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Predicting the 2023 college football preseason AP Poll Top 25

By Elliot Reeder

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 05: Ja'Corey Brooks #7 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is tackled by Mekhi Garner #2 of the LSU Tigers during the first half at Tiger Stadium on November 05, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - NOVEMBER 05: Ja'Corey Brooks #7 of the Alabama Crimson Tide is tackled by Mekhi Garner #2 of the LSU Tigers during the first half at Tiger Stadium on November 05, 2022 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Bru McCoy (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /

10. Clemson

9. Tennessee

8. Penn State

7. Florida State

6. USC

Clemson will be one of the most interesting teams to watch this season. After two straight “disappointing” three loss seasons (compared to the standard they had set), can the Tigers get back in the CFP discussion after fulling turning the reigns over to Cade Klubnik? That will be a key question in 2023. Next up is our next SEC team who just beat Clemson in the orange-est of all Orange Bowl’s last season in Tennessee. The Vols took a massive step forward in 2022, going 11-2 and even earning a #1 ranking for a week from the committee. While the question of whether Tennessee can replicate last year and/or make a push at the CFP will likely depend on whether Joe Milton III can have a similar impact to Hendon Hooker last season, the Vols have the talent to be an extremely dangerous team no matter what.

Penn State might have been the most underrated team in the country last year. While they did not really have a marquee win in the regular season last year (maybe outside of Auburn), Penn State still went 11-2 with a Rose Bowl win over Utah and with their only two losses being to two CFP teams in Michigan and Ohio State. Not bad at all. Also a key story to watch is Drew Allar now being the guy under center. The hype is as high as it has been in years for Florida State. The Seminoles went 10-3 last year (while ending the year on a six game winning streak and with all three losses happening three weeks in a row in October and by a combined 18 points, plus the wild win over LSU). FSU is led by a Heisman hopeful QB in Jordan Travis and also one of the best defensive players in the country in Jared Verse. The Seminoles have some key early games against LSU in Week 1 and Clemson in Week 4.

While the Pac-12 title game (and the Cotton Bowl) did not go as hoped to end last season for USC, 2022 was a major success for Lincoln Riley and Co.. Caleb Williams won the Heisman and returns in 2023 as arguably the nations top quarterback, and the Trojans are coming an 11-3 season with their eyes set on the CFP this year.

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