Top 25 College Football Rankings | Who Is Making The College Football Playoffs?

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football deal week one in the books time to update the preseason top 25 rankings every Tuesday 8m eastern time deal we're going to continue to update the top 25 and not a bad showing for the boys after week one a couple of teams that you know we were probably a little bit too high on Texas A&M being one of them look I kind of missed on Connor wigman I'll just be straight up I kind of bought into the Connor wigman hype during the off season when he went up against Notre Dame it just to me I still think this Texas A&M team very likely could be a top 25 team because I think that defense is Elite but Conor wiggam got to show me something in terms of me putting Texas A&M back in that top 25 Florida State I think we both missed like we had some question marks about Florida State but we kind of just assume Mike norell would have a decent ball team in 2024 that's obviously not the case and then NC State dropping can't play around with the food against West Carolina D let's get into the rest of the rankings now before we doing as always let it fly in the comments section I think the best part about doing this and deal when we did this two weeks ago preseason it was a blast talking ball with everybody in the comment section appreciate you guys rocking with it if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel much more importantly let it fly in the comments section we' love to hear your guys takes and D without further Ado I'll let you talk about the droppers first Florida State Texas A&M NC State any of those teams you kind of want to dive into here no the only one is NC State I think the other Florida State obviously not the you can't drop those two games and then kind of just get beaten down by a BC team that I don't think is gonna be particularly great when the finals when when The Season's kind of over if you will I think you're treating NC State a little harshly I think we've seen a ton of teams get caught in Sleepy week one situations Oregon obviously too we're not punishing them too much I think at the end of the day NC State dialed it in they took care of what they had to take care of by the end of that football game and I still look at them I still think the defense is going to be very very good I know they gave up a couple of big plays a couple of scrambles a couple of I don't want to say fluky plays but they just got hurt with a couple of big ones I think their offense is GNA be fine Grayson McCall throwing an uncharacteristic pick I still think it's very complete team and should certainly be in the top the biggest reason I dropped him out of the top 25 is I didn't I I thought the offensive line would be a little bit more dominant especially against an FC FCS program H one of the reasons we were so high on NC State is the line of scrimmage play is always good under Dave door now can it get better they're gonna have a very big chance that they started to get it rolling a little bit towards the end I think when you watch it front of front to back if you will they did get it rolling they started to play the way we'd expect and Jordan wat started to be physical I I Ain again I think that's a massive overreaction in my mind at the end of the day I still think it's a very good hey well I guess I guess we're going to find out in a couple of days as they play Tennessee neutral sight I I have big concerns right now about NC State dealing with Tennessee's front seven that I think is very very good talk about the newcomers real quick they Louisville if Tyler Shar stays healthy like that offense under coach braam is going to put up a lot of points they have a very solid defense that's a very complete team in the ACC in an ACC conference that like look the ACC did not have a very good week one like watch out for them Louisville Cardinals you look at Iowa found an offense in the second half Kade mcir pushing the ball down the field look if Iowa offense takes a step in the right direction even just a small step you're looking at a very good team and that's still realistically a top 25 team even if they don't play particularly great on offense because that is loaded to the gills I think it'll be one of the better units we've seen under Kirk fenon that's saying a lot because he's had a lot of really good defenses again I think their ceiling's a little bit higher if their offense gets it rolling I'm not sure I'm taking that much from them doing to the team they beaten I am I am because they've never done that to FCS programs before like when they play Bad teams like they just don't even look they they never look good on offense even when they play inferior teams so they actually made a change that offensive coordinator actually looked a part in that second half I was kind of impressed in terms of what I saw from Kade mcir in the second half and then Oklahoma State though we were probably a little low on them to to start with and I think you're going to get a good game against them in terms of Hosting Arkansas on Saturday but you got a veteran quarterback you got one of the best backs in the country an extremely veteran offensive line and two wide receivers in Bren and Presley and Rashad Owens who kind of are ball players like this Oklahoma State team checks probably more boxes than I gave them credit for in the pre-season let's get into a couple of other shakeups the only shakeup in the top four we're kind of keeping that top four tier here Ohio State jump in Oregon we you could have gone back and forth to start the season but we're going to take Ohio State now Oregon obviously not having a great performance specifically along the offensive line and then Dylan Gabriel not really pushing the ball down the field as much as you would like and so look I'm still high in Oregon I'm not ready to drop him to number seven like the AP poll did but you want to see them play better football against Boise State on Saturday the next big dropper deal Michigan which they won by 20 points Saturday night against a pretty solid Fresno State team but we did ding him pretty hard because we got big questions marks about what the quarterback position is going to look like for this Michigan program and I think that's still something we've talked about it it's always the recipe where they can run the ball they can be physical and play really really good defenses or defense I just don't think when you get that level of quarterback play it just didn't even seem close and I don't think it was particularly high with Cade MCM and frankly Michigan might have been a little overrated that year like would have they beaten a lot of really competitive SEC teams I think their performance against George probably suggested they really wouldn't I still think at the end of the day you need a quarterback