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We Ranked Our Top 25 Teams! · The Saturday Slate Football Show

• Canon Stogner: And welcome back to episode three of the Saturday Slate Podcast, hosted by me, Cannon Stogner, and your co-host, Andrew Wright, where we talk about college football. We will release videos every Monday and Thursday on YouTube. And you can also listen to the audio version on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. this week we are going to be talking about the Big 12, doing a deep dive into that conference. like we have the SEC and Big Ten, the previous two episodes. And then we are also going to do our own top twenty-five rankings heading into the season. Now the AP poll will be released tomorrow at noon. So we are going to get this up and going before those come out. That way you can compare and contrast with our personal rankings that we have for ourselves. We are going to start off listening to two voicemails. We were left two voicemails. I think both of them from my dad and my brother. Let's listen to what they had to say. And then we are going to talk about the South Carolina injury update that was just announced on Sunday night. So let's go ahead and listen to the two voicemails. so we will be talking about the ACC on our next episode, which will be released Thursday. I'll be honest with you, we really don't have much to talk about in the ACC. Obviously, it's the worst conference of the for the Power Four group. but we will be doing a deep dive into that. And there are some interesting topics that we can talk about. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: there's obviously a new top dog then the past decade or so with Clemson. But I also don't think there are even two, three, four, or five in the ACC like they have been the last several years. Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: So it could be an interesting topic to talk about. but that will be on our next release, which will be Thursday. yeah, I mean that's a great question. I think for South Carolina fans and really any team that plays in the power four that feels like they have a decent shot to make the college ball playoff, is always that is a successful season making the playoff, Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: especially for the teams that don't make it every year. Obviously, Georgia and Ohio State and those teams expect to make it every year. So I guess necessarily making the playoff isn't necessarily a success for those schools. But for South Carolina, yeah. I do think this is the best year of college football that we're gonna have. I think Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: like just rosters overall are the most balanced we've seen, maybe Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: ever. part obviously that has to do with the NIL and Transfer Portal and things like that. But I would say a successful season, at least for Shane Beamer. I think if he wins six or less games, he's out. Which I I hate that because I think he does a great job of recruiting and retaining players. Now, this past year was his worst recruiting class he's had since he's been at South Carolina, besides the first year that he came in filling in after Will Muschamp. But I think if he wins seven games, goes seven and five and goes to a bowl game, he probably doesn't get fires, probably another one of those. Okay, well, he's got one more year to prove himself. which feels like the same thing was said last year. But Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: I think eight and four with the schedule that they have and with their roster, I think eight and four is a pretty good season as a South Carolina Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: fan. obviously that doesn't put them in the playoff. but I still think if you go eight and four, you're pretty disappointed just for the fact that it's your last season with Lenoris, it's your last season with Nick Harbor, it's your last season with Dylan Stewart. It's your last season with the brand new left tackle Jacarius Peake. So if you don't make the playoff this year, you feel like you missed out on your chance because you Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: have to pretty much revamp the whole roster next year. Which is possible because I mean we see other teams do that. I don't know if South Carolina has the money and ability to do that. Just replace a team and immediately make the playoff the next year. I think they'd have to be lu get lucky on a few guys that they land in the portal. Andrew Wright: All right. Canon Stogner: but I think even if you go ten and two, unless you play in the conference championship, you're gonna have a really hard time making the playoff just based Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: off pretty much what we're gonna talk about following this and what we talked about the last two episodes. It Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: is an absolutely loaded college ball season with all the teams that have a chance to even win the national championship, much less even make into the playoff. so yeah, I mean that's a good question. Eight and four, I think you should be happy just based off their schedule because I mean, they still have a non-conference game playing Clemson, which a lot of schools are just completely eliminating their non-conference Tough part schedules. so yeah, I mean what do you what do you think? What do you think six sa a Andrew Wright: I think you're ecstatic with 8-4 with that schedule. I Canon Stogner: Yeah. Andrew Wright: don't think there's any way you can look at that. Like you said, you missed your window. You missed your three-year window with