Led by stars Bryce Young and Will Anderson, Alabama is back at No. 1 in the preseason USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-131, followed closely by No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Georgia.
There’s no debate over which three teams deserve to top the debut re-rank of the 2022 season. There was some nitpicking over which should slot in just behind the Crimson Tide, however, with the Buckeyes’ combination of quarterback C.J. Stroud and an improved defense giving them the nod over the defending national champions.
Rounding out the top 10 are No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 Utah, No. 8 North Carolina State, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 10 Texas A&M. The highest-ranked Group of Five teams are No. 15 Houston, No. 19 Boise State, No. 20 Brigham Young and No. 22 Appalachian State.
Overall, the Top 25 consists of five teams from the SEC, five from the Big Ten, four from the ACC, three from the Big 12, three from the Pac-12, two independents and one team from the American, Mountain West and Sun Belt.
Other notables outside the Top 25 include No. 29 Southern California, No. 34 Kansas State, No. 42 Texas, No. 43 LSU and No. 49 Nebraska.
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As with the predictable top of the 1-131, the very bottom of the re-rank is littered with familiar names. Leading the way is No. 131 Connecticut, which has just one win against a Bowl Subdivision opponent since Oct. 21, 2017. Just ahead of the Huskies are No. 130 New Mexico State, No. 129 Massachusetts, No. 128 Florida International and No. 127 UNLV.
The bottom 10 teams from the Power Five are No. 121 Vanderbilt, No. 120 Duke, No. 117 Colorado, No. 115 Georgia Tech, No. 112 Illinois, No. 110 Arizona, No. 109 Indiana, No. 107 Syracuse, No. 98 Kansas and No. 95 West Virginia.
