Preseason College Football Rankings 2024: Predictions for Initial AP NCAA Top 25

The 2024 college football season should start with teams in a few distinct tiers at the top of the rankings.

The Georgia Bulldogs and Ohio State Buckeyes went one-two in the preseason Coaches Poll and should do the same in the first AP Top 25 of the season that gets released on Monday at Noon ET.

UGA and Ohio State appear to be the best teams on paper and are the preseason favorites to win the expanded SEC and Big Ten.

The Oregon Ducks and Texas Longhorns are viewed as the clear No. 2 to each team in their respective conferences.

After that, there is more room for teams in the third tier of top teams. A handful of College Football Playoff contenders, including the reigning champion Michigan Wolverines, should fill out the rest of the top 10.

1. Georgia

2. Ohio State

3. Oregon

4. Texas

5. Alabama

6. Notre Dame

7. Ole Miss

8. Penn State

9. Michigan

10. Florida State

11. Missouri

12. Utah

13. Tennessee

14. LSU

15. Clemson

16. Kansas State

17. Oklahoma State

18. Oklahoma

19. Miami

20. Arizona

21. Texas A&M

22. Kansas

23. Iowa

24. Louisville

25. SMU

Georgia and Ohio State combined to earn 53 first-place votes in the first Coaches Poll released last week.

The Bulldogs and Buckeyes should have similar first-place vote totals when the initial AP Top 25 comes out on Monday.

Georgia is viewed as the class of the SEC with potentially the best quarterback in the country in Carson Beck.

Beck will feature in the early-season Heisman Trophy conversations before we begin to find out which players will be contend for the award.

Another strong defensive unit will make UGA hard to beat, but it will earn its top ranking by the start of October. The Bulldogs face the Clemson Tigers in Week 1 and visit the Alabama Crimson Tide on September 28.

Ohio State should easily be 5-0 before it makes the trip to Eugene on October 12 to face Oregon in what could be a No. 1-versus-No. 2 contest if UGA slips up.

Ryan Day and his coaching staff hit the transfer portal hard and landed quarterback Will Howard from Kansas State, running back Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss and safety Caleb Downs from Alabama.

Additionally, the Buckeyes have yet another strong wide receiver group and return arguably the best defensive player in the country in J.T. Tuimoloau.

The Buckeyes have two big road tests at Oregon and Penn State that will determine if they will be a top-four CFB Playoff seed, but for now, they look like one of the strongest teams on paper.

Oregon and Texas should follow UGA and Ohio State as No. 3 and No. 4 in the AP Top 25.

The Ducks and Longhorns reside in a clear second tier of national championship contenders.

Both teams are looking to make a splash in their new conferences behind star quarterbacks. Quinn Ewers is back at Texas, while Dillon Gabriel has landed at Oregon to replace Bo Nix.

Gabriel should adjust perfectly fine to the Ducks offense that turned Nix into one of the better passers in all of college football.

Evan Stewart, a transfer from Texas A&M, will be Gabriel's top target and the two should put up incredible numbers together.

The Ducks should cruise through their first five games before Ohio State comes to town. That will be the toughest test for Oregon in its first year of Big Ten play. A November 2 road trip to Michigan could be tough, but right now, the Ducks are viewed as the better team.

Texas' schedule looks super soft outside of the Week 2 trip to the Big House to face the reigning national champion.

The Longhorns get Georgia at home on October 19 and do not face Alabama, Ole Miss or Missouri, who are projected to be the third, fourth and fifth-best teams in the SEC.

Ewers and Co. will be around for the top-four seed talk late in the season, and if they beat Georgia, they could make a case for the No. 1 ranking in the second half of their first SEC campaign.