After taking a one-year sabbatical from the College Football Playoff, Georgia begins the 2024 season atop the preseason USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-134 as the team to beat for the SEC crown and national championship.
The Bulldogs are followed by No. 2 Ohio State, which is set to enter the season opener with Kansas State transfer Will Howard at starting quarterback. Then comes another SEC team, but it’s not Alabama: Texas clocks in at No. 3 after last year’s Big 12 title and playoff berth.
Rounding out the top 10 are No. 4 Oregon, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 Clemson, No. 9 Penn State and No. 10 Mississippi.
As in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, the re-rank’s top 25 is heavy on the two strongest conferences in the Bowl Subdivision. The SEC has eight teams in the top 25 and the Big Ten has six, followed by the ACC with five teams and the Big 12 with four. The one Group of Five team in the top 25 is No. 19 Memphis, a strong contender for the 12-team playoff.
Outside the top 25, teams of note include No. 28 Texas A&M, No. 30 Boise State, No. 43 Auburn and No. 59 Florida.
The two teams in last year’s championship game find themselves sliding down the rankings. Defending champ Michigan comes in at No. 16, well in range of the playoff, after an offseason exodus that includes quarterback J.J. McCarthy and coach Jim Harbaugh. Washington starts all the way down at No. 47 after an even larger loss of talent; the Huskies bring back just two of last year’s 22 starters on offense and defense.
The re-rank continues to undergo a steady inflation. There were 120 FBS teams in 2010, 124 in 2013, 126 in 2014, 127 in 2015, 128 in 2016, 129 in 2017, 130 in 2019, 131 in 2022 and 133 last season. This year, the FBS grows to 134 teams with the addition of Kennesaw State as a transitional member of Conference USA. Below is the official preseason rankings with records from last season.
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