Lenores and Nick Harbor and Dylan Stewart. still, everything you said, that schedule with the injuries we get in two in a minute, 8-4 feels like a really good season. And that's a chance to get it to 9-4 with the bowl win. If you just look at last year and this year, if you go from 4-8 to 9-4, I don't think there's any way. You can be just pissed at that, maybe disappointed because of the window, but that's still a really good year. And that builds you some momentum into next year, having to kind of revamp the roster and rebuild it and kind of see where you can go from there. Canon Stogner: Yeah, and I think their overall roster in depth is not that great. but I mean there are mock drafts that have four South Carolina players getting drafted in the first round, which is crazy to think Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: about. I mean, because you have Stewart, Sellers, Jacarius Peak, the left tackle, and then you have Judge Collier who has been Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: playing corner for them for I think this will be his fourth or fifth year. so they definitely have the talent on the top half of the roster. just overall I don't know if they have it. but another thing, I mean, it really depends on the how the season goes. Even if they win eight games, because if you win eight games, go eight and four. But you lose to Clemson, I think you're still pretty disappointed in how the season went. Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: or if you lose to a Kentucky or Mississippi State and go eight and four, you're Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: like, dang, that feels like if we win one more of those games, we have a better chance to get in. just like two years ago they went nine and three or what nine and three or eight and four when they lost to LSU at home? Yeah. Andrew Wright: 9 and 3. Yeah, 9 and 3. Canon Stogner: You go nine and three and you finish thirteenth or fourteenth in the rankings. If you win that LSU game, which Sarkov fans know the heartbreak of that game and really seems like unfairness to say. I mean, I know every school can say a game was unfair to them, but that game was truly just I mean, like you heard even Reese Davis and Kirk Kerbstreet say, like, man, like some of these penalties are calling, like it's you just got to question like what are they s Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: what are they seeing or why are they calling those? But so yeah, I think it also depends on the type of game that they or the type of season that they have. Because bowl games do not bowl games do not matter anymore. I mean, several years ago, if you make it to the Capital One bowl or you know, you make it to the Chick-fil-A bowl, you're ecstatic. But now that the playoff, Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: now that the playoff has kind of taken in all those bowl games as the playoff game, if you make a bowl game, you're really I mean, a lot of fans hardly go now. A lot of players don't play. So Andrew Wright: Right. Yeah. Canon Stogner: it's definitely a good question, an interesting thing to think about. which leads us into our next point. Before we hop into the top twenty five, obviously we are South Carolina fans. We do talk about the rest of college football. But we do specialize in South Carolina the most. two heartbreaking injuries for South Carolina was announced tonight, which feels like it happens every year. Every year they Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: have a key player that goes down. Jaden Sellers, who's Lenore Sellers' little brother, he was a freshman last year. He had a breakout game in their game before Clemson against Coastal Carolina. He scored like a eighty yard, seventy-five yard receiving touchdown on the first play of the game. Andrew Wright: you Canon Stogner: he had obviously or he had very Clearly like progressed and stepped into this role where he was honestly starting games or I mean playing a Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: lot of snaps on offense. So they lost him for the season with a lower body injury, probably a torn ACL. Don't want to speculate, but he's out for the season. And then they also lost their number one receiver that they brought in from the portal and Jaden Gibson. Now Jaden Gibson came from Oklahoma. He is like a six five, six six kind of long receiver, reminds you of Al Sean Jeffrey whenever he was at South Carolina. he had injury history at Oklahoma. He didn't play at all last year, and then the year before he had a great start to the season, and then he got hurt. So he's always had that question that's been surrounding him since he started his career at Oklahoma. but it feels like it it is a gut punch just because if you have him Andrew Wright: Thank Canon Stogner: on the field at six, five, six, six, and then you have Nick Harbor on the other side of the field six five six six that can run as fast as lightning. Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: That definitely feels like a a a scary matchup and something that's hard to study, film on with prepare for a game against South Carolina. So yeah, those two injuries hurt. Now their receiver room is probably the deepest position they have on the team. So they should be able to bounce back. They still do new have Nick Harper. They have Nitro Tuggle. They brought him from Purdue. They have Mazio Bennett. Donovan Murph, who is a red shirt freshman from Irma. He has been lighting it up at camp. So I think they'll be fine, but it definitely hurts, especially thank him for Jaden Sellers. This could be his last year playing with Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: his younger or older brother. So I'm Andrew Wright: Yep. Canon Stogner: sure he is extremely upset about that. So Andrew Wright: Yeah. Canon Stogner: okay, so we are going to do our top twenty-five rankings. Before the AP poll is released tomorrow at noon. Now, I believe that the AP poll is based off how teams finished the season last year, key players that returned or left for the draft or for the portal, and what is exactly is expected from them this year. the AP poll was released, I think, a week ago or two weeks ago, and there are some interesting things that I see on that, and Andrew Wright: Thank Canon Stogner: it and it kind of makes you think like, Okay, well, if the AP poll is very similar to this coaches poll, are they doing this so teams like Miami has more ranked wins going into the playoff or teams like like LSU plays Clemson? Andrew Wright: Right, or like LSU for Clemson. Yeah. Canon Stogner: Are they giving that just so LSU gets a top twenty five win to start the season off? So a lot Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: of things are interesting from the AP poll or from the coaches poll. You can go check that out on yourself. I will not be talking about any of that except for one thing. from that list. Now I do not want to upset any of Clemson people that I know that listen to this. my wife is actually a Clemson fan. I'm sure her family will be listening to this. So please do not kill me for what I am about to say. Because it is not y'all's fault. It's not. But I just want to talk about Clemson was ranked number twenty three on the coaches poll. And I had a very hard time and it's easy for me to say this as a South Carolina fan, but I had a very hard time of understanding how they made the coaches poll because all these coaches are voting for it. So maybe they know something that I don't. Obviously, they're a coach and I'm not. I'm sitting here talking about but Clemson is ranked number twenty-three. They're coming off a seven and six year last year. They became bowl eligible and then beat South Carolina in the last game of the year. their starting QB was there for four years. He left for the draft. Their most talked about thing that was ran up the whole offseason last year was their defense. Okay. Clipson went seven to six last year, four and four in the ACC. And we just talked about the ACC just a little bit. They had nine players drafted, seven of them on defense. Okay. And then you take out their starting quarterback, Kay Klubnik. And their starting running back, Adam Randall. Okay. Now they do have a lot of weapons. They probably have one of the best receiving rooms in the in college football, but they also had that same receiving room last year when they had K Klubnett. And Andrew Wright: Yep. Canon Stogner: their starting QB this year is a guy who could not beat out K Klubnett. He's been at Clemson Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: for four years and he's thrown for 400 yards in his career. they also lost their number one offensive tackle, Blake Miller. So excuse me, it has six guys drafted on defense. They're Blake Miller got drafted by the Lions. And I know a lot of people have said, Yeah, but we've got a we brought in a good guys from the transfer portal. Well, hold on a second. Clemson had the number 56, 56 ranked transfer portal class this year, which was below a lot of ACC schools. And I know Dabba doesn't really recruit out of Clemson or out of the portal, but Their high school class was like number 13. And he's usually in the top 10 or maybe even top five. So I'm very confused on how they made it into the rankings. I will not be surprised if they're in it tomorrow. I won't understand why they're in it, but I will not be surprised if they're in the rankings tomorrow. And they might surprise me, they might surprise a lot of people, but I'm just having a hard time understanding. Why they're ranked twenty-third when other teams like Louisville, who returned most of their guys from the ACC in the ACC, they had the second best running back in the N college football. I'm just having a hard time. I mean, what do you think about them being ranked? Andrew Wright: I mean, I guess part of it is like you said, maybe it is a way for these teams to get more ranked wins. Cause like, like you said, the prime example, I LSU and Clumsmen play in week one and LSU is favored in that game, probably should win that game at home. And then if Clumsmen is in there tomorrow at number 22 in the AP poll, LSU goes 10 and two, let's say LSU goes 10 and two, Oklahoma goes 10 and two. LSU has six ranked wins. Oklahoma has five. Like that. planned against Clemson, a team that shouldn't have been ranked all the way back in week one, is gonna help propel them. So yeah, I don't understand it either. again, like you said, it's easy for us, the South Carolina fans, to see something that Clemson does and be like, that's weird. But it's national media that's covering it as well. Like these Canon Stogner: Yeah. Andrew Wright: rankings came out and people are like, there is a glaring issue with these rankings and it is the Tiger Paul at 23. So yeah, I don't understand it either. said they could surprise the college ball world. I'll never be one to put it past Dabba to do that. We don't like him. We know that, but I mean, he's won two national championships and what's the problem from doing it again? I don't agree with it. I don't think it's right. They're not going to be in my top 25. But I guess the season will kind of tell us if we were wrong or right about them. