The college football season hasn't even been over for a full 24 hours and us sports fanatics are already projecting the top teams for 2015. ESPN released their 2015 NCAA Football rankings today, and despite a National Championship, Ohio State is not the No. 1 squad.
Instead, that honor lies with the TCU Horned Frogs, who finished the 2014 campaign at 12-1 and 8-1 in the Big 12. TCU was left out of the playoffs as they tumbled from No. 3 to No. 6 in the playoff selection committee's final ballot. The team took out its frustrations by stonewalling Ole Miss, 42-3, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on New Year's Eve.
"That's good," head coach Gary Patterson said. "We were 70th last year, I think. That's what people had us a year ago. That's where we were ranked. It's good for recruiting and all that kind of stuff, but that's tougher because now you have to create a chip on your shoulder. People are going to say you are [No. 1], but now you have to go prove you are. You've gotta go prove it."
TCU is expected to return 10 starters next season.
Coming in at No. 2 are the reigning National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes. OSU finished 2014 13-1 and a perfect 8-0 in the Big Ten. They will return seven starters on both sides of the ball to help with continuity and development. What's more, OSU suddenly has one of the deepest stables of talented quarterbacks in the nation.
"Like the Horned Frogs, the Buckeyes are going to be loaded on offense in 2015," ESPN's Mark Schlabach wrote. "First, coach Urban Meyer must decide on a starting quarterback. If 2013 starter Braxton Miller sticks around, there will be a three-man race for the job, as he'll have to beat out J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones. Running back Ezekiel Elliot is coming back after running for more than 1,600 yards, along with four starting offensive linemen and three of the top four receivers."
Rounding out the top five are the Baylor Bears (No. 3), USC Trojans (No. 4) and the Oregon Ducks (No. 5).