M, but I have no doubt that they are also rated way too high on both counts, maybe two or three points less on each
I don't think so. A&M is returning a lot of production on both sides of the ball. New OC should be really good and we know how good Elko is
I just don’t have much hope going into the season considering we weren’t even top 25 at the end of last season you know. I will have to be convinced after watching a few of the first games.
Yeah I feel you for sure. My optimism is that the Elko will figure it out and Klein's offenses were really good at k state We have one of the best blue chip ratios too, https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/s/ECP2H8o6EL
Thanks for the link, interesting. I will be cheering for them, regardless!
we will be significantly better than last year. you can set a reminder on this post for No. 31 2024
Nic Scourton coming is huge
Hate to be a homer, but Tennessee isn’t top 25 in offense and/or defense???
Defense I could understand. But as high powered as our offense has been, and we didn’t even crack the top 25? That’s laughable. Not to mention the Neyland snub as well.
Only thought is that for whatever reason Nico has been GROSSLY underrated by the devs and it’s pulling the entire offensive down. Realistically I was thinking offense would be top ten, maybe fifteen and defense would have been somewhere #20-25 Yeah Don’t get me started on Neyland, that’s just laughable.
Nico should be something like 80-83 with maxed-out potential.
i’m a Kentucky fan and this baffles me. home field advantage snub for you guys as well. i’m still looking forward to playing that rivalry game in Knoxville though
There are 16 teams who are in the top 25 of both lists. Colorado is one of them. Colorado is not a top 16 team in the country
Based on SP+ offensive pre-season rankings. Oklahoma State #13 Tennessee #14 Kansas State #21 Liberty #24 West Virginia #25 All absent from the top 25, instead we get. 8. Colorado (#46) 16. NC State (#56) 21. UCF (#54) 24. Virginia Tech (#42)
I mean, it makes sense, it’s oklahoma state. Nothing there but Ollie.
I am a Clemson fan and don’t really see us being a top 10 offense in real life. But we will see
You guys have felt less than the sum of parts on offense for a couple of years now. But that still looks good in a video game style rating.
Agree solid run game but UT should be above us in offense. Same with ole miss. Like 83-85 would be more apt.
The overhype of Colorado. Also, Iowa is a top 10 defense. 9 starters returning from a team that dragged us to 10 wins last year.
Georgia might be good in this game.
Just stoked to see the Auburn defense get some much needed love. Before our offense sells us again
What are our chances at being a top 50 rated offense in the game?
Pleasantly surprised as well. LSU fans were ranting all over Twitter and didn’t like it when I mentioned that we consistently held every similar opponent to less point than they did last season
Tennessee being on neither list
I’m Heupel’s coaching career (OC and HC) he’s had one offense ranked outside of the Top 15 and it was in large part due to having Joe Milton as QB and injuries at WR. But yeah suddenly Tennessee is going to fall outside the Top 25 in offense…
We're going to be severely under ranked lmao. I've already accepted that I'm going to have to take over the lowly UT program to build us into a powerhouse...
Honest take and trying to remove my bias. Im happy to be wrong, so nothing personal. Offense: * Miami is too high, shouldn't be in the top ten at least * Penn State is too high (which I wont complain about when playing the game) * NC State should be in the 12ish range * USC could be bumped up 3-5 spots * LSU and OSU could be dropped 1-2 spots each, but that's nitpicking and just because of replacing the QB position * Colorado is too high, but still should be in the top 25. Probably in the 13-15 range * Surprised Ole miss is this high with everything they lost. Could easily see them in the 16-20 range * Tennessee should absolutely be top 20, albeit in the 12-20 range most likely Defense: * Even when trying to avoid my bias, Penn State should be top 6 * Notre Dame should be just outside the top 10 at the highest * Michigan is probably more suited for the 8-9 range just on talent lost to the draft * LSU should move up 5ish spots * Colorado should not be in the top 25 * USC shouldn't be in the top 25, at least to start the season (DLC can fix that later)
What did ole miss lose? Brought almost everyone on offense back and added a lot of talent in the portal. Should easily be a top 10 if not 5 offense
For an 88, I think Iowa may be the best of the pack. If they were pushed up to an 89 I would be not too surprised.
UT robbed on offense. Clemson is overrated in offense stat.
UNC a top 25 Defense?
I hope Vegas is high on Colorado as well $$$
I know we lost our entire team, so I’m not surprised but I do actually find it amusing we played in a National Championship game 6 months ago and we aren’t on this anywhere. What a ridiculous offseason
We got jipped on the defense rankings. Nebraska was a top 15 defense last year, Colorado was the bottom of the P5 on defense right along with USC.
Besides the Colorado overranking. Not seeing Nebraska in the top 25 defense is shocking.
In all honesty, these rankings are the first things about this game to let me down. I’m still super pumped, but IMO they didn’t get this part right.
These are the good ole days. How ‘bout them Dawgs!
Colorado’s total defense was 127 out of 130 teams last year. Their defensive ranking is absolutely laughable, not to mention their offensive ranking is about 25 spots too high.
Tennessee offense
The Ole Miss disrespect is wildddd comms. We are talking about unanimously regarded playoff contender with one of the best Offenses in college football. Tied with Clemson and Penn State????????????????? Behind anyone not named Georgia/Oregon is funny. Clearly DEVs are homers
Michigan not being top 3 defense and not even top 25 offense is ridiculous. They have notre dame ahead on both.
