This time last year, we would have never guessed that the playoff field would hinge on an early November afternoon in Iowa City, or that neither national title game participant would be using their Week 1 starter at quarterback by the fourth quarter—or even that a second team would crown itself national champs, carrying the banner for the FBS’s overlooked middle class along the way. College football leans into its most chaotic plot twists, and the stage is set for another fall full of heroes, collapses and controversies no one saw coming.
SI’s preseason Top 25 is designed to set the expectation for the title chase ahead, and so it may surprise some to see reigning champ Alabama outside of the top spot in favor of 2016 champ Clemson.