Rivals.com's Bob McClellan released the Rivals Preseason Top 25:
- USC
- Michigan
- LSU
- West Virginia
- Florida
- Ohio State
- Virginia Tech
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Wisconsin
- Louisville
- Georgia
- Nebraska
- Auburn
- California
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Penn State
- Rutgers
- Florida State
- Texas A&M
- Notre Dame
- Hawaii
- Boston College
- Clemson
Wake Forest, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Maryland, South Florida, South Carolina, Oregon, Alabama, Miami (FL), TCU, Boise State, Missouri
NationalChamps.net also had their annual "Early Bird" Top 25, which is released around Thanksgiving day.
Their poll looked like this:
- USC
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- LSU
- Oklahoma
- Florida
- West Virginia
- Louisville
- Virginia Tech
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Wisconsin
- Nebraska
- Tennessee
- UCLA
- Auburn
- Wake Forest
- Texas A&M
- California
- Boston College
- Notre Dame
- South Carolina
- Georgia
- Penn State
- South Florida
Arizona State, Boise State, BYU, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Miami (FL), Oregon State, Rutgers, TCU
As a whole I agree with the Rivals rankings more. I think OK and Ohio St are going to definitely drop down a bit next season.
Ranking UCLA at #15 is far too high for me. I would have them in the #23-25 range or off the list completely. This does gives a good idea of where UCLA is in regards to the national media. UCLA is expected to finish the season a ranked team and for some it should finish in the top half of the poll. That one ESPN article even suggested UCLA as a darkhorse national championship contender, which I think is really pushing it. The offense is going to need to show a lot of improvement to meet any lofty expectations like that. The defense has some issues, but I think another year in Coach Walker's system is going to make a big difference. The defense usually was a problem when they stopped being aggressive and would play a more prevent style of defense, which did not work at all. Hopefully Coach Walker can learn from those mistakes. We know Coach Dorrell does not seem to. If Karl Dorrell does end up being the coach/offensive coordinator then there are frankly no more excuses and UCLA has to produce.