Saturday Tradition's way-too-early Top 25 for 2023
Saturday Tradition's way-too-early Top 25 for 2023 is out. It's still early. The ranking is heavily weighted on what the previous season told us, the returning personnel and the transfer portal. It is not based on strength of schedule or end-of-season rankings.
Mike Leach died and Mississippi State is in need of a new head coach. Zach Arnett and Will Rogers will help the team. Jett Johnson will again lead the defensive unit.
Luke Fickell has done a great job at Wisconsin. Wisconsin had their worst 3-year stretch in 2 decades.
UCLA lost Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Zach Charbonnet and Carson Steele. Chip Kelly signed Collin Schlee as a replacement for Doris Robinson.
Ohio and Maryland are going to offer sports betting for the 2022-23 Big Ten football season.
Saturday Tradition's way-too-early Top 25 for 2023 is for people 21+ and present in Ohio.
Drake Maye is returning as a top-5 quarterback in America. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo is off to Wisconsin and top targets Josh Downs and Antoine Green are both gone.
South Carolina is ranked 21st in the Top 25 for 2023. The Gamecocks were one of the best teams in America in their final 3 games. Shane Beamer's team suffered some key losses with Jaheim Bell, MarShawn Lloyd and Jordan Burch.
Tyler Shough is the new quarterback for Texas Tech. The team is loaded with seniors and returning starters.
Kansas State is the current Big 12 champion. Chris Klieman's team has 8 offensive starters.
Willie Fritz's team made a 10-win improvement and won the Cotton Bowl. Michael Pratt is returning with an experienced offensive line. Tyjae Spears is replacing top tailback TyJae.
Quinn Ewers will be one of the biggest storylines of college football if he's healthy. Texas had its best season since 2017.
Jonathan Smith is the best hire from the post-2017 cycle. He led Oregon State to their best season in 2 decades. The Beavers are trying to win double-digit games in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history.
The defending national runners-up are 15th in the Top 25 for 2023. They have lost a lot of players, but they are signing up for the transfer portal.
Clemson's 2022 team went 1-3 against teams that finished in the AP Top 25. DJ Uiagalelei played well, but the team's defense is weak.
Oregon has a good team with Dan Lanning and Bo Nix. The 2023 team will have to figure out some major offensive line turnover and they're losing a trio of standouts from the defense.
Lincoln Riley has had 4 different quarterbacks who finished in the top 2 of the Heisman Trophy voting. He brought back Alex Grinch, who had a disappointing defense under Riley at Oklahoma and at USC.
Washington is ranked 11th in the Saturday Tradition's way-too-early Top 25 for 2023. The Michael Penix Jr.-Kalen DeBoer combination is money in their bank. They should continue to recruit well and compete for a Pac-12 title.
Josh Heupel is 46-16 as a head coach. He had top-8 offenses in 5 consecutive years.
Sam Hartman and Marcus Freeman are good additions for Notre Dame. The team needs to improve more to be considered a preseason contender.
Cam Rising and Brant Kuithe are both returning for 2023. Utah beat USC twice and deserves to be ranked ahead of the Trojans.
Sean Clifford is out of eligibility. Drew Allar is up next. The Lions' backfield is loaded with Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Joey Porter Jr. and Ji’Ayir Brown are gone to the NFL. Manny Diaz should lead another top-20 unit.
Brian Kelly's LSU team won 10 games last year. The team had less than 40 scholarship players. Harold Perkins and Malik Nabers will be the foundation for the Year 2.
Florida State finished the season with 10-win season. Mike Norvell's team is in its best place of the post-Jameis Winston era. Jordan Travis and Jaheim Bell are returning to the team.
CJ Stroud is no longer the coach at Ohio State. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka are back to work with Kyle McCord. The Buckeyes are still loaded at wideout with Marvin, Emeku and Kyle. They are also a top-5 offense, but they need to prove it against Michigan.
Michigan went 13-0 last season and won the national championship. The team hasn't won a bowl game since 2015. Michigan hasn’t beaten a non-Big Ten team on the big stage since the 2017 opener against Florida.
Alabama is the team that does nothing but win double-digit games and sign top-3 classes with the best coach of all time. Michigan and Ohio State haven't shown they can hang with Alabama or Georgia.
Georgia is the team that lost 15 players to the NFL Draft. The team has a talented quarterback room with Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton. Georgia also has plenty of backfield options, a passing game led by Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey and AD Mitchell, and incoming SEC receivers Dominic Lovett and Rara Thomas.
