College Football Playoff 2018: Predicting Final Four After Amway Preseason Poll
You don't have to be a college football insider to look at the Amway Preseason Poll and predict that Alabama will once again have a spot in the College Football Playoff as one of the Final Four teams in the nation.
One might think that Alabama has already reserved its spot in the title game because head coach Nick Saban knows how to prepare his team better than any leader in the game and the Crimson Tide know how to climb the mountain that is college football's regular-season.
According to the Amway poll, Alabama will be joined by Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia when the Final Four teams are determined.
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However, the chances of those four teams retaining those spots throughout a completed regular season seem remote. Factors like motivated underdog teams, injuries and the unpredictability of talent development throughout the season are all key factors.
As a result, our Final Four teams do not matchup with the Amway Preseason Poll.
Here's how the poll played out, and our Final Four teams follow.
Amway Coaches Poll
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma
6. Washington
7. Wisconsin
8. Miami
9. Penn State
10. Auburn
11. Notre Dame
12. Michigan State
13. Stanford
14. Michigan
15. Southern California
16. TCU
17. Virginia Tech
18. Mississippi State
19. Florida State
20. West Virginia
21. Texas
22. Boise State
23. Central Florida
24. LSU
25. Oklahoma State
Alabama
The Crimson Tide come into the season as the defending national champions, but there is an unmistakable hunger about this program.
What happened last year is in the past, and Nick Saban is only interested in the 2018 season—not talking about what made previous Alabama teams great.
If that sounds like New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, that's not a surprise. The two have compared notes many times and share similar philosophies.
Saban is entering his 12th season at Alabama. He has 127-20 record with the Crimson Tide and has won five SEC championships.
Either Tua Tagovailoa or Jalen Hurts will emerge as Alabama's starting quarterback, and based on the national championship game performance and arm strength, it seems likely that Tagovailoa will win the job.
Running back Damien Harris returns after a 1,000-yard season, and he should provide tremendous production for the offense. Defensive end Raekwon Davis returns after coming off a 69-tackle season that includes 10 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.
Clemson
Saban is clearly the dominant coach in college football, and Dabo Swinney may be the No. 2 man in the business as a result of his consistent excellence with Clemson.
Kelly Bryant was an overachiever at quarterback last season for the Tigers, but it will be difficult for him to beat out true freshman Trevor Lawrence under center.
Bryant completed 65.8 percent of his passes and threw for 2,802 yards, but Lawrence has the kind of powerful arm that coaches tend to fall in love with.
The Tigers will have a dynamic running game with Travis Etienne and Tavien Feaster. Etienne ran for 766 yards and averaged 7.2 yards per carry, while Feaster ran for 669 yards and had a 6.3 yards-per-carry mark.
Defensive end Clelin Ferrell is coming off a season with 18 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, while Austin Bryant had 15.5 TFL and 8.5 sacks last year.
The Clemson defense appears to be ferocious and dangerous, and this team should find itself playing in a national semifinal game once again.
Wisconsin
We see the Big Ten getting a representative in college football's version of the Final Four, and the Badgers have an excellent chance of winning that position.
Ohio State overwhelmed Wisconsin in last year's title game, and many of the preseason publications have the Buckeyes in the league's top spot once again. However, the Badgers will learn from that experience and find a way to handle any opponent in the Big Ten title game.
The Badgers have a powerful quarterback-running back combination with Alex Hornibrook and Jonathan Taylor. Hornibrook threw for 2,644 yards and had 25 TD passes in 2017, while Taylor ran for 1,977 yards as a freshman with 13 touchdowns.
The Badgers are the class of the Big Ten's West Division, and their big test will come in the conference's title game against the East Division's representative. The Badgers have the class and experience to win that game this year.
Washington
The belief here is that the Pac-12 will get a representative in the Final Four this time around.
The Washington Huskies have the best team in the league, and head coach Chris Petersen has a fourth-year quarterback in Jake Browning. Petersen is hoping that Browning returns to the form he had as a sophomore when he threw 43 touchdowns passes.
Running back Myles Gaskin is a game-changing weapon, as he ran for 1,380 yards and 21 touchdowns. If he can match those numbers this year, he could emerge as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
The defense could make the Huskies the best team in the Pac-12. That unit returns nine starters, including linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven and safety Taylor Rapp.
Washington meets Auburn in the season opener in Atlanta, and if the Huskies win the game, there may be no stopping them in the regular season.
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