2. Tennessee Volunteers
Nico Iamaleava is the absolute real deal, and the rest of the nation has not realized how great this Tennessee team is just yet. Offense is the name of the game in the modern era of football, and that is exactly the identity of this Volunteer unit.
They have skill position talent all over the field, have been dominant defensively, and might just be the most well-rounded team in the entire nation. They have Oklahoma in Norman next, and if they can win on the scale that they have against NC State and others, then they can very easily find themselves in the top three nationwide very soon.
This is an early contender for the National Championship, but we just have to see if they can keep this going against the stout forces of the SEC. This may be a bit high for the Volunteers this early, but the eye test has been right a lot more often than we realize.
1. Texas Longhorns
Texas is actually back this time, and they were the best team in the nation the second the first ball was kicked off. The polls did not realize how good this squad was, but now the nation has come up to speed to realize the Longhorns have a stout defense, elite quarterback play, and replaced their skill position losses quite well.
We also got a good look at a very hyped-up Arch Manning who fit the bill of his last name against UTSA. While that is a struggling squad they took on, he played about as perfectly as you can in that situation. Quinn Ewers will be the starter when he is healthy and ready to go, but it is clear that Texas will be just as good with Manning under center.
The Longhorns appear to be destined for the National Championship now though. While anything can happen, the Longhorns right now look like a team that is just a step above the rest of the nation.