Our post-spring Top 25 (plus five) rankings: Clemson, Penn State and Texas lead the way as Ohio State slips, Florida jumps

The transfer portal churn has slowed to a trickle coaching staffs are set spring practice is finished and the first Saturday of the season is a mere weekends away We fed all the roster moves into the Hotline s supercomputer and set the dial for simulations Just kidding We grabbed the nearest envelope flipped it over and scribbled out the following update of our mid-January rankings Clemson The Tigers are loaded with high-round NFL Draft picks on both sides of scrimmage possess one of the nation s top quarterbacks Cade Klubnik improved their tactical acumen by hiring defensive wiz Tom Allen away from Penn State and crucially have the manageable ACC schedule Everything points to Dabo Swinney s operation returning to center stage after several seasons in the background Previous Penn State The top of the Big Ten is loaded as usual But Penn State not Ohio State or Oregon owns the roster best suited for a run at the national title The main difference The Nittany Lions have a returning quarterback Drew Allar while their competition is starting over at the position Also Penn State swiped defensive mastermind Jim Knowles from the Buckeyes all of which leaves James Franklin with no excuses in the conference race Previous Texas The Longhorns are a popular pick for the No spot in post-spring rankings such as this And to be sure Steve Sarkisian s roster oozes NFL talent But Texas was hit hard by attrition in the secondary and along the offensive line and the road schedule is challenging with a season opener at Ohio State and trips to Florida and Georgia Also we wonder if Arch Manning has more flaws than the popular narrative suggests Previous Notre Dame For any other gang a rookie starting quarterback would give us pause But Notre Dame s stellar offensive line and dynamic running meeting combined with a stout defense will mitigate whatever learning curve CJ Carr faces as he takes over for Riley Leonard Don t mistake the Irish for a one-year wonder coach Marcus Freeman is recruiting at the level needed to reach the College Football Playoff on a regular basis Previous Ohio State Several might view this placement as tantamount to rankings blasphemy After all the Buckeyes have the best offensive and defensive players in the country in receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs respectively But the quarterback situation is unsettled the coordinators are new and we suspect there could be a lingering letdown following an emotional run from the Michigan loss to the national championship Previous Florida The sizzling finish that moved Billy Napier off the hot seat temporarily and set the stage for a breakthrough season by quarterback DJ Lagway possibly has given us reason to believe in the Gators for now We ll know whether this outlook is appropriate by the middle of October after Florida finishes a four-games-in-five-weeks stretch against LSU Miami Texas and Texas A M with three of the four on the road Previous Oregon The attrition was heavy in Eugene where the Ducks sent a school-record players to the NFL Draft But the roster-building has been of such quality under Dan Lanning both through the transfer portal and the old-fashioned way that enough talent remains to fuel another playoff run Of module this presumes the Ducks conjure effective quarterback play out of Dante Moore the first underclassman to start for Oregon since Tyler Shough in the pandemic season Previous Georgia The Bulldogs weren t nearly as crisp with the details in as they typically are under Kirby Smart and we fully expect that to change in the fall But the schedule is brutal again and any evaluation of presumptive starting quarterback Gunnar Stockton is mere guesswork Of note Smart overhauled his receiver room and added Zachariah Branch from USC But he isn t exactly a proven commodity when lined up outside Previous Illinois Led by one of the Big Ten s top returning quarterbacks Luke Altmyer the Illini are poised for a season in the spotlight akin to what Indiana experienced last year Our conviction is rooted partly in the momentum remaining from when they won games and largely in the favorable conference schedule Bret Bielema and Co do not play Michigan Penn State or Oregon Previous Alabama Our outlook for the Crimson Tide has brightened with the arrival of offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb who was fired by the Seahawks after one season and will join his former boss Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa The non-conference schedule features Florida State and Wisconsin while the lineup of SEC foes includes Georgia Tennessee LSU and South Carolina Previous Brigham Young The Cougars were underrated greater part of last year both by the pollsters and the CFP selection committee and the same has been true through the offseason But with quarterback Jake Retzlaff returning and BYU hungry to take the final step to the Big championship we expect the success to continue and the bandwagon to grow Previous Texas Tech The second-ranked transfer class in the country features players