It’s that time of year again — spring football is done, the transfer portal is (mostly) closed, and fans have been patiently waiting for a fresh Top 25 to yell about.
On Monday, Andy Staples at On3 dropped his updated post-spring rankings, and within minutes fans were losing their minds.
Whether you agree or disagree, here's a look at the top-25.
The Post-Spring College Football Top 25 (via Andy Staples)
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- Clemson
- Penn State
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Florida
- Texas Tech
- South Carolina
- Auburn
- SMU
- LSU
- Arizona State
- Michigan
- BYU
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- Tennessee
- Nebraska
- Iowa State
- Louisville
- Iowa
Our Biggest Disagreements with This Top-25
Alright, now that you’ve seen it, let's talk about a few things that are probably our biggest disagreements.
Alabama at No. 7 feels generous.
Sure, Alabama has talent — that’s not an issue. But when you don't even know who your starting quarterback is going to be, and you just lost a small army of players to the NFL, it feels a little bold to just pencil them in at No. 7. The Crimson Tide have questions at just about everywhere except wide receiver and their defensive backfield, so it doesn't feel like that No. 7 spot is warranted.
Illinois, Florida, Texas Tech, South Carolina, and Auburn are a mystery box.
Look, each of these teams has reasons to be optimistic. Illinois brings back a lot, Florida has D.J. Lagway hype, Texas Tech spent like crazy in the portal, and South Carolina's betting on LaNorris Sellers becoming a superstar. Auburn is feeling good about Jackson Arnold too.
But.
It’s kind of wild to rank all of them above LSU. LSU has Garrett Nussmeier, fresh talent on defense, and more proven talent than any of the other teams ranked ahead of them. You can squint and see all five of these teams finding a path to the playoff, but LSU certainly seems to be on a level above them.
Tennessee’s still ranked?
After losing Nico Iamaleava to the transfer portal, Tennessee still somehow checks in at No. 21. Who exactly is playing quarterback now? Joey Aguilar? Jake Merklinger? A true freshman? Regardless, Tennessee is coming off a season where they lost a lot of production already — led by Dylan Sampson — and while the Vols will still have one of the better defenses in the SEC, they have way too many questions to warrant a spot in the Top 25 right now, in my opinion.