to once in a while make some big time plays and there just wasn't much of an indication yet that Michigan's quarterback is willing to do that and even willing to make those attempts and that to me we're going to need to see it before I get fully back in like well this offense is gonna be good enough I know the defense is Championship caliber I no doubt about that but that offense it it can't be what it was against Fresno State because they won't have much of a shot I don't think against teams like Texas or and I think one of the other I mean you noted the the first concern is Davis Warren it's a very one-dimensional passing attack I mean over half of Davis Warren's completions went to tight end coltson Loveland he made zero BigTime throws according to PFF the offensive line turned it up in the fourth quarter but for three quarters the offensive line didn't quite impose their will as much as we're probably used to seeing as well now it's a new unit that we think from a Personnel standpoint is good so I think it gets better as they get more comfortable with themselves that being said I I have a hard time putting Michigan in the top 10 right now with what we saw from that offense couple of teams that kind of mov their way on up and D I'll give you some credit we went back and forth I had my concerns about Notre Dame you wanted them higher when we first had our rankings what do you see from Notre Dame moving up to number eight team in the country yeah and if I had my brothers I don't even think this is high enough frankly I think I look right now I'm not sure I'm taking Miss to beat this n Dame team I don't think I'm taking Missouri either I think they put on a very complete performance I think the one big question I had was would that offensive line kind of be up to par because I think you know Riley Leonard's not gonna lead a particularly air raid heavy offense be particularly successful at that so he needs an offense that can run the ball where he's running the ball running backs running the ball I think their offensive line acquitted themselves extremely well I think the running back play is really good like as good as any group in the country and then Riley Leonard I think showed that he's going to win them football games in a way we just haven't seen a notame quarterback do it and their defense obviously great we knew that was gonna be great so I think we should probably be six maybe five you you saw and I think what's cool about Notre Dame is I think that's another team that probably gets better as the season goes on like that Notre Dame offensive line went on the road night game College Station against what I think might be the best defensive line that we see in the country with six combined total starts on the off offensive line they started a true freshman left tackle they held their own like don't don't get me wrong Texas A&M was able to get their own but I thought Florida State or Notre Dames offensive line played a very solid football game the running game was good that defense is Elite there's no hole in that defense top to bottom it is a lot of really good football players that play Fast tough and disciplined I'm kind of in on Notre Damon it was it pretty for Riley Leonard no but historically it's not always looked pretty for Riley Leonard he's a winner at the quarterback spot that's what you brought him in to do D another team that I think is a little bit of a riser here and didn't necessarily rise in the rankings but I'm kind of starting to buy stock in these two teams Penn State and Miami both of which we had in the top 12 in the preseason I'm feeling really good about kind of where we had them in the rankings after week one yeah and Miami I think showed why we had them so high is their lines of scrimmage play is really good and then cam ward in that offense I think it's really going to thrive because don't think he's going to be asked to do nearly as much I don't think he'll make as many mistakes as he made in that Washington State system so I think that Miami team's very primed for success and then Penn State you saw some good things with them getting the ball down the field I thought you saw some route Concepts that freed wide receivers up they looked like they were playing a little bit more free and and had more space to work with that was all you kind of wanted to see from C Nick you know again still got to go back and and see them do that against the big boys because that's been their problem they've had those performance against teams like West Virginia in the past got to see it against your Ohio States or Oregon Michigan that type of unit but I think you saw the green shoots from much improved offenseive line but yeah that that's kind of what I'm thinking is it it felt different and looked different against West Virginia there was a little bit more space there was a lot more explosive plays that's a hire that I think is the least talked about hire in all of college football like I him and Dan Lynn and Coach cold Nikki maybe two of the most impactful hires because you know Penn State's defense is going to be elite can they have a good offense and then vice versa for USC that Penn State offense looked a little different made me feel good about it and then Miami is checking a lot of boxes I think Miami might be a little bit ranked a little bit low as well getting into the teams that are on the outside looking in in terms of the college football playoffs but teams that kind of rose up the ranks I think we got to start with USC D they held an LSU offense that I would be willing to bet money finishes as a top 10 offense the country they held him 20 points and we both watched that football game we reacted to it instantly on Sunday night the defense just looked different right it was a lot more of a physical defense it was a much more disciplined defense we kind of always knew the Personnel was there for USC it was just so poorly managed you're bring in coach Lynn and I'm telling you right now the way we saw Miller Moss play combined with that USC defense I don't know how many Big 10 teams I'm comfortable putting USC behind heading to week two week three week four and if there was one team in the nation that was going to exploit where I think even us I wasn't totally comfortable with USC from a Personnel standpoint and that's that defensive line specifically that interior unit I mean they held their own they didn't really get rushed on they had I think one driver I would have thought that's what LSC would have looked like every drive that one drive that John armer kind of took over but aside from that I think you're right physically they really weren't getting moved off the ball a whole lot they were playing really really tough and I think at the the end of the day we knew the offense was going to be really good and they proved that even against probably the best