with four-star ratings and thanks to NIL money is located in Lubbock Add a solid lineup of returnees and the Red Raiders just might win the Big a advance that would in fact be very Big Managing expectations will be critical for a campaign that hasn t produced or more wins since the Mike Leach era in the late s Previous LSU The Tigers sit atop the Sports transfer portal rankings with an incoming class that features four-star players Add a gifted veteran quarterback in Garrett Nussmeier and coach Brian Kelly has everything he necessities to silence the critics contend in the SEC and reach the CFP The season opener at Clemson will shape everything that follows Previous Not ranked Miami When it comes to acquiring talent limited coaches are better than Mario Cristobal When it comes to maximizing talent well let s leave that discussion for another time Previous Oklahoma After winning just six games in and finishing th in the FBS in yards per play the Sooners overhauled their offense with new coordinator Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer from Washington State and tailback Jaydn Ott from Cal Assuming the defense is respectable Oklahoma should win enough games to nudge coach Brent Venables off the hot seat Previous Not ranked Louisville The Cardinal quietly won nine games last season upset Clemson then lost quarterback Tyler Shough to the NFL Draft But a replacement is lined up and ready to roll Miller Moss the former USC quarterback who threw six touchdowns in the Holiday Bowl against Louisville No wonder Jeff Brohm was interested in Moss s services Previous Not ranked Boise State The return of quarterback Maddux Madsen will help offset the loss of tailback Ashton Jeanty but another Mountain West title and ticket to the CFP depend heavily on the Broncos success at the line of scrimmage in particular filling the void left by defensive end Ahmed Hassanein The Oct trip to Notre Dame will offer the same opportunity for resume rocket fuel as the thriller at Oregon provided last season Previous Iowa State Our apologies if you were narrated there would be no math but here s the equation Matt Campbell a veteran quarterback Rocco Becht two key games at home BYU and Arizona State high-level success in Ames Perhaps even a conference title Previous Nebraska The Hotline was a year early with our expectations for the Cornhuskers in Turns out coach Matt Rhule needed one more recruiting cycle to craft a lineup capable of supporting quarterback Dylan Raiola find the right playcaller Dana Holgorsen and thriving in the Big Ten Previous Arizona State We don t doubt that coach Kenny Dillingham s formula can work once again especially with a quarterback-receiver combination like Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson But elevated expectations will change the internal dynamics The Sun Devils won t catch anyone by surprise or spend three months playing with house money And they won t have Cam Skattebo to erase any mistakes Previous Related Articles CFB recap Bill Belichick the CBS fiasco and bread crumbs to realignment Mailbag Big Ten SEC and the next FBS realignment wave Stanford AD search How GM Andrew Luck s role impacts candidate pool CFB recruiting USC sizzles ASU lands elite JC Cal s southern surprise Pac- Oregon State Washington State differ on financial commitment South Carolina We re taking a bleaker view of the Gamecocks than multiple precisely because they are a trendy pick to challenge for the SEC title after their strong season That mentioned quarterback LaNorris Sellers could very well prove us dead wrong Previous Utah The Hotline would bet the house on a bounce-back season in Salt Lake City with playcaller Jason Beck and quarterback Devon Dampier as the twin sparks arriving from New Mexico plus a stellar offensive tackle tandem in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu But to be clear the bet would involve your house not ours It s the Big after all Previous SMU The same challenges facing Arizona State are present with the Mustangs who must manage expectations and address an ACC schedule in which they will get each opponent s best shot It s often more demanding to replicate success than to attain it the first time Previous USC No gang is more intriguing than USC when you combine the heat on fourth-year coach Lincoln Riley the massive roster and staff overhauls and the backdrop of the Big Ten move This is a gigantic year for the Trojans The pieces are in place for eight or nine wins they don t play Ohio State or Penn State but only if Riley can get the largest part out of his roster Previous Not ranked Michigan The two-game suspension for coach Sherrone Moore announced on Monday doesn t dampen our forecast for the Wolverines We re assuming the offense improves better quarterback play and the defense regresses heavy losses to the NFL and those dynamics essentially balance out Previous And five more to watch Indiana Florida State Tennessee Washington Kansas State Also considered Army Auburn Baylor Colorado Duke Georgia Tech Iowa Marshall Memphis Mississippi Missouri Navy Syracuse TCU Texas A M and Tulane Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline