I think we'll be just inside the Top 25. We won't start the season Top 20. As of 12/20/20, we're listed at 16 in the AP Top 25 (using this as CFP Rankings don't start till midway). I believe for the 2021 AP Preseason rankings, Texas, USC, Iowa and Oregon who are behind us in that poll will start out ranked ahead of us. That drops us down to 20.
Then you have P5s NC State, OK State, Washington and LSU (they will be better than .500 next year, and the pollsters are betting on it), along with Liberty (they may very well jump us after their Coastal win) and Memphis.
I THINK we'll start out in the Top 25 Preseason, but I'd bet it'll be in the 23-25 range, and possibly as low as 28 if not in Top 25. A win in Austin (lets say by 6-8 points) would likely jump us in the 17-20 range.
I think a #20 ranking is a fair place to start if we finish in top 15, given the P5 bisas. something different next year vs history, will be the large % of returning players from this years team. In the past the AP/coaches has heavily penalized G5 teams for seniors lost from the previous season. Along with key head coach/QB1 Returning, there are not a lot of reason to drop us in pre-season polls compared to how things were historically done.
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