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I mean, spoiler, they didn't make my top twenty five either. And I'm truly like I'm trying to be as non biased as possible because we are Zocalana fans, I Andrew Wright: Yeah, right. Canon Stogner: j I just really don't understand it. Yes, they have a good receiving room. They have T J Moore, they have Bryant Wesco, they have Antonio Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: Williams, or Antonio Williams still there, right? Andrew Wright: Watch the commanders, Canon Stogner: Okay, well, so but they still have a lot of the guys that they had last year. Okay. Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: Truly only lost one person was Blake Miller and Kate Klevnick. And Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: I just don't understand how good going into the Andrew Wright: Yeah, I don't get it. Canon Stogner: season they're seven and six, four and four in the ACC, and they're ranked twenty-third. But Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: anywho, maybe somebody will call in about that and explain their reasoning. so let's go ahead and head into our top twenty-five. Now we are going to Do our rankings 25 through one. we don't want to bore y'all to death or have this take forever. So we are not going to deep dive into every team until we get to like the top 10, top 15. So I will start first. My 25 through 21st teams, I have Louisville at 25. Okay. They have the return Isaac Brown, their second best running back. I have another ACC team in Virginia at 24. They went seven and one in their conference last year. They went eleven and three overall. They did have a very poor recruiting cycle. Their transfer class and high school class was very bad. so that Virginia was twenty-four number twenty-three. I had Houston. Houston went nine and three last year. Their roster is a lot better. I think they're kind of catching up with the NIL stuff, because Houston does have a lot of money. and they got the number one QB out of high school. So I do think they'll be pretty decent this year. they are in the Big 12, so we'll talk about that and them later on. I had them at number 23. Now, number 22, I would like to put them higher. I do think their team is very good. They have a very good roster. all of it depends on the quarterback. number 22, I had Missouri. So Missouri has Amon Hardy, who's the best running back in the country, I believe. Their defense is loaded with guys. They have five star edge rushers on both sides. the one question about them, it all depends on their quarterback, Austin Simmons, who came from Ole Miss. He didn't play bad last year and then he got hurt. And then obviously Trinidad came in and played the rest of the season. number 21. Now a lot of people or that coach's poll had them a lot higher than what I did. I have Penn State at 21. they are one of those teams I think could be much higher by the end of September. But they obviously have a very brand new team. They have Matt Campbell coaching from Iowa State. He brought a lot of his guys from there. He's got Rocco back to quarterback. Should be a bounce back year for them. they do have a tough schedule. At number twenty, I have Iowa. So Iowa went eight and four last year. They are only returning six starters, but like you said last week, Iowa always feels like a team that goes eight and four, nine and three every year, and you don't hear Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: much about them. They play very boring football. so that was my twenty-five through twentieth rankings. What do you have? Andrew Wright: So we were very similar here with this. I had Louisville at number 25. I had Missouri at 24. 23, a team that I'm kind of high on, you not so much. had Florida at 23. I think Somerol just did a great job with the transfer class. Always got to remember he was managing two teams at once. And I think he did it. Canon Stogner: If Florida i if Florida is ranked tomorrow, we will not talk about Florida all year. Andrew Wright: So Florida at 23, I hope they're ranked. I think we both like Houston. I have Houston at 22. You mentioned the five-star quarterback they brought in. I think he'll be the backup, and we'll kind of get into that. I think Connor Wigeland will get that starting job, and we'll kind of get into him a little bit later. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I agree. Andrew Wright: 21, Iowa, like we said, always right there, eight and four, nine and three. And remember, in our last episode, I kind of laid out a path for Iowa to get to 10 and two and be right there in the college football playoff picture. And then... 20, I had Washington, your guy, Demian Williams. I think they have a really good roster. First year under a new head coach. So that'll be kind of interesting for them. But yeah, there's 25 through 20 for me. Louisville, Missouri, Florida, Houston, Iowa, Washington. Canon Stogner: Yeah, some similarities in that list. all right, well let's I'll move on to nineteen through fifteen. So at nineteen I had Washington. like you said, Damon Williams. He can win the team. I think the biggest question for him is can he actually win over the team because of his whole offseason fiasco with whatever happened. Number eighteen. The biggest question for this team is who is their quarterback going to be? I had Tennessee at eighteen. So Still haven't named their starting QB. That probably won't be announced till the Thursday before their first game. They did have a very poor transfer portal class. So they were number 26, which is very subpar for Tennessee. number 17. This was one I really wasn't sure about. I had Utah 17. So they went 10 and 2 last year. They have one of the best QBs in the country, Devin Dampier. they do have a brand new coach, Morgan Scalley. he was the defense coordinator there for nine or ten years, I believe. so yeah, that is a very big question on how they'll be this year. I think they'll be okay. I had them at seventeen. At number sixteen, this was a team that kind of snuck up last year because of a lot of offseason stuff or that stuff that happened right after the season ended. I had Michigan. So Michigan finished eighteenth last year in the rankings. They returned a lot of starters. They still have Bryce Underwood back there at quarterback. This will be his second season. He should be a lot better. Should have improved. And then they have a coach who has proved that he could win. He won a lot of games at Utah. Cam Rising was a nobody. And then when he went to Utah, he became a quarterback. Very good, played in a lot of close games. so that'd be fun to watch. That's who I had at 16. And then at number 15, I had BYU. So they have Bear Bachmeyer. BYU returned twenty one of their twenty two starters. