Alabama Football: A solid ‘Spring’ ranking of every FBS team

Alabama Football: More interesting than where the Crimson Tide is ranked is how other schools and the Power Five conferences are rated.

Alabama football fans are always interested in rankings. There is no such thing as too early to check if the Crimson Tide is No. 1. How other SEC schools are rated also draws attention.

How good a ‘Spring’ ranking can be is debatable. The ‘Transfer Season’ will continue for months and will see spikes after teams finish spring practices. Recruiting for the 2021 class is not even complete, though the chance of another freshman addition being a 2021 game-changer is down to one name. A guy, J. T. Tulmoloau, Alabama Football and other top programs are still chasing.

New injuries in spring and fall camps will change the 2021 futures for some teams. Current, recovering injuries, like Miami QB D’Eriq King’s, can be a factor. King being healthy at the start of the season (against the Crimson Tide) rather than later is big for the Hurricanes.

There are multiple sources providing early rankings for all 130 FBS teams. The one done by College Football News (CFN) is one worth a close look. To avoid any chance of suspense by Alabama football fans, the Crimson Tide is ranked No. 2 and Clemson is ranked No.1. A quick summary of why is the Crimson Tide has much to replace and the Tigers get almost an entire starting defense back.

Some Tide fans may want to quibble, but there is motivational value whenever Alabama Football is not ranked No. 1. Nick Saban hates a No. 1 ranking until a season ends.

Particularly satisfying in the work done by CFN is the lack of hype of previously overrated teams. Coastal Carolina is No. 51 among the 130 FBS teams. The Chanticleers can dominate the Sun Belt again and still not become a Top 25 team. Despite poll results last season, they were not a Top 25 team then either.

The Alabama Crimson Tide has both ends of easy and tough scheduling based on the CFN rankings. The Tide plays No. 139 New Mexico State, No. 111 Southern Mississippi and FCS Mercer. On the tough end are No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 10 LSU, as well as a potential SEC Championship game against No. 5 UGA or No. 8 Florida.

Comparing the Power Five conferences yields some revealing results. Based on the CFN ranking, the SEC leads the Power Fives with an average rating for its teams of 31.8. Vandy ranked No. 79 drags down the SEC. The other average conference rankings are the Big Ten, 35.3; Pac 12, 39.3; Big 12, 40.9 and the ACC at 48.6.

Looking at the top half of teams in each conference does not change much for the SEC. The SEC (seven-team) average is 11.7; Big Ten, 15.4; Big 12, 18.4; Pac 12, 22 and the ACC is last again at 26.4.

Using Top 10 rankings, the SEC is even stronger.

Top 10 per CFN

• SEC – No. 2 (Alabama Football), No. 5 (Georgia), No. 6 (Texas A&M), No. 8 (Florida) and No. 10 (LSU)
•  ACC – No. 1 Clemson and No. 7 North Carolina
• Big 12 – No. 3 Oklahoma
• Big Ten – No. 4 Ohio State
• Pac 12 0 No. 9 Oregon

Final results are all that matters. But, the SEC having five preseason Top 10 teams and the other Power Fives, combined, having five, is a compelling argument for why the CFB Playoff should never have automatic qualifiers, based on conference championships.

Preseason rankings are fun until the season finally rolls around. Bama Hammer will follow them all, if for no other reason than to see how real the rankings are for Coastal Carolina.