Preseason College Football Rankings 2020: Predicting Amway Poll's Top 25

It can be difficult to choose the top 25 college football teams in the country before a single game is played, but it's likely that schools with a lot of strong returning players will be ranked highly early on. And it wouldn't be surprising to see some of the top teams from last season back near the top of the rankings to open the year.

Here are predictions for how the first Amway Coaches Poll could look during the preseason:

1. Clemson

2. Ohio State

3. Alabama

4. LSU

5. Georgia

6. Oklahoma

7. Oregon

8. Penn State

9. Florida

10. Wisconsin

11. Auburn

12. Notre Dame

13. Texas

14. Michigan

15. USC

16. Texas A&M

17. Minnesota

18. Virginia Tech

19. Iowa

20. North Carolina

21. Utah

22. UCF

23. Tennessee

24. Miami

25. Boise State

1. Clemson

Although Clemson lost to LSU in last season's College Football Playoff National Championship game, the Tigers are poised to be right back in the mix this year, likely contending for the national title. At this point, they have a strong chance of being atop the rankings.

Among Clemson's key returners is junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who should be a Heisman Trophy candidate in his probable final season with the Tigers. He's been their starter the past two seasons, leading them to a 29-1 record over that span, which includes a victory over Alabama in the CFP National Championship Game at the end of the 2018 season.

Running back Travis Etienne will also be back for his senior year at Clemson, which has plenty of other talented playmakers ready to step in on both sides of the ball as head coach Dabo Swinney has excelled on the recruiting trail in recent years.

The Tigers have won five consecutive ACC championships, and they've made the College Football Playoff each of those seasons. There's a high chance that those streaks will continue in 2020.

2. Ohio State

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

Clemson isn't the only CFP team from last season that's returning its starting quarterback. Ohio State's Justin Fields will also be a junior this year, and he'll be looking to build off his strong 2019 season, when he was a Heisman Trophy finalist in his first season with the Buckeyes after transferring from Georgia.

In last season's playoff, Lawrence's Tigers beat Fields' Buckeyes in the semifinals, holding on for a 29-23 win in the Fiesta Bowl. That will surely give Ohio State motivation to get back to that point this coming season and try to capture its first national title since the 2014 season.

This will be Ryan Day's second full season as the Buckeyes head coach after a successful 13-1 campaign last year, which included winning the team's third straight Big Ten championship.

While Ohio State has a lot of talent on both offense and defense, it could be a special season for Fields, who will be even more comfortable at his new school. In 2019, Fields passed for 3,273 yards, 41 touchdowns and only three interceptions while also rushing for 10 scores. It will be exciting to see the numbers he puts up in 2020.

3. Alabama

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2019 was not the type of season Alabama fans have grown accustomed to seeing in recent years. Although the Crimson Tide went 11-2, they lost to LSU in the SEC Championship Game and missed out on the College Football Playoff for the first time since it was implemented in the 2014 season.

But head coach Nick Saban has continued to bring in top recruits, so Alabama should be poised to potentially have better results in 2020, although it will again have fierce competition in the SEC from LSU and Georgia.

Redshirt junior quarterback Mac Jones got game experience last season after Tua Tagovailoa was injured, and he and senior running back Najee Harris will be leading the Tide's offense in 2020. Meanwhile, their defense is filled with talented players such as redshirt junior linebacker Dylan Moses and junior cornerback Patrick Surtain Jr.

Alabama is likely to have a strong 2020 season, and the program's respect from its peers is sure to have it ranked highly in the first coaches poll of the year.