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: So I do believe they should be at fifteenth. I think they they finished last year twelfth. They went to the playoff game and, you know, pooped on the field, but that is who I had at fifteen. Who'd you have? Andrew Wright: So 19 Utah like you said Devin Dampe air love him that he's in for a humongous year I think they could be a sneaky team in the big 12 and we're kind of getting to them a little bit later again 18 my highest ranked a CCC team I'm imagining you didn't have them inside the top 15. So I think we might differ on them a little bit It's SMU. I just feel like I don't know what's on about SMU. I just feel like through the last few weeks months I've just kind of heard SMU mentioned It's kind of been Miami and then kind of who behind Miami. I've heard SMU and Louisville a lot. So I like both of them inside the. Canon Stogner: Wait, hold on. You just you just said your highest rate A C C team. Andrew Wright: I'm sorry, Miami slipped my mind. SMU was not my highest ranked ACC team. I apologize. Second highest ranked ACC team. Canon Stogner: Okay. I gotcha. I gotcha. I was Andrew Wright: It would have been insane. Canon Stogner: Yeah. Andrew Wright: so yeah. SMU 18, Michigan 17, Bryce Underwood, new head coach. You kind of touched on that. Like we said in the last one, didn't realize kind of where they finished in the rankings last year, a little better than we thought. And I think because of that, they'll kind of remain around that same, that same number. 16, Penn State. I them a little higher than you did. Big believer in Penn State this year with Rocco, with Matt Campbell. Basically, whole new staff, whole new team. I got high hopes for them. And I have USC at 15. I just don't think they're up there with that top level of Big 10 teams yet. And we kind of mentioned, again, in our last one, this is kind of the year for Lincoln Riley. He's either got to win this year, or he's kind of probably looking for his next job again. So yeah, 19 through 15, Utah, SMU, Michigan, Penn State, USC. Canon Stogner: Yeah. okay. Number fourteen, I had Texas Tech. So I think my last my top fourteen teams that are gonna be very different than yours and a lot different than the coaches poll. Now it's pretty much the same teams that you'll probably have and that the coaches Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Canon Stogner: poll had, but I think the order that I have is gonna be way different. I think I'm more of a realist than these coaches are, I guess. Or just basing off how things went last year. so at number fourteen, I had Texas Tech. So they came off a Big Twelve championship. They lost their home playoff game against Oregon. they lost didn't score a point. So they went and got Brendan Sorsby out of the portal, from Cincinnati. So Brendan Soresby is one of the top QBs. You're thinking, okay, Texas Tech always has a good defense. If they can get a quarterback, they can finally compete. Okay. And anybody that knows college football knows what happened with Brendan Sorsby. So now Brendan Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: Soresby is out of the picture. I think. Maybe. Andrew Wright: We never know. Canon Stogner: He could come back week five. so Brendan Sorsby is out of the picture for now. so their starting quarterback will be Will Hammond. So Will Hammond actually started five games last year. He tore his ACL, so he's coming off an ACL injury. They did lose nine players to the draft. three of those being their very good defensive players and Jacob Rodriguez and Two guys on defense line. They did have the number six recruiting class. So things could be interesting for them. They are in the Big 12. They actually I'll get into that later. So I had them at 14. At 13, I had Alabama. I I think Alabama is being overlooked just a little bit. I don't think they'll make it to the championship like they did last year, the SEC championship. but they did win at Oklahoma last year. They lost to the national champion. without Ty Simpson. Ty Simpson got hurt in the first half. The only question is they don't know who their quarterback is yet. They have Keelan Russell and another guy. I think they had like a five star freshman or something coming in that's fighting for the spot. They lost ten guys in the draft. Defense is not as good as it as you would think. Alabama defense is they still do have Kane Walmick coaching the defense. and then they also have to replace Jeremy Bernard. So I do know Alabama has Ryan Williams, but he had a very down year last year. so yeah, I think it could be a difficult year for them, but I did have them at 13. And remember, all these rankings that we're doing right now is as we head into the season. This is not our predictions for how it would end. number 12, I have USC. So they have Jordan Maiava, who is my number one QB in college football. his offense offensive weapons are