USA TODAY Sports' Dan Wolken predicts which four teams will compete in the 2015 College Football Playoff. USA TODAY Sports
This is not a repeat:
There's simply too much talent to ignore, even as the Buckeyes enter the season opener without five contributors, including All-America defensive end Joey Bosa , and head into the second half of August having yet to decide on a starting quarterback.
Ohio State is followed by Baylor, which is set to field the best team in program history;Auburn , now with one of the nation's top defensive coordinators in Will Muschamp ; and Alabama, even if the Crimson Tide have a quarterback quandary of their own.
Then comes Boise State — and yes, the Broncos are going to be very, very good. Rounding out the best of the best: TCU, Oregon, Arizona State, Michigan State and Stanford.
What the Pac-12 Conference lacks in a clear leader it makes up with pure depth: No. 7 Oregon, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 10 Stanford and No. 11 UCLA will fight it out to represent the conference in theCollege Football Playoff .
In total, the preseason top 25 of the re-rank features six teams from the Pac-12, five from theSoutheastern Conference , four apiece from the Big Ten Conference , the Big 12 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference , one from the Mountain West Conference and one Football Bowl Subdivision independent.
And lastly, let's give a hearty welcome to the newest member of the FBS in Charlotte, which clocks in last in the initial in the 1-128. Last in the re-rank, last in Conference USA, first in our hearts.
1. Ohio State | 2. Baylor | 3. Auburn | 4. Alabama | 5. Boise State | 6. TCU | 7. Oregon | 8. Arizona State | 9. Michigan State | 10. Stanford
11. UCLA | 12. Florida State | 13. Clemson | 14. Mississippi | 15. Oklahoma | 16. Georgia | 17. Southern California | 18. Georgia Tech | 19. Arizona | 20. Virginia Tech
21. Notre Dame | 22. Nebraska | 23. Missouri | 24. Wisconsin | 25. Texas | 26. Louisville | 27. Louisiana State | 28. Penn State | 29. Oklahoma State | 30. Cincinnati
31. Arkansas | 32. North Carolina | 33. Tennessee | 34. Minnesota | 35. Memphis | 36. Duke | 37. Western Kentucky | 38. Brigham Young | 39. Northern Illinois | 40. South Carolina
41. Marshall | 42. Utah State | 43. Utah | 44. North Carolina State | 45. Mississippi State | 46. Miami (Fla.) | 47. Texas A&M | 48. San Diego State | 49. California | 50. Navy
51. Louisiana Tech | 52. Texas Tech | 53. Toledo | 54. Georgia Southern | 55. Western Michigan | 56. Temple | 57. Kansas State | 58. Central Florida | 59. Pittsburgh | 60. Iowa
61. Louisiana-Lafayette | 62. Bowling Green | 63. Houston | 64. Michigan | 65. West Virginia | 66. East Carolina | 67. Rice | 68. Air Force | 69. Florida | 70. Boston College
71. Maryland | 72. Washington | 73. Colorado State | 74. Arkansas State | 75. Ball State | 76. Rutgers | 77. Kentucky | 78. Middle Tennessee State | 79. Appalachian State | 80. Nevada
81. New Mexico | 82. Northwestern | 83. Ohio | 84. Washington State | 85. South Alabama | 86. Akron | 87. Texas State | 88. Syracuse | 89. North Texas | 90. Old Dominion
91. Tulane | 92. Colorado | 93. Buffalo | 94. Wyoming | 95. Indiana | 96. Louisiana-Monroe | 97. Fresno State | 98. Oregon State | 99. Virginia | 100. Southern Mississippi
101. San Jose State | 102. Illinois | 103. South Florida | 104. Florida International | 105. Hawaii | 106. Florida Atlantic | 107. UTEP | 108. Tulsa | 109. Massachusetts | 110. Troy
111. Central Michigan | 112. Purdue | 113. Miami (Ohio) | 114. UTSA | 115. Iowa State | 116. Wake Forest | 117. SMU | 118. Army | 119. Connecticut | 120. New Mexico State
121. Vanderbilt | 122. Kent State | 123. Eastern Michigan | 124. Kansas | 125. Georgia State | 126. UNLV | 127. Idaho | 128. Charlotte
