AP College Football Poll 2015: Official Top 25 Rankings, Week 1 Projections

It has been far too long since Ohio State took down Oregon in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship, but it is finally time. College football is back.

The Buckeyes are the preseason favorites and unanimous No. 1 team in the AP poll, but TCU, Alabama and many others are waiting in the wings to take over should Ohio State stumble.

With just one Top 25 matchup in Week 1—No. 3 Alabama taking on No. 20 Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas, Saturday at 8 p.m. ET—the slate of games doesn’t look appealing on the outside, but four of the top six teams face stiff tests in their openers.

Let’s take a look at the preseason AP Top 25 and some of the top matchups and storylines heading into the 2015 season.

Rank	Team	Points
1	Ohio State (61)	1525
2	TCU	1428
3	Alabama	1322
4	Baylor	1263
5	Michigan State	1256
6	Auburn	1192
7	Oregon	1156
8	USC	1085
9	Georgia	991
10	Florida State	959
11	Notre Dame	873
12	Clemson	862
13	UCLA	698
14	LSU	675
15	Arizona State	605
16	Georgia Tech	588
17	Ole Miss	563
18	Arkansas	410
19	Oklahoma	394
20	Wisconsin	393
21	Stanford	347
22	Arizona	311
23	Boise State	240
24	Missouri	219
25	Tennessee	114

Top Storylines to Watch in Week 1

Are suspensions and injuries enough to hurt Ohio State against Virginia Tech?

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Coming out of spring camp in Columbus, Ohio, the only questions surrounding the Buckeyes were positive ones. Can Ezekiel Elliott break the school record for rushing yards? Who starts at quarterback? Is there any team that can beat the Buckeyes?

But just a few short months later, Urban Meyer’s squad faces a whole new set of questions, ones that could potentially derail Ohio State for a second consecutive season against Virginia Tech.

No Joey Bosa on an already thin defensive line for the opener could be detrimental, especially for a team that struggled to get the Hokies off the field on third down last season, but the real damage comes at the wide receiver position.

Once considered the deepest non-quarterback position for the Buckeyes, the suspension of Corey Smith, Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson was tough, but the loss of Noah Brown to a broken leg, as reported by Ari Wasserman of Cleveland.com, leaves Ohio State in dire straights.

Virginia Tech sports one of the best secondaries in the country, headlined by superstar cornerback Kendall Fuller, and was going to be tough to break down for the Buckeyes regardless, but now with four of its top five or six receivers out, there is genuine concern for the defending champs:

The position change of Braxton Miller and Curtis Samuel should cover some cracks, and Michael Thomas is still around to burn defenses, but arguably Ohio State’s toughest game of the early season just got that much harder and could be a potential early-season stumbling block in the Buckeyes' quest to repeat.

Prediction: Ohio State 27, Virginia Tech 21

Can Alabama overcome its questions at quarterback?

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Almost every year since Nick Saban took over as Alabama’s head coach, quarterback questions were relatively meaningless for the Crimson Tide.

Find a player who is good enough to not turn the ball over regularly, put him behind an NFL-caliber offensive line, allow the defense to hold opponents to fewer than 20 points per game and watch the wins roll in.

An elite running game coupled with some superstar receivers allowed for the Alabama quarterbacks to manage games en route to title after title, even if the numbers occasionally looked great. Just look at last season: No one would argue Blake Sims was an elite signal-caller, but he finished seventh in the country in quarterback rating per cfbstats.com largely thanks to the players around him.

This season, things might not be so easy in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The defensive line is still going to be elite—when isn’t it at this point—and Derrick Henry might be the best running back in the country if Lane Kiffin decides to actually use him, but there are more questions than usual:

A surprisingly porous secondary—ranked No. 59 in the country in pass defense, the first time the Crimson Tide finished outside of the top 15 since 2008—has to deal with the loss of Landon Collins and two other starters against a brutal schedule.

The Tide will also be without their top three receivers from last season, which could be tough on whichever of the trio of Jake Coker, Cooper Bateman or Alec Morris eventually wins the starting job. There are cracks showing in Alabama’s once-infallible empire, and Wisconsin could take advantage for a shocking early-season upset.

Prediction: Alabama 31, Wisconsin 21

Is Notre Dame really capable of making a run at the playoff?

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Late in the fourth quarter in an Oct. 18 matchup against Florida State, Notre Dame was not only still in the hunt for a spot in the playoff, but arguably one of the favorites to be one of the four teams selected.

Then, Jameis Winston happened and the wheels came off. The Irish lost five of their last six regular-season games only to save some face with a hard-fought win against LSU in the Music City Bowl. So what do we do for a team that ended the year in such poor form and lost their starting quarterback? We rank them No. 11 in the AP poll and put them right back into the playoff hunt.

Perhaps outside of a couple of teams in the SEC and Pac-12, the Irish have the best schedule in terms of making an impression on the national scene. But it won’t be easy:

Matchups against Georgia Tech, Clemson and Stanford could all be big resume boosters for Notre Dame, especially if those three teams live up to the preseason hype while the road contest against rivals USC has the chance to be a playoff-elimination game.

It doesn’t stop there, though, with games against improved ACC squads Virginia and Boston College both having the potential to look like decent wins by season’s end, not to mention the rivalry against a tricky Navy team.

Week 1 provides an incredibly difficult opponent in Texas, who, while down compared to years past, will be looking to launch back into national relevancy against the Irish. The season could hinge on the development of Malik Zaire, who—if things break right—could lead the Irish to 10 or 11 wins and a spot in the playoff.

Prediction: Notre Dame 27, Texas 21