good. He obviously is playing under Lincoln Riley, who always has a very good offense. Defense should be a lot better. I think their defense will be able to stop teams this year and be able to compete at least a little bit. Got a lot of guys from the portal in high school. And they did have the number one class overall. So they should have a pretty good roster this year. And number eleven. So I had Texas A and I think Texas A and was about seven or eight on the coaches poll. I had Texas Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: AM. they still do have Marcel Reed. They have a lot of their offensive guys, some of their defensive guys. But they lost one regular season game last year, kept them out of the championship. but they did get a home playoff game. they offense struggled last year against Miami. they lost ten to three at home in the playoff. And they also had to replace ten starters from that team, including Casey Conception or whatever his name is. so yeah, I had an AM at eleven. Who did you have 15 through 11? Andrew Wright: So 15 touched on that USC with my Ava. I think our rankings are a little bit more similar than we might have thought. I went BYU at 14. Kind like you said, 21 or 22 starters returned. That's kind of unheard of in today's college football world, whether that be the draft or the portal. They got 21 players back and their coach turned down Penn State. If we all remember, Kalani Satake was Penn State's kind of fifth option. They thought they had him and he decided he wanted to stay at BYU. So in what Might not be a great big 12. They'll be one of the top dogs. Oklahoma at 13. I kind of, we kind of felt similar about Matier, kind of one of those five, six, seven as quarterbacks in the SEC. Vinnable is always going have a good defense. I know we kind of disagreed on the coaches rankings with Vinnable and where he was, but that seems always going to have a good defense. But I think they have a bad taste in their mouth and blowing a 17-0 lead at home in the College Football Playoff last year. That's the last time those guys took the field. Maybe they'll be motivated from that, but motivation will help you in the rankings. So clone by 13. Canon Stogner: Yeah, but they're s Andrew Andrew they're saying Matear can't throw, he's gotten too big. Andrew Wright: You did say that you did say that I think I guess we'll If he if Canon Stogner: They say he's too tight. It's he can't throw the he can't throw the ball downfield anymore. Andrew Wright: he can't throw the ball, feel they'll be outside the top 25 in about four weeks 12 I had Alabama Who's their quarterback? That's that's kind of our biggest question with them And I think that'll take them as far or not as far as they'll go this year I think it's probably killing Russell's job to lose at this point now I say that that's completely wrong knowing how I'm about these kind of things But it should be Kaden Russell's job to lose and they got to run the ball better this year. I believe they ranked right around 100th in team Russian last year, which is just completely insane for Alabama football. you think Derek Henry, Mark Ingram, all those guys for that team to rank 100th in Russian last year is really inexcusable. So they got to fix that and forgot their quarterback. And then number 11, Texas A We both kind of with our first episode with the SEC, we kind of think they might be a little fraudulent this year. Which is crazy because we both view Marcel Reed very highly. But 10 starters, gone. That last game, 10 to 3, Marcel Reed throws a horrendous interception to end their game and a home playoff game. So I don't know how much to trust him this year. So yeah, that's my 14 through 11 BYU, Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas A Canon Stogner: How do you how do you think we should do the top ten? You wanna go ban for ban or what? Andrew Wright: That's why we can go back for back. Canon Stogner: All right. so number 10, I had Oklahoma. So yeah, it will be a healthy John Matir this year. They did lose seven guys to the draft. their defense is always good. Like you said, they have Brent Venables, probably the best defensive coach in football. lost a bad one in the playoff last year. reason I do have them above AM, coaches poll has AM above Oklahoma. The reason I have them above AM is the players that they lost. So AM lost 10 starters. Oklahoma only lost seven. And I think the guys that they lost are very easy or more better more easy to replace. who'd you have at ten? Andrew Wright: So I had LSU at number 10. Maybe a little low for them. Maybe. I'm gonna guess let that face you had them quite a bit higher than that. I Canon Stogner: No, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. Andrew Wright: just we haven't seen that team play together yet is my thing. That is not a brand new team but we know how lane kiffin recruits and how lane kiffin uses the portal and that's that's a really new team coming together so I think it would be an injustice to rank them a little higher than some of the teams that we have seen play together and do have some very important pieces coming back. So that would be the only reason I would have LSU at 10. Canon Stogner: Yeah, I'm gonna get into LSU myself when I get to them. at number nine, this is where I think it's gonna change a little bit. So at number nine, I have Texas. So the coaches poll has them at Andrew Wright: Cool stuff here. Canon Stogner: Coach's poll has Texas at four. Which yeah, they returned a lot of guys. They had nine guys drafted, but they r did return a lot of guys, returned their key guys. they didn't make the playoff last year. So I think the biggest question or the only question for Texas is how is their quarterback going to be? I