NCAAF Updates: Preseason Top 25 Poll Analysis and Breakdown
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid. We're going to preview a couple of teams in
00:07college football that are projected to be in the mix to get into this new playoff system.
00:12By the way, 12 teams will make the college football playoff this year. So Michael DeCorsi
00:15is going to have his hands full following college sports, following not just hoops but
00:19football as well. Michael, thanks for coming on Newswire once again. Good to see you.
00:25You too, Craig. And I can't tell you, I mean, as you can tell, I've been around for a while.
00:30And I've been waiting basically my entire life for this college football season. I never
00:34believed in the pole system. I never believed in the 14 playoff or the BCS system. It's
00:42not about what I think. That's the fundamental nature of college football for my entire life.
00:50I think that so-and-so is better than so-and-so, and that's how they decided to champion. Now,
00:56it comes down to, you basically have to win. You have to win to get in. Now, they'll fill
01:02out the field with the at-large teams like every other college sport does. But if you win,
01:09like Florida State did a year ago, they can't say no. And I feel bad for Florida State because
01:15they were like one year too early with their terrific undefeated team of a year ago. If that
01:22had happened in 2024, then a bunch of people in a room eating on the CFP dime couldn't have
01:32said no. They would have to be in. And so it's going to be really a wonderful college football
01:37season in many ways because of that, the best we've ever seen. Yeah, no, I agree completely.
01:43People have asked me, am I excited for football season? And always am, and especially working here
01:48at SportsGrid. But I think this is, as you've said, very well put, going to be the best college
01:52football season of all time. I think it's going to be better than the NFL. I totally, totally feel
01:57that way going into the season. It's going to be great. Okay, so let's start off with a team
02:02that I just simply hate talking about here on SportsGrid. But Mike, you want to do it,
02:06let's do it. It's the most overrated team in the history of college football,
02:10the team that always you're paying a significant tax to bet on. They rarely cover point spreads,
02:16and it feels like one out of every three or four years, they say, I told you so. And then
02:20every other year, they fall flat. It is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who open up in a season,
02:26once again, can't ever figure out these rankings, Mike, as one of the top teams in college football,
02:31inevitably, until they lose to somebody, and then we forget about them. Look, I understand their
02:37popularity. I would also say that their defense and their defensive backs, my understanding is
02:43going into the year, they're going to be as good as any team in football. I get that. But beyond
02:47that, what's to like about Notre Dame? Paint me a picture where Notre Dame wins it all.
02:53Oh, I can't do that. And I can't even paint a picture for you, Craig, where they justify the
02:59preseason number seven ranking, except one thing, as I look at them, and that is the schedule. The
03:05schedule is, for a power team, about as good as it can get. You're in an independent situation,
03:14so you make your own schedule. So that means they don't shove Michigan down your throat,
03:18and they don't shove Alabama down your throat, or Texas or whomever. You get to pick and choose.
03:24And they have not picked and choose a very difficult road for themselves this year.
03:32They do go to Texas A&M at the beginning of the season. Not the easiest opener. I'll give them
03:38that. They do have Florida State coming in to South Bend, and the rotation on the USC-Notre Dame
03:46rivalry takes them to Southern California. That's often, in the history of college football, been a
03:51difficult trip for them. But overall, it's just not that difficult. And so that, I think, is what
03:57empowers them. They bring in a new quarterback in Riley Leonard, who showed nice flashes
04:04when he was starting for Duke. Missed a half a year last year with injury, but really looks like
04:10a gifted player. But lost a 1,300-yard running back. And some teams, like, okay, they're going
04:18to get a lot better because they got a bunch of transfers. Nearly half of Notre Dame's transfers
04:24are walk-ons. So not exactly inspiring to see that group come in. I just don't see them
04:31in any way as the seventh-best team in college football coming up this year.
04:36I hope it works out for Marcus Freeman. I really admired his work at Cincinnati that he did with
04:42the defense when he was the D.C. with the Bearcats on their terrific teams at the early part of this
04:48decade. And I think he can do fine, but I just don't think he's going to do this fine this soon.
04:54Yeah, I would agree on all fronts. What's really interesting here, Mike, is that
04:58when you look at their season win total, I almost feel like I would want more of an adjustment.
05:03If I could shop this and find a better number, we'll show it to you here on FanDuel. It's 10.5
05:09is their over-under. So if you go over that and that's your thing, then don't listen to me and
05:13take that plus 142. But I think we're on the same page here in thinking that they would go under
05:19the 10.5 wins. But I think, Mike, what I would do is I'd like to find a 10.
05:23So I don't have to lay this minus 176 because I'm not laying that on a season win total.
05:29Well, see, the one advantage they have relative to that total is what I just talked about.
05:33They've got three difficult games. And if they go perfect through the others,
05:38which I suspect they probably will, if they win one of the three difficult games,
05:44they've pretty much gone over. And I think that's where the value is relative to that number.
05:50They just have to win one of them. And as I mentioned, the Florida State game,
05:56while possibly the most difficult on that schedule in terms of the opponent, not the venue,
06:03is at home. So that may be an advantage to them. Again, I don't think they're going to be the
06:08seventh best team. But that schedule is partly why I think a lot of people voted for them as
06:15high as they did, because they will look better than they actually are.
06:18Makes sense. All right. Let's go to Texas real quick.
06:22Do you feel the same way about the Longhorns? Their season win total is also 10.5.
06:27Yeah. See, what I worry about with Texas is that transition to the SEC.
06:31It's just different now. The Big 12 is not a poor conference, but it's not the SEC.
06:37And they will have difficulties, not only just with the opposition, but just the new environments,
06:44the transition to a new conference. That doesn't often go well. You go back to Miami in 03,
06:50when they moved over to the ACC in 04, and they automatically started the decline. Mizzou,
06:57same thing. When they moved to the SEC, pretty rare for you to have a great,
07:02great season in your first year at a new conference.
07:05Great stuff, Mike. Appreciate it. It all begins next Saturday. Thanks again for coming on Newswire.