College Football Playoff tiers: Ranking the preseason Top 25 by their chances to win it all - CBS Sports
CBS Sports analyzes the preseason AP Top 25 college football rankings by grouping teams into tiers based on their national championship potential. The analysis highlights seven top-tier contenders, including Ohio State, Oregon, and Georgia, noting that these teams possess championship-caliber rosters.
Why it matters
This tier-based approach provides a more nuanced perspective on college football competitiveness than traditional rankings, helping fans understand the realistic landscape of the upcoming season.
There are only a handful of teams each season that realistically have the capability to compete for a national title, and the AP poll doesn't really do much to help find that cutoff point.
So instead of looking at the preseason AP Top 25 poll that came out on Monday as a pure ranking, let's instead twist it into a tier list. It's a mechanism that erases the gap between No. 3 and No. 7 and instead lumps teams together with their peers for the upcoming season.
So, in honor of the internet's favorite way to rank things – a S to F tier list, baby! – this is how the preseason Top 25 teams stack up in terms of their chances to win a national title, or in some cases, even reach the 12-team bracket.
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