offensive line for my money in the country that they're just fine on defense like they're not maybe gonna be the greatest defense in the world but they're going to be kind of where you need them to be to be really competitive well that's the question like how good can this right when I said it I was almost like wow maybe they are really because they just how many times is LSU gonna get held 20 points I don't think it's going to be that many during this season so you know we still have USC at thir team because we want to probably want to see it a little bit more consistently that being said you get that brand to USC consistently it's going to be a really dangerous team in the Big 10 uh looking at a few other teams let's talk about LSU and Clemson actually quick note on Oklahoma I love this football team D need the offensive line to be better look if this offensive line figures it out going in SEC play I think that is a very dangerous football team LSU and Clemson probably have them higher than most would LSU look great I think they just ran into a USC team that played a really good football game Garrett nsme is going to be a very good quarterback that offensive line is still think is going to be good the wide receivers are very good and the LSU defense itself looked pretty dang good against USC they really didn't get run up and down I thought they I think for both USC and LSU I think you saw a defensive shift in ter in terms of their mentality I think both tackled better which was probably the most striking thing but also both were much more willing to be a bit more of an attacking unit rather than being a passive unit that again were very comfortable giving up ton of yards and obviously USC was able to hit some big plays against that team but they weren't necessarily just chunking LS it wasn't easy I wouldn't say it wasn't like when USC got the ball you were like oh they're gonna score LSU was challenging them all game they just got hit with a couple of big plays against some really really big physical wide receivers yeah the the that's kind of what I my only concern would be is the LSU defensive backs kind of got exposed a a little bit you want to see that get cleaned up because you're going to see those kind of wide receivers in the SEC and so I think Blake Baker is going to get into the lab a little bit make sure you you kind of sh that up uh Clemson's still got a top 10 defense in the country like get got away from them in the second half because their offense just couldn't stay on the football field if this Clemson offense can just kind of look let's face it like this offense finding its Rhythm week one against Georgia was a was a little bit of it was a little bit of a stretch because I'll say this about Georgia and we didn't even touch Ong here they're better number one than I thought they were at the beginning of the Season agreed I I think we both thought that Oregon Ohio State Texas were maybe a little bit closer to Georgia than than we might get because that Georgia defense looks different those linebackers are absolutely incredible this Clemson defense is gonna win a lot of football games because of the defense can this offense just find a rhythm and just a little bit of a rhythm because it just looks like K kumnick is so uncomfortable if this Clemson offense can kind of put it together I think they might be the second best team in the ACC with kind of what we've seen from Florida State Kansas State Kansas no Real Change Auburn probably a little bit higher I don't think many people have Auburn in the top 25 I'll just say this that brand of offense that we saw I get it was against the Alabama A&M but working vertically hitting explosive plays you can tell that the the difference makers the pass catchers they're they're just a little bit different than we saw in 2023 and so I think that's a massive storyline for Auburn heading into 2024 and then D Kentucky I think we're a little bit higher on Kentucky you look at Brock Vander we talked about it yesterday morning looks a little bit different than Devon Le did in 2023 now if he avoids mistakes that was the one I think concerning thing you thought from that Southern Miss game they played put the ball In Harm's Way a couple times and and again probably believes in his arm too much not that I I mean the guy has he slings it like out his hand is very impressive I think his ability to run and add that element into that Kentucky offense will be very very helpful for that team but I think you're right if he does do a really good job of keeping the ball safe I think with that group wide receivers and that defense they're going to come with especially up front that front seven I think that'll be one of the better units in the SEC frankly I think they have the explosive weapons now the two things I think one offensive line get back to like the big blue wall that it used to be at felt like five years ago if they can get back to that that'd be a big time piece coming together if you will for this Kentucky team and then vaner Griff making smart decisions but they have the talent to compete with so where I would not I don't even know if I'd push back but it would be Brock Vander g a gunslinger I don't want to take that out of him you know so it's like yeah you have to tow the line a little bit in terms of hey let's make some big time throws but let's also keep the ball out of Harm's Way because you know that is something very important to coach stops don't don't take again I that's fine but they weren't necessarily chances that looked bad it was just like are you seeing the safety in the middle of the field who's playing a bit a robber looking jumping around right in front of you I mean that's not necessar not not being a gunslinger that's just like you got to be able to read those coverage just not put the ball in harms away in that spot because it's not a risk he's taking it's just not a good throw that's fair now you go to Arizona didn't move them thought about moving them down it's tough um those two are so good they're so good no if he didn't T-Mac but it's I kind of came away from that football game saying is that all they have like I feel like it's such a Wonder it's a one-dimensional team and so like that that duo might win them a lot of football games and might make them a top 25 team but I have my question marks about the overall complete nature of that Arizona team we talked about Iowa we talked about Louisville they that'll round out the top 25 my eyeballs are specifically on the Colorado Nebraska game because whatever team wins that football game is probably going to be a top 25 team come next Tuesday night we'll close it out there appreciate you guys rocking with the boys again let it fly in the comment section we love hearing from you guys we love talking about with you in the comment section and we'll talk to youall later peace