Welcome to the post-BCS college football world, where the new four-team playoff allows many more teams to dream about a national championship and one loss doesn’t necessarily destroy those aspirations.
Florida State and defending Heisman Trophy-winning QB Jameis Winston begin the year at the top, but the Seminoles are far from a prohibitive favorite. They are followed closely by Alabama, Oregon and Oklahoma.
All the information you need is below in The Post’s preseason top 25.
1. Florida State Seminoles
The defending national champions/highest scoring team in college football history have an excellent chance to repeat their undefeated campaign, bringing back 13 starters from last season’s title team. Despite continuing off-the-field issues, Winston should lead the Seminoles to the playoff, especially with every tough ACC game coming at home in Tallahassee.
2. Alabama Crimson Tide
Quarterback Jacob Coker just missed out on the starting job at Florida State last season, and now the talented transfer has a chance to win a championship of his own. Surrounded by several sensational recruiting classes put together by coach Nick Saban, Coker’s play in his first season as a starter will determine if the Tide can rule the SEC once more.
3. Oregon Ducks
Marcus Mariota is back to lead one of the most exciting offenses in college football history, representing the most likely candidate to take Winston’s Heisman away. The points will be plentiful, but the constant question is whether the Ducks can win when facing a physical front such as Stanford, which has ended their undefeated seasons for two straight years.
4. Oklahoma Sooners
There is good reason to think the Sooners can compete for a championship, bringing back the core of a team that smacked around Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Sooners will win games with a loaded defensive front, but their title hopes rest on sophomore Trevor Knight, the mobile quarterback who will need to prove he can carry the weight of the state for an entire season, having made just five career starts.
5. Auburn Tigers
After one of the all-time incredible turnarounds in sports history — going from last place to seconds from a national championship — Auburn will have a tough time doing better. Running coach Gus Malzahn’s offense, the Tigers are almost assured to produce points under quarterback Nick Marshall, but a questionable defense could derail them in the always-tough SEC.
6. UCLA Bruins
Despite a flawed offensive line, the Bruins enter the season with their highest expectations in years, led by quarterback Brett Hundley. The offense will put on several high-scoring showcases, but the spotlight will be on sophomore linebacker/running back Myles Jack, whose two-way play could put him in Heisman contention, a la Charles Woodson.
7. Baylor Bears
Senior quarterback Bryce Petty and wide receiver Antwan Goodley are back to lead the most explosive offense in the nation, as the Bears defend their first-ever Big 12 championship. Ultimately, though, success will hinge on a questionable defense that can’t rely on the offense to score 50 points every game. Most games, it will, though.
8. Michigan State Spartans
Though the top 10 is loaded with offensive juggernauts, the Spartans represent an old-school, defense-first philosophy and should dominate again with the return of defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi. The offense returns most of its core, but will need to do more than just grind out wins if the playoff is going to be a possibility.
9. Stanford Cardinal
Even in the top-heavy Pac-12, Stanford’s smothering defense could lead the team to its third straight conference championship. The big difference this season is that Kevin Hogan will have to evolve as more than just a game manager, with the traditionally powerful Cardinal running game as weak as it’s been in a while.
10. Georgia Bulldogs
Just one running back in the past eight years has won the Heisman Trophy, but Todd Gurley could be giving the stiff arm by season’s end, as perhaps the most talented player in the SEC. The loss of quarterback Aaron Murray changes the dynamic of the team, but the real questions come in a secondary with heavy turnover.
11. LSU Tigers
Based on potential, LSU could find itself in the playoff. The Tigers, however, may be playing in a bowl game before 2015 if talented youngsters such as freshmen Brandon Harris (quarterback), Malachi Dupre (wide receiver) and Leonard Fournette (running back) take too long to develop.
12. South Carolina Gamecocks
Jadeveon Clowney may be gone, but the Gamecocks shouldn’t see much of a slide in the polls. With star running back Mike Davis and fifth-year quarterback Dylan Thompson taking over, after producing stellar work in a backup role, coach Steve Spurrier has a great opportunity to post his fourth consecutive 11-win season.
13. Wisconsin Badgers
The Big Ten’s expansion lightened the Badgers schedule, leaving them without annual dates against Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State. Junior running back Melvin Gordon, who amassed 1,609 yards a year ago, should get fat against the likes of Rutgers, Maryland and Minnesota.
14. Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes fall from the top five with the news that Braxton Miller will be out for the season. Now, a Big Ten title rests in the hands of redshirt freshman quarterback JT Barrett, who will be protected by an inexperienced offensive line.
15. USC Trojans
Don’t expect a national title run, but new coach Steve Sarkisian has talent at the skill positions — such as game-breaking receiver Nelson Agholor and running back tandem Tre Madden and Javorius Allen — any coach in the country would crave.
16. Arizona State Sun Devils
We know the Sun Devils will score points — led by record-breaking quarterback Taylor Kelly, versatile running back D.J. Foster and wide receiver Jaelen Strong, an NFL prospect — but can a defense that allowed 37 points per game last year and lost nine starters stop anyone?
17. Clemson Tigers
Creating points will be the challenge for coach Dabo Swinney and Co. after watching quarterback Tajh Boyd and gifted receiver Sammy Watkins move on to the NFL. The defense should be formidable — and it will have to be — behind All-American defensive end Vic Beasley, who needs just eight sacks to set the school’s record of 28.
18. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Coach Brian Kelly lost both of his coordinators, but welcomes back a big piece in quarterback Everett Golson, who missed last season for academic reasons after leading the Irish to the national title game as a freshman. Expectations always are high in South Bend, but another brutal schedule could keep them from reaching a big-time bowl for the second straight year.
19. Kansas State Wildcats
The schedule isn’t daunting, Kansas State is loaded at the skill positions, its front four is fearsome and quarterback Jake Waiters impressed in his first year in Manhattan. Yes, we can see the Wildcats challenging Oklahoma and Baylor atop the Big 12.
20. Ole Miss Rebels
Coach Hugh Freeze could have one of the nation’s best defenses after returning nine starters, including senior safety Cody Prewitt and sophomore lineman Robert Nkemdiche.
21. Texas A&M Aggies
The buzz is gone. But the Aggies’ winning ways aren’t. Whether it’s sophomore Kenny Hill or freshman Kyle Allen under center replacing Johnny Manziel, they will have first-round hopeful Cedric Ogbuehi to protect their blind side, and two large and talented targets in Cam Clear and Ricky Seals-Jones.
22. Nebraska Cornhuskers
The Cornhuskers backfield is deep, but questions remain about an offensive line with four new starters. It’s time for Nebraska to have a big year, after losing at least four games each of the last 10 seasons.
23. North Carolina Tar Heels
Surprised to see the Tar Heels here? Don’t be. North Carolina was a few breaks from winning 10 games last season — of their six losses, three came by a single score — returns 15 starters, and dual-threat quarterback Marquise Williams is a potential star in the making.
24. Florida Gators
Will Muschamp’s seat is oven-hot entering his fourth year in Gainesville. Florida fans are used to championships, not 4-8 seasons — the first time it failed to qualify for a bowl game since 1990. The good news is the defense could be scary-good, led by disruptive junior defensive end Dante Fowler Jr.
25. Marshall Thundering Herd
Remember the name Rakeem Cato. The senior quarterback is a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate after leading Marshall to its first double-digit win season since 2002. He already has thrown for more than 10,000 yards and tossed nearly three times as many touchdowns (91) as interceptions (31).