Lindy’s Sports Preseason Top 25 for the 2021

1. Alabama: The Tide returns only 3 starters on offense, yet #1?
2. Clemson: QB Uiagalelei, the new Watson, Lawrence? Not yet!
3. Oklahoma: OU Led the Nation with 9 dropped TD passes
4. Georgia: Have to replace 9 NFL draft picks from 2020 season
5. Ohio State: QB Fields is gone / as are 7 of top 10 tacklers on D
6. Texas A&M: Only 1 starter from the O-Line returns
7. Iowa State: 3 fumbles & INT vs OU in B-12 championship
8. Cincinnati: Play @ IU & ND, will they survive Indiana trips?
9. North Carolina: 2 starting WR’s & RB’s have departed to NFL
10. Oregon: Hammered in their bowl game, 34-17, by ISU
11. Notre Dame: 2 starters return on offense, enough said!
12. Florida: The Gator 2020 D was the worst since WWI! Say what?
13. Wisconsin: Bucky averaged 25 PPG in 2020, worst in 12 years
14. Miami: Will D’Eriq King’s ACL injury allow the same mobility?
15. Ok St. QB Spencer Sanders has 27 TO in 20 games! Say again?
16. LSU: The D allowed 34.9 PPG, worst in LSU history by a full TD!
17. Washington: QB consistency & 2020 key losses on D are concerns!
18. Iowa: QB play has to even out & the D loses key up-front personnel!
19. Arizona State: P-12 schedule & ASU receivers are issues in 2021.
20. Indiana: IU will not be overlooked in 2021, their game date circled!
21. Penn State: Lion D allowed 27.7 PPG/QB Clifford needs to improve!
22. USC: Air Raid? What happened to student body left & right?
23. Coastal Carolina: Non-Conference schedule is really weak! Kansas?
24. Texas: The Horns win recruiting battles, but lose on Saturdays’!!
25. Auburn: Gus is gone & we will see?

Some insights to Lindy’s Top 25!

1. How about the fact that the Tide loses 8 starters on offense (including QB, RB, & WR) and are still a preseason #1!
2. How about the fact that OU receivers did not just drop 9 passes, they dropped 9 TD passes!!
3. On SCFP, we like UGA (Georgia is ranked 2nd on SCFP’s T-25)! QB, TJ Daniels (USC transfer) can deliver the ball accurately; on the outs, over the middle, & down the field! RB Zamir White, leads a 4 headed monster @ RB (ranked as America’s 2nd best crew), their WR’s are rated as the 5th best unit nationally, the O-Line is 3rd, the D line is 3rd, & the LB room is considered to house the 2nd best group in the Land! UGA will take down Clemson in week one!
4. How about ND, 2 starters back on O and yet ranked 11th by Lindy, 12th by Athlon and 8th on SCFP. Kelly and his staff are getting the right fit/personnel to fill their program’s positional philosophies.
5. Wisconsin is finally starting to recruit as a top 25 program. They have been as good (perhaps the best) at developing their players into their system. The fact that they are now attracting better players to Madison is why they are ranked 13 coming off their weakest year in the past 10!
6. Lindy ranked 2 G5 (Group of 5) teams in his Top 25, Cincy @ 8 & Coastal Carolina as the nation’s 23rd best squad. On SCFP, we rank the P5 & G5 in different polls. We have Cincinnati @ #1 in our Top 20 G5 grouping & CCU @ 8.
7. IU has the best QB, Michael Penix, in the B-10! For reasons known but to God, Lindy has OSU’s QB, C.J. Stroud as the conference’s best! C’mon man, the guy hasn’t taken a meaningful snap yet! Penix battled Fields, 42-35, in what was the Bucks closest game until the CFP final!
8. Is this the year that Hern Edwards slams the door on his doubting Thomas critics? Remember when he was hired and college folks ‘lost their minds’ about a ‘pro guy’ and being clueless about the college game. Hern simply said ‘pretty sure this is football and I get football’! Lindy has ASU picked to win the P-12 South and battle Oregon for the P-12 title. Herm’s time?
9. Texas has a new coach, exit Tom Herman / enter Steve Sarkisian. The Horns remain among the greatest underachievers in all of college football. They are the 7th best recruiting program in the college game and yet, have averaged a mere 7 wins a year since 2015. While the main rival, OU, has averaged over 11 during that same time frame! Oh yeah, did I mention that the Longhorns recruit better than the Sooners? Texas 7th / OU 9th!
10. Finally, Gus Malzahn was fired this past season by Auburn. Now not being on site, you can miss the whole side of the barn, as U don’t / may not have a critical element of/in the decision. That said, let’s give Auburn the benefit of the doubt; yet what in God’s name were Tennessee, South Carolina, & Vanderbilt thinking? Malzahn beat Saban 3 times in 8 years: 2013, 34-28; 2017, 26-14; & 2019, 48-45! Tennessee hired Josh Heupel from UCF, Vanderbilt hired a coordinator from ND, Clark Lea, & South Carolina hired Shane Beamer (Frank’s Beamer’s son). Beamer has never served as a coordinator and clearly, is a big reach. He has coached @ Georgia (Smart) & OU (Riley), and @ South Carolina with Spurrier (2010-13). I’m just confused how one of these three Universities didn’t gobble up Malzahn? Gus is now at Central Florida, he has replaced, Josh Heupel!