College Football Rankings 2018: Predictions for Week 1 NCAA Standings

Alabama is the top team in the nation, and it's going to be quite a while before Nick Saban's team faces a significant test in the 2018 college football season.

The Crimson Tide opens the season with a game against Louisville September 1 in Orlando, and while the Cardinals have been a challenge in recent seasons, that does not appear to be the case this year as star quarterback Lamar Jackson has moved on to the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens.

Alabama sits on top of the rankings, followed by Clemson, Georgia and Wisconsin. 

Here's a look at the current rankings, and there's no reason for the voters to make any changes since the action was so limited over the first weekend of the season. Wyoming and Hawaii were both winners, but neither of those teams had received any Top 25 votes, so they are unlikely to make any inroads at this point. We think the next poll will look just like the first one. However, after the first full week, there could be major changes.

The initial poll was released last week, and the big games during the first full weekend of competition include Washington meeting Auburn in Atlanta, Notre Dame hosting Michigan, Miami visiting Death Valley to take on LSU and Virginia Tech at Florida State.     

AP Preseason Top 25

1. Alabama 
2. Clemson 
3. Georgia 
4. Wisconsin 
5. Ohio State 
6. Washington 
7. Oklahoma 
8. Miami (FL) 
9. Auburn 
10. Penn State 
11. Michigan State 
12. Notre Dame 
13. Stanford 
14. Michigan 
15. USC 
16. TCU 
17. West Virginia 
18. Mississippi State 
19. Florida State 
20. Virginia Tech 
21. UCF 
22. Boise State 
23. Texas 
24. Oregon 
25. LSU

Alabama is on top of the rankings once again, but the quarterback position has been the big question mark since Tua Tagovailoa led Alabama to a come-from-behind win over Georgia in the national championship game in January.

Tagovailoa has a big arm and excellent athletic ability, but Jalen Hurts has been the incumbent. No official announcement has been made on this year's starter, and both quarterbacks could see action in the early part of the schedule.

There are other issues facing Saban and his coaching staff. Dividing the workload in the ground game is one of them. Brian Robinson, Josh Jacobs, Najee Harris and Damien Harris are all talented players, and the latter Harris is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. Offensive coordinator Mike Locksley and running backs coach Joe Pannunzio will have to decide how the work gets divided.

While Alabama has an embarrassment of riches in the backfield, questions abound in the secondary. The top six players from last last year's unit have moved on, and Saban will have to find a workable combination among Shyheim Carter, Trevon Diggs, Xavier McKinney, Saivion Smith and Patrick Surtain II.

Clemson didn't make the championship game last season, but the Tigers appear to be Alabama's top challenger this time around. 

The Tigers have plenty of talent this year with quarterback Kelly Bryant, running back Travis Etienne and wideout Hunter Renfrow leading the way. The Tigers also have the playmakers on defense to remain in contention through the end of the season.