mean this podcast apparently needs we need to change our name to the Arch Manning haters. I do like Arch Manning. I don't think he's a bad dude. Quarterback skills, don't know if he has it. Don't know if he ever will have it. I do not think he's Peike Manning. not sure he's Archie Manning. Texas is the team that I'm least confident in to make the playoff that's starting as high as they are. it all depends on Art Spanning. The roster is there. Don't get me wrong. The roster is there, which is why I would think coaches poll put them at fourth. But I don't understand. I think it's kind of disrespectful to the teams that brought back pretty much the same key players for their team, respective respectfully, and are ranked lower than Texas. Cause you know Steve Sarkeesian can get there. He got there two years ago with Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: Quinn Ewers. You know they have the rock they had the most expensive roster. It all depends on Arch Manning. So I do think them starting fourth would be a little high if they do that tomorrow. Would not be surprised because it is Texas. Everybody loves Arch Manning, but I have them at nine. Andrew Wright: I went Texas Tech at nine. I'm kind of went back and forth on really how to rank Texas Tech LSU Texas A kind of that three grouping and I kind of went with Texas Tech The highest of those three. I'm not sure I trust Will Hammond. Like you said SourceBee, Texas Tech probably higher for me if they bring the source is still there and he might announce right He might have already announced he's back. We don't know there's no telling Canon Stogner: Mm-hmm. Andrew Wright: but I do think Canon Stogner: No, he hasn't. Andrew Wright: Lost Faker Rodriguez, lost David Bailey, but Joey Maguire like he did before last season, another good recruiting class, another good transfer class. I think that defense is really good. They do have the top two front runners for defense player of the year in AJ Holmes and Ben Robert. So I mean, a lot to like on defense. just, it's Will Hammond. What can Will Hammond do? What can that offense do to kind of show us what would have been with Brendan Sworsby? Canon Stogner: Yeah, the thing about Texas Tech is I don't think people realize how much money they have. So like I know a lot of people know of like Texas and Texas AM and a lot of the other Texas schools and the Penn States Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: and Ohio states, but Texas Tech probably has more money than anybody. So I Andrew Wright: it's insane. Canon Stogner: I think we're gonna be talking about them every year being at the top. Cause they can they do have it. Andrew Wright: Right. Canon Stogner: so number eight, this was Another team that I was very confused why they started so low. this team was ranked 13th on the coaches poll. I do think part of it probably has something to do with it being coaches. And I don't think a lot of coaches like this guy. I did have LSU at number eight. so let me tell you why I had them at number eight. And I honestly almost put them a little higher, but out of respect for LSU or out of respect for the other teams in the SEC and teams that earned Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: it more last year, I put them at eight. So LSU brought in the best transfer class. They brought in three five stars in the transfer portal. So they brought in the number one edge rusher, edge rusher, Prince Will, Umum, whatever. they brought in the number one left tackle, Jordan Seaton. And then they brought in the number one or five star quarterback, Sam Levitt. Sam Levitt, I think he has some questions surrounding him. They also Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: brought in the number one player out of high school, Lamar Brown, who is a defensive tackle and an offensive tackle. I think he's lining up on the defensive side of the ball for LSU. So we've got number one guys everywhere. Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: but one thing I think is being overlooked because of the whole Lane Kiffin thing is the defense only improved from last year. They were fifth in points per game given up last year. So they were right there at the top half at number five. They retained their defensive coordinator, Blake Baker, one of the best in the game. They still have Andrew Wright: Mm-hmm. Canon Stogner: DJ Pickett, number five. Sorry, Jaden Daniels. they also Andrew Wright: Ha Canon Stogner: have Wit Weeks, who is Lane Kiffin's Daughter's boyfriend. he's a starting linebacker, been there for three or four years now, playing the same position. The one question that I have regarding LSU is they do have 41 new guys on the roster. So hopefully they had a lot of meetings and nights out and doing a lot of team bonding stuff because 41 new guys is a lot. But Andrew Wright: You Canon Stogner: as we know, Lane Kiffin can win anywhere and with all the research. resources that he's given at LSU, I mean things could be very scary. So I did have them at number eight. Andrew Wright: I went Canon Stogner: Okay, guys, we're having a little bit of technical difficulties. I had to move spots, my computer was dying, and Andrew's mic has completely blown out. So I am going to give the rest of my rankings. Maybe next time we'll hear his top eight teams. and we're also just gonna stick to this podcast being about the top twenty five. Our episode on Thursday that we will release will be on the Big 12. This has just turned into a longer episode than we thought on rankings. So we'll just do the Big 12 next episode. So at number seven, I had Notre Dame. Notre Dame gets a bad rap because of their schedule and not being in a conference, and people just want them to join a conference just