Colorado
Why is Iowa so low?
Because B10 offenses they played against last year were dookie. Same reason Nebraska almost had a top 10 nationwide defense.
Homer issue but why is OSU's defense rated #1 let alone ahead of Michigan when Michigan's defense was the deciding factor in The Game the last 3 years. Especially when Michigan is returning a ton of d-line talent and an at worst top-3 starting corner.
I haven’t kept up on who M has coming back, but OSU has at least 2 corners coming back highly skilled (not on same level as Will I’ll admit) Downs transfer, and D line mostly back. Biggest question is LB, but former safety and Simon will be main stays. How similar that is to M and the talent you had leave I am not sure. Also, not sure who you have incoming but that’s just the reasoning I can think of. Iowa also was underrated in the ratings. But it isn’t about paper it’s about results. Congrats on the Chip last year.
Michigan is returning their two best interior lineman and probably their best edge rusher from last year(Josiah Stewart who blew up the last play in the rose bowl). Additionally we've got a ton of solid depth at linebacker including jaishawn barhan who started for Maryland last year. Admittedly losing Keon Sabb to the portal and Rod Moore to injury hurts our depth at safety a ton and probably makes it our weakest role right now. So I could see that being a major part of the difference, especially if they're taking Moore's injury into account. Thanks for the congrats and for what it's worth, I do think OSU has the inside track to win the conference this year. Y'all are due
Imagine back to back years M and OSU national champs. The Game in 2025 would be insane!
Honestly, would be worth it just to see all the salty SEC tears
As a USC fan , this makes using they playable from the go . I can start as an OC there and see what happens .
as a hokie, i think its overrating them highly.
Yeah, I wasn't expecting to see VT on here at all, let alone on BOTH
As a Florida fan I’m offended they have a top 25 defense, that surely can’t be right
I wish it was broken down to instead of just an overall rating for either side, to be like run offense and pass offense, and then like pass rush, run defense, and pass defense It’d be something little but could help show what the team does well in, or not
Looks like I got a hell of a rebuild infront of me. SEC west showed well, to the surprise of no one.
I know there is lots of turnover but UW making the CFB championship last year and not in the top #25 of either is kinda wild.
I noticed with Colorado they have black text in the offensive side while the defensive side shows a white text in the background.
As an unbiased Florida fan, our defense has been bottom 25 since 2020. Makes no sense. I think you could make a better case for our offense to be top 25 but completely reasonable for neither to be top 25 also
Everyone wants to hate on Colorados ratings but this is based on the player talent. It doesn't take into effect the subpar coaching and terrible schemes. These are what Colorado should perform like with the level of talent they have, not how they'll actually perform.
EA dick riding Colorado
Colorado having a top 20 defense... I don't think they'll be in the top half of the Big 12 in terms of defense.
Colorado offense and defense overrated, defense shouldn’t be top 25. USC defense overrated shouldn’t be top 25. Nebraska defense should be in top 25.
Bet
As an LSU fan we don’t deserve top 25 defense the way we have played since 2020.
Colorado is way overrated. They got ranked that high due to popularity not talent.
EA stopped watching college football after week 3 last year
Hopefully kentucky is one of the many 84 OVR defenses. Kinda head scratching to see louisville here.
Penn State’s offense should not be that high, or even close. Franklin’s offense is terrible….
Why is LSU defense 18? They shouldn't even be anywhere near top 25, they were awful last year and they haven't really added a whole lot.
Ea's been smoking some illegal substances
We aren’t on either list, so the lists are at least somewhat legit
The fact that Virginia Tech is top 25 in both categories. I know we had a strong finish to our season last year but I didn’t think we were THAT good
I reallly don’t understand the Clemson hype
We're going to suck in this game lmao. Rebuild my team's program when we're going to start the season ranked top 15.
UNC top 25 defense is absurd
The fact that UF made it onto this list at all… I get we have been recruiting a lot of talent but we were atrocious last year
Buckeyes are too low on defense
Iowa lack of a top 5 defense and tOSU has the same offense rating as Colorado
The fact that they very clearly forgot to put the extra 1 in front of that 8 for LSU's defense.
Yeah, and as much as it pains me to say as a Mississippi State Bulldog, I was surprised not to see Ole Miss ranked near the bottom of the top 25 in Defense (13 for offense sounds about right for them). I'll give a pass on EA excluding Mississippi State for a top 25 defense (our defense is typically one of the best in the country but with a seemingly non-existent offense last seaon, the defense wears down when having to play a majority of the game, no matter how good it is) Frankly you could add a lot more SEC teams on the defense side
Mizzou’s defense is not that bad. Like, it should easily be on this list
VT in both categories is nice to see
How is LSU’s defense above 70?
Iowa having a non-top 10 defense automatically invalidates this bullshit to me
I would be embrassed to be a Colorado fan
Just a comment in general. Nothing to do with this list.
Someone at EA hates Penn State
Bama is a littler lower on defense than it should be, Oregon is overrated and Utah is too high
the ducks finished third in SP+ last season, and have the 2nd best transfer class and the 3rd best recruiting class going into this season, so it makes sense they’re rated so high.
i guess Texass has it in their contract that they have to be overrated in every game
Made the final 4 last year 🤷♂️
Virginia Tech and TA&M on both sides of the ball. Penn St and NC State offense.
4 big transfers and nobody significant left on the offensive side