NCAAF College football Re-Rank 1-131: Alabama tops after spring season; James Madison makes splash
Familiar names lead USA TODAY Sports' pre-summer ranking of every team in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Michigan top this early USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-131, which takes into account coaching changes, injuries, springtime position battles and any offseason roster changes via the transfer portal.
Alabama and Georgia are destined to meet in December to decide the SEC championship. November's meeting between the Buckeyes and Wolverines is expected to determine the Big Ten East, conference championship and a College Football Playoff berth for the second year in a row.
In the other Power Five leagues, No. 5 Oklahoma leads the Big 12, No. 6 Clemson is atop the ACC and No. 7 Utah is well in front of the Pac-12.
The top Group of Five teams are No. 10 Brigham Young, No. 22 Coastal Carolina, No. 26 Houston, No. 27 Boise State and No. 29 Fresno State.
POWER RANKINGS: ACC | Big 12 | Big Ten | Pac-12
The FBS now goes to 131 teams with the addition of James Madison, which joins the Sun Belt after finishing last season ranked No. 3 in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Dukes debut at No. 99 in the pre-summer rankings but could easily exceed initial expectations on the heels of a long run of success on the FCS level.
Even with another team in the mix, one thing hasn't changed: Connecticut still ranks last in the FBS at No. 131 under new coach Jim Mora.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football Re-Rank sees Alabama atop 131 FBS teams, new addition
