College Football Rankings: Post-spring Top 25 projections for 2020

UCF has been the top Group of Five program over the past three years. The Knights were knocked off their American Athletic Conference pedestal by Memphis last season but Josh Heupel has a loaded roster returning to Orlando next season hungry to get back on top.

Kirk Ferentz may be the most under-appreciated coach in college football. He’ll need to replace Nate Stanley at quarterback in 2020 and has some holes to fill on defense, but Iowa‘s still going to pound the rock, slow opposing offenses down and compete for a Big Ten West title as they always find a way to do.

The Utes have another strong roster heading into 2020, but the amount of talent they have to replace is a tall order for Kyle Whittingham. Seven players from Utah’s Pac-12 South title roster from a year ago were drafted by NFL squads last month and quarterback Tyler Huntley graduated and was signed by the Ravens.

There will be plenty of pressure on Utah’s younger players and South Carolina transfer Jake Bentley to make up for one of the most talented rosters in school history.

The Cardinals went from a 2-10 team in 2018 to an 8-5 bowl winner in Scott Satterfield’s first year at Louisville. This season they’ll return a trio of the top weapons in the ACC in Micale Cunningham, Javian Hawkins and Tutu Atwell, but their defense is still a big question mark. The Cardinals finished 111th in the country against the run (212.2 yards per game) and 96th against the pass (250.2 yards per game) These numbers will need to improve if they want to continue to improve in 2020.

Very quietly, Kentucky has gone 18-8 the past two seasons with bowl wins over Penn State and Virginia Tech. The Wildcats lose Lynn Bowden, but Terry Wilson, who is 12-3 as a starter, will return from injury and have the SEC’s top-graded offensive line, and three running backs who helped put together the league’s top rushing offense back behind him.

Kentucky’s pass defense finished second in the country last season in yards per game (163.8) and was tied with the least amount of passing touchdowns allowed with Ohio State (9). They’ll need to prove they can hurdle passed Florida, Georgia and even Tennessee, but their roster is a top 25 one entering the new season.