College football's post-spring Top 25 projections for 2024

20. USC

Lincoln Riley is facing an important year after failing to meet expectations in his second season at USC with Caleb Williams at quarterback. Now that Williams is gone, he'll have to rely on Miller Moss to get the job done and he looked good during the Trojans' bowl game. Was it just beginner's luck? We'll find out in 2024, but the rest of the roster looks good enough to compete in a top-heavy Big Ten.

19. Texas A&M

Losing Evan Stewart to the transfer portal was a big blow to first-year head coach Mike Elko and the new staff, but he more than made up for that with the No. 2 transfer portal class in the country. Elko has landed a whopping 27 transfers from the portal with notable newcomers like Dezz Ricks, Cashius Howell, Scooby Williams, Jaydon Hill, Donovan Saunders, Nic Scourton, Cyrus Allen, and Will Lee III. This team got much better this offseason and the Jimbo Fisher curse may have been lifted.

18. Miami

I've seen Miami as high as No. 11 in some post-spring rankings projections and I think that's way too generous considering how poorly the Hurricanes have looked in two years under Mario Cristobal. That's not me saying he's a bad coach, but the expectations have not been met yet and talent has not been lacking. The Hurricanes do bring in one of the best quarterbacks in the country in Cam Ward as well as elite transfer running back Damien Martinez. This offense should be lightyears better than last year's.

17. Kansas State

The state of Kansas is going to feature some good football this coming season with Lance Leipold leading the Jayhawks and Chris Klieman leading the Kansas State Wildcats. Both coaches could be fighting for a Big 12 title when the season comes to a close. We saw this spring that the Wildcats have a budding star in Avery Johnson under center and the addition of Colorado transfer running back Dylan Edwards was massive. This offense will be humming.

16. Utah

Kyle Whittingham is one of the most underrated coaches in college football and that has somehow continued this offseason with experts overlooking the Utes. This team will be headed to the Big 12 as a serious title contender, especially with Cam Rising returning at quarterback after missing the 2023 season. The Utes will have a good defense but will also bring in a couple of four-star transfer receivers and a four-star transfer tight end to help Rising out.