Saturday Down South, a noted SEC website, released its top-25 for the upcoming season and had Clemson football atop the rankings.
Despite the fact that many other media organizations across the nation are already putting Alabama back in the No. 1 spot, Saturday Down South is not so quick to jump on the bandwagon.
The noted SEC website released its preseason top-25 and had Clemson football ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Tigers are coming off a season in which they went 15-0 and beat Alabama 44-16 in the National Championship game.
As we stated earlier, the vast majority of preseason polls have already put the Crimson Tide back in the No. 1 slot despite the outcome that happened in January, so it’s certainly surprising to Saturday Down South- which tends to be very pro-SEC- putting the Tigers atop the rankings instead of Alabama.
The website admits that it is strange to have a ranking in which Alabama isn’t on top, but that Clemson football deserves to be No. 1 right now based off of what the Tigers did in 2018 and what they bring back in 2019.
Here’s a look at the top-10, according to the publication.
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- LSU
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- Washington
Thoughts:
Other than seeing Clemson ahead of Alabama, it’s also surprising to see that Georgia is ranked No. 4 instead of No. 3 with Oklahoma getting the nod over the Bulldogs.
The weird thing about this CFB season is the fact that there really is a drop-off after Clemson and Alabama. Most would argue that Georgia is No. 3 with Oklahoma at No. 4, but after those two programs, who’s next? Ohio State, LSU, Texas, Florida, Notre Dame, Washington and Michigan all have questions.
It’s tough to really know who should be considered in the middle part of that tier of teams. It will be interesting to see how this season plays out and to see if a program or two can emerge as legitimate contenders.