Tony Garcia's AP poll ballot: Despite Top 10 intrigue, I didn't move Michigan football
Filling out the preseason AP college football ballot was a bit of a chore.
Even with hours of phone calls and interviews, analysis and research, I couldn't help but wonder how someone could be expected to rank America’s top 25 teams well, given all the movement — the transfer portal, the NFL draft and incoming freshmen from high school — that happened this offseason.
It’s OK, I thought. The new season will start soon and when it does, clarity will come.
So much for that clarity.
With Week 1 in the books, I'm still going to need some Windex.
Yes, everybody saw LSU get hammered by Florida State on Sunday. Obviously, the Noles will be the biggest riser.
But how much should Brian Kelly and the Tigers be punished for scheduling a formidable opponent? They could’ve done what Ole Miss did, for example, brought Mercer in, score 73 points and felt pretty good about being 1-0.
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Of the teams that started the season in the AP poll Top 25, 16 played non-Power Five conference teams. The record in those games? 15-1. The average margin of victory in the 15 wins? 44.4 points. The only loss was No. 24 Texas Tech, which blew a 17-0 lead in a road game at Wyoming and lost, 35-33, in double overtime.
Not to say Lane Kiffin’s team didn’t look potent — we know they have a dynamite offense, and the main reason is running back Quinshon Judkins, who scored twice and was on my preseason All-American team as the all-purpose player — but their level of competition, like for many teams, was not in the same stratosphere as what LSU saw.
Speaking of that different level of competition, Keon Coleman, the former Michigan State football wide receiver, burst further onto the national scene with nine catches for 122 yards and three touchdowns in FSU’s 45-24 rout of LSU.
He and Johnny Wilson create the best one-two receiving combination in America. FSU's season all but comes down to the matchup with Clemson at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 23.
A win there and Florida State has a clear view of the College Football Playoff. And taking on the Tigers doesn't sound as daunting as it did prior to Monday night, when Clemson opened its season at Duke and lost, 28-7. The lone touchdown the Tigers scored, came when Duke fumbled a punt inside its own 20.
Clemson has new offensive coordinator, Garrett Riley, but it's clear Dabo Swinney is going to need more help to save his program that just a handful of years ago was in the same sentence with Alabama.
As for Michigan football, there was a ton to like, namely the fact it showed it wouldn’t be stubborn on the ground.
Last season, Michigan chose not to work on its passing game in the non-conference, instead hammering teams with the run game. It caught up to them late in the season with a pass game that had grown, but not yet jelled. It was the opposite Saturday, as J.J. McCarthy completed 26 of 30 passes for 280 yards and three scores as Michigan waltzed to a 30-3 win.
Outside of Clemson and LSU, every team in the top 10 had relatively effortless victories.
Georgia was sloppy at first, then pulled away. Alabama unsurprisingly smashed Middle Tennessee State. Ohio State was far from crisp on offense, but it was quarterback Kyle McCord’s first action and that defense looked pretty serious against a Big Ten opponent. USC has now played twice, and reigning Heisman winner Caleb Williams can't stop scoring touchdowns.
Penn State comes in at No. 7 and frankly it feels as though it could be even higher. Beaver Stadium was in a fervor during its opening night white out and the Nittany Lions rolled over West Virginia, starting with a 70-yard touchdown pass from five-star recruit Drew Allar and ending with a run-up-the-score touchdown in the closing minute.
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Meanwhile down in Texas, Quinn Ewers looks all tuned up for his rematch with Alabama. That’s the highlight of the slate in Week 2, alongside the home opener in Boulder, Colorado.
College football is still abuzz by the Buffs after head coach Deion Sanders and Colorado rolled into Fort Worth, Texas, as three-TD underdogs and upset defending national-runner up No. 16 TCU, 45-42.
I threw them at the bottom of my rankings, because they proved a lot even in one week, namely Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders are as electric as any athletes in America. Now, they host Nebraska, in a throwback Big 12 rivalry.
Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.
My Top 25 ballot
Georgia
Michigan
Florida State
Alabama
Ohio State
USC
Penn State
Texas
LSU
Notre Dame
Utah
Tennessee
Oregon State
Kansas State
Duke
Texas A&M
Colorado
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: CFB AP poll ballot: I didn't move Michigan football despite top 10 fun
