NCAA Football Preseason Rankings 2012: Teams Who Will Fall out of Poll by Week 2

A loss in Week 1 by any team is a near death sentence for the rest of the season and the coaches’ poll always reflects that. With the coaches releasing their preseason rankings for the 2012 NCAA Football season, the pressure starts now.

Each of the Top 25 teams has the main goal of going undefeated during the season and then playing for the BCS Championship. Not every Top 25 team will be undefeated after Week 1, which means a few will fall out of the poll by Week 2.

Here are three teams that the coaches have ranked in the Top 25 now, but won’t be there after they play their season openers.

No. 24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame finished last season unranked, but just made their way into the preseason coaches’ poll. The Fighting Irish won’t be ranked in the Top 25 for long, though, as they have a huge test overseas in Week 1.

Notre Dame will take on Navy in Dublin, Ireland in Week 1 without their starting quarterback, Tommy Rees. Rees was suspended for the Fighting Irish’s opener after he and linebacker Carlo Calabrese were arrested in May. It’s yet to be announced who will start for Notre Dame against Navy, but only Andrew Hendrix has any in-game experience of the other quarterbacks on the roster.

Rees should only be gone for the first game, but replacing Michael Floyd—who was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals— also won’t be easy. Without last season’s starting QB and top wideout, Notre Dame is destined to fail against Navy.

No. 22 Boise State Broncos

The post-Kellen Moore era is upon us and it’s safe to say that Boise State’s season opener at No. 13 Michigan State won’t be a walk in the park.

Boise State returns most of the offensive line that helped the performance of Moore over the years, but will also be replacing last season’s lead running back Doug Martin with D.J. Harper. The Broncos also have an experienced group of defensive backs. But will they be able to stop the Michigan State offense?

Michigan State will also have a new quarterback under center, but they still have the overall better team. Boise State may still be the favorites to win the Mountain West in the eyes of many, but it won’t be easy taking on one of the top teams in the Big Ten.

No. 25 Auburn Tigers

Replacing Cam Newton wasn’t as easy as Auburn may have thought it would be last season, as they only won eight games. A good recruiting class has earned them the last spot in the preseason coaches’ poll, but don’t expect to see them there in Week 2.

The Tigers have the task of taking down another Tiger in Week 1, as they’ll play No. 14 Clemson. Clemson has a powerful defense and returns a talented offensive trio of QB Taj Boyd, RB Andre Ellington and WR Sammy Watkins. Auburn will have a good defense this season, but they’ll have their hands full with those three.

Auburn will have to respond without their top running back from last season. Michael Dyer transferred to Arkansas State in January, but won’t be able to play for them either. Top quarterback Barrett Trotter is also gone, and the Auburn offense will have to figure out a good plan to attack the Clemson defense.

Auburn is going to need a miracle in order to top Clemson and remain in the Top 25 come Week 2.