Countdown to College Football

Alex Easton, staff writer

With the college football season underway, who will ascend to the top and win it all this year? With the season rapidly approaching the first rankings have dropped. The Associated Press (AP) poll is a collection of coaches ranking the top 25 teams. This year the top four consists of Ohio State, Penn State, LSU, and Georgia. 

Teams outside the top four include Oregon, who are ranked sixth, which is a shock due to their great success last season going 13-0 in the regular season, but they came up short in Playoffs against defending National Champions Ohio State.  

On that same note of the reigning national champions, Ohio State and Coach Ryan Day are hoping to repeat their success by going back-to-back in the national championship 

“I do really hope we go back-to-back in the natty this year,” said sophomore Caleb Coffman. Coach Day and the Buckeyes are strong favorites to win again this year due to their star wide receiver Jermiah Smith.    

“He’s a huge talent, really hope he can continue his success from last year,” Coffman said about Smith.    

For the buckeyes to repeat last year’s success they will need their defense and sophomore quarterback Julian Sayin to take a big step up. Will the Buckeyes rise to the promised land once again or will they fall short and lose to the team up north?    

When mentioning Ohio State you can’t forget about their fierce rivals Michigan, who are ranked 15 in the AP poll. Hopes are high in Ann Arbor because of the arrival of freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood. Underwood was ranked first in the 2024 recruiting class, due to this he has lots of hype around him.  

“He has a lot riding on him,” said junior Isla Beaton.  

“I’m super excited to see him play this year because of his national status,” said Beaton. This year Michigan’s hope is to develop Underwood and beat their rival Ohio State. 

“Although I don’t believe we will achieve much, I have high hopes to beat the team down south,” said Beaton. Will the Wolverines achieve the goals and go beyond or will this crumble under allegations and false hope. 

Yet the reigning national champions must watch out for Georgia who are ranking just inside the top four. With the new additions of Zachariah and Zion Branch from USC the Bulldogs are hoping for a full return to the top. 

“I’m Super excited for the season, I really liked the new transfers of the Branch brothers,” said junior, Mark Rowe.  

The Branch Brothers, Zachariah and Zion have Georgia fans very excited for the season due to the hype around their transfers.   

“I believe Georgia can challenge Ohio state and the other top teams for the natty this year, but I’m especially excited for the Alabama [game] hosted in Athens this year,” said Rowe.  

Yet, the Bulldogs could be hamstringed this year due to their uncertain quarterback situation with junior quarterback Gunner Stockton.  

“The only thing I’m very worried about this season is our quarterback situation, it’s not very favorable but I hope Gunner proves me wrong,” stated Rowe.  

This uncertainty voiced by Rowe is due to Stockton’s very limited sampling late in the season. Even though there seem to be little holes in Georgia’s roster, The hope is the same as every other year which is to go for the championship 

This season Clemson and Penn State both have very highly ranked quarterbacks, Cade Klubniak of Clemson and Drew Allar of Penn State. Both fell short of the championship last year, but Penn State made it to the quarter finals, these teams also have a cloud of overrated-ness surrounding them due to these shortcomings.  

Outside of the top four, there are many other very highly touted teams such as the Oklahoma Sooners with new transfer quarterback John Mateer, and the Alabama Crimson with their sophomore superstar Ryan Williams. It is only the beginning of the year, and there are still 13 weeks of thrilling football till the championship.