Athlon Sports has released their 2019 preseason Top 25 college football rankings, and the Alabama Crimson Tide are ranked number one.
Alabama enters the 2019 season after suffering a 44-16 defeat at the hands of the Clemson Tigers in the College Football National Championship.
The Crimson Tide return junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but former starter and backup Jalen Hurts transferred to the Oklahoma Sooners earlier this year.
Alabama also replaces nearly their entire coaching staff under Nick Saban, including both their offensive and defensive coordinators. Steve Sarkisian, former USC head coach and Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator, and Pete Golding, former UTSA defensive coordinator, step into the offensive and defensive coordinator roles, respectively.
The defending national champion Clemson Tigers, who return sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence, are ranked second for the 2019 season by Athlon Sports.
Rounding out the Top Five in Athlon’s preseason rankings are the Georgia Bulldogs (3rd), Michigan Wolverines (4th), and Ohio State Buckeyes (5th).
Below is Athlon’s complete 2019 preseason Top 25 rankings. Be sure to take in their preview of each team:
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma
- LSU
- Florida
- Notre Dame
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Washington
- Utah
- Penn State
- Oregon
- Michigan State
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Wisconsin
- Auburn
- Syracuse
- UCF
- Missouri
- Iowa State
- Virginia
The 2019 college football schedule kicks off this season in Week Zero on Saturday, August 24, with two Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) games and two Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) games.
FBS contests in Week Zero include Florida vs. Miami in the Camping World Kickoff (in Orlando, FL) and Arizona at Hawaii. In the FCS, Samford takes on Youngstown State in the Guradian Credit Union FCS kickoff (in Mobile, AL) and Villanova travels to face Colgate.
Week 1 of the 2019 season begins on Thursday, August 29 with 29 FBS/FCS games on the schedule. Highlights include Georgia Tech at Clemson, Utah at BYU, and UCLA at Cincinnati.
There are nine games scheduled for Friday, August 30, including Colorado State vs. Colorado (in Denver, CO), Oklahoma State at Oregon State, and Wisconsin at USF.
Saturday of Week 1 features a full day of action, and three games follow on Sunday with one game set for Monday, Sept. 2 (Labor Day).