so they have a s a schedule that's more difficult and consistent. I do think their roster is very good this year. They have one of the best coaches and Marcus Freeman. CJ Carr, who's probably gonna be one of the best quarterbacks this year. It was his first year playing last year, following Riley Leonard. And he really stepped up and became a really good quarterback. They brought in the number 11th, the 11th best transfer class. So overall, I had them at seven. at number six, I had Georgia. So I think Georgia was number three or number two on the coaches' poll. I had Georgia at number six. They did lose eight guys to the draft. They obviously always have a very good offensive line, a very good defensive line, a very good defense overall. they do have to replace their left tackle, Monroe Freeling, and their right tackle. Don't know his name, but he went to the draft two. so they do have some questions that need to be answered, but they will be very good this year. number five. So number five, this team was a lot higher on the coaches pole than I had or a lot lower. So I have them a lot higher than what Coach's poll had him. I have Ole Miss at number five. So Ole Miss is, I think, the Heisman favorite, at least for me. They have Trinidad who's there. They have one of the best running backs, Kawan Lacey. They have stars everywhere on the offense. Their receiving course very good. They lost to Miami in a shootout. David Pollock actually talked about on a podcast a few days ago that Ole Miss or Trinidad didn't lose that game. He just ran out of time. Kinda like the Mahomes, Josh Allen, playoff games. they also brought in the number two transfer class. So Lane Kiffin, who's the king of recruiting and bringing in good transfer classes, his successor, Pete Golden, brought in the number two transfer class right behind LSU. So I do think Ole Miss would be very good this year. They were my pick to win the SEC if you listen to our first episode. Number four. So number four, this team I feel like is being disrespected again. Don't know if they'll be as good as they were last year. but they have the coach, probably the best coach in football. they do things the right way. They don't turn the ball over, they don't have a lot of penalties. I have Indiana at four. I think on the coach's poll, they were at six. I think the biggest question is once again the quarterback, Josh Hoover, just coming off Fernando Mendoza, his Heisman run and being number one pick in the draft. they should be pretty good this year obviously with Signetti and their offensive coaching staff and defensive coaching staff they'll be very good so that's who I added number four. a lot of big ten teams in this top four. So I had Oregon at number three. Obviously talked about them the other day they have Dante Moore Evan Stord at receiver Kadirion Moore at r s other side on receiver They have Jordan Davison. I said his name last episode. I said Jideon Davidson. Gideon Davison actually is a running back at Clemson. but Jordan Davison, he's returning for I think this is his third year, and Oregon has lost three games the past two years, and all three of those games have been to the team that won the national championship. So they lost Ohio State once and Indiana twice last year. So I do have it Oregon number three. number two, so this team. was probably the biggest surprise to me. Didn't really understand much reasoning behind it. Space especially based off how they finished last year and the recruiting class they brought in. I had Miami at number two. So I think Miami was like number seven or eight in the coaches poll. I had Miami at two. It'll be interesting to see where they are tomorrow. they do have to replace their two best pass rushers from last year, Ruben Bain and Akeem Mesador. their offense is still gonna be there. They had the top pass the game last year, but they have Malachi Tony, the running back Mark Fletcher, who ran the ball very hard last year, just a big running back, kind of reminds you of Derrick Henry, and that's not discrediting what he does or what he did at Alabama. But Mark Fletcher reminds you of him. but they did pick up Darien Minsa, who I think was probably the best quarterback in the transfer portal this past year. he finished second in passing yards and touchdowns while at Duke. which is not a football school because of their basketball. but he will be their starting quarterback this year. So I really don't think they'll take that much of a step back. and I think my the U is back. So I had Miami at number two. And then last but not not least, number one, pretty easily, probably the easiest pick for me out of this whole list was Ohio State. they obviously have Jeremiah Smith, Julian Sand Brandon Ennis, Bo Jackson, they have guys everywhere on offense, and they have guys everywhere on defense. Now, the biggest question for them, I believe, is who is going to replace Caleb Downs. So Caleb Downs was a hybrid safety for them. He was able to defend the pass and clog up the running lanes as a safety. So he would kind of come up a little bit and play like more of a deep linebacker or a short safety. so I think that's gonna be their biggest question is who is going to be able to replace him. But we know if there's one school that can do it year in, year out, it is Ohio State. so sorry about the technical difficulties. That does wrap it up for our third episode of the Saturday Slate Podcast. Make sure you subscribe, make sure you like, leave a comment if you want, follow us on X, follow us on TikTok under the same name. And also if you have any questions or if you disagree with us or you do agree with us, make sure you call into our voicemail number that is linked below. And we'll see you Thursday. Thanks.