SEC Football: AP Top 25 High or Low

The 2015 Pre-Season AP Top 25 Poll was released today (August 23) and has the defending National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the #1 spot. As expected, the SEC is well represented in the poll.

Of course, not everyone agrees with the poll. Some teams were ranked too high, others too low. We take a brief look at where which team landed and whether that was high, low or just right.

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The Rankings

#1. Ohio State Buckeyes (1,525 Points)

#2. TCU Horned Frogs (1,428)

#3. Alabama Crimson Tide (1,322)

If anything, overrated. Sure Alabama has replaced talent before, but nearly the entire offense is now in the NFL. This is what happens, though, when you have Nick Saban and you have elite recruiting classes every year. There is not another team I would rank above them, though, so I’ll say they got it right.

#4. Baylor Bears (1,263)

#5. Michigan State Spartans (1,256)

#6. Auburn (1,192)

Overrated. Auburn has the potential to win the SEC West and the conference as a whole. But there is just to much riding on unrealized potential to have them ranked so highly. Unlike Alabama, Auburn has not shown they can be consistent in reaching 11 wins.

#7. Oregon Ducks (1,156)

#8. South California Trojans (1,085)

#9. Georgia Bulldogs (991)

Just right. Do I think that the Georgia Bulldogs are the 9th best team in America? Not really. Do I think they are the best team in the SEC East and they’ll win at least 9 games? I sure do. This is a safe spot for them, as they won’t slip past 15th or so and could climb from here.

#10. Florida State Seminoles (959)

#11. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (873)

#12. Clemson Tigers (862)

#13. UCLA Bruins (698)

#14. LSU Tigers (675)

Overrated. LSU is getting the Alabama treatment here. Or rather, Les Miles is getting the Nick Saban treatment for having averaged over 10 wins a season at LSU. There are just too many questions to have LSU ranked at #14 to start the season.

#15. Arizona State Sun Devils (605)

#16. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (588)

#17. Ole Miss Rebels (563)

Just right/underrated. Until Ole Miss shows it has a quarterback that can win, though, starting them off in the mid-teens is a fair evaluation. Anywhere from #13-#17 would have been OK, so I’ll say slightly underrated.

#18. Arkansas Razorbacks

Overrated. Had this poll come out before Jonathan Williams injury, this would have made more sense. It was released a week after the fact, though, and everyone should be wondering how Arkansas will play with only one elite running back.

#19. Oklahoma Sooners (394)

#20. Wisconsin Badgers (393)

#21. Stanford Cardinal (347)

#22. Arizona Wildcats (311)

#23. Boise State (240)

#24. Missouri Tigers (219)

Underrated. Missouri has shown itself to be a program that knows how to win even with personnel turnover. I do not think they win the SEC East again, but they are better than the 24th team in the country and play in the weaker SEC division.

#25. Tennessee Volunteers (114)

Underrated. Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee will all have at least 8 wins on the regular season. None of them should be this far back in the polls. I realize Tennessee has the most to prove and should be third among those teams, but #25 is too low.

Others SEC Teams Receiving Votes: Mississippi State 100; Texas A&M 61

That leaves us with 8 teams in the SEC ranked in the Top 25. Mississippi State and Texas A&M were the top two in the ‘others receiving votes’ category, making them #26 and #27 by default.

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