Top 25 Power Rankings – Preseason

TCU returns 15 starters from a team that went 12-1 and smashed Ole Miss at the Peach Bowl.

TCU returns 15 starters from a team that went 12-1 and smashed Ole Miss at the Peach Bowl.

Published on Sunday, 8/9/15, at 10:11 a.m. Eastern.

1-Ohio St.
2-TCU
3-Auburn
4-Baylor
5-Alabama
6-Michigan St.
7-UCLA
8-Georgia
9-Oregon
10-LSU
11-Arkansas
12-Stanford
13-Ole Miss
14-FSU
15-USC
16-Oklahoma
17-Boise St.
18-Clemson
19-Ga. Tech
20-Wisconsin
21-Notre Dame
22-Tennessee
23-Missouri
24-Texas A&M
25-Va. Tech

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

–Auburn star WR Duke Williams missed a second straight practice Saturday due to a ‘discipline issue.’ This will be interesting to keep an eye on. Gus Malzahn suspended Williams for the bowl game last year and he’s clearly still in the doghouse. He might be the nation’s best WR and all my bullish forecasts on Auburn this year (the above power ranking, my suggestion to play its season win total ‘over’ and to take it to win the SEC West at 3/1 odds) hinge on Williams being on the team.

–Oregon RB Thomas Tyner is out for the season with a shoulder injury. In 2014, Tyner rushed for 573 yards and five TDs while averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

–Florida RB Adam Lane has decided to leave the program for “family reasons.” Lane was expected to be the second-string RB behind Kelvin Taylor. He entered the Birmingham Bowl with only 73 career rushing yards, but he exploded in a 28-20 win over East Carolina by rushing for 109 yards and one TD. Lane has two children in the Winter Park area outside of Orlando. The only closer-to-home destinations would be Central Florida or USF.

–FSU took one team picture with Dalvin Cook and one without. Cook remains suspended indefinitely after being arrested for allegedly striking a woman.

–Kentucky has suspended LB Jason Hatcher for the first two games of the season (vs. UL-Lafayette & at South Carolina). Hatcher started six games in 2014, tallying 28 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

I’m also bullish on Wisconsin’s ‘over‘ and the Badgers to win their Big Ten division (for a +170 payout).

My SEC East preview filed to VegasInsider.com this past week.

–Marshall’s schedule is a complete joke yet again this year. Check out the non-con slate: vs. Purdue, at Ohio, vs. Norfolk St. and at Kent St.

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