ESPN releases final SP+ preseason Top 25 college football rankings

College football is less than a week away. Week 0 gets underway on Saturday, Aug. 27, which means it is game week for some teams across the country. With Week 0 right in front of us and Week 1 nearing as well, ESPN has released its final SP+ preseason Top 25 rankings.

ESPN’s preseason SP+ rankings are based off of a few factors, and they are notably tempo-based and opponent adjusted. The tool considers returning production, recruiting, and recent history.

There are are some familiar teams at the top of ESPN’s preseason rankings, but the further down the list you get, more and more surprises begin to pop up. Multiple teams that were not ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 poll are included in ESPN’s preseason SP+ rankings.

ESPN’s final SP+ preseason Top 25 rankings

1. Alabama Crimson Tide
2. Georgia Bulldogs
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
4. Oklahoma Sooners
5. Clemson Tigers
6. Michigan Wolverines
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
8. Texas A&M Aggies
9. Ole Miss Rebels
10. Tennessee Volunteers
11. Kentucky Wildcats
12. Utah Utes
13. Penn State Nittany Lions
14. Arkansas Razorbacks
15. Michigan State Spartans
16. Cincinnati Bearcats
17. Wisconsin Badgers
18. NC State Wolfpack
19. Oklahoma State Cowboys
20. Mississippi State Bulldogs
21. Auburn Tigers
22. Texas Longhorns
23. Pittsburgh Panthers
24. Oregon Ducks
25. BYU Cougars

There are five teams listed in ESPN’s rankings that were not included in the initial AP Top 25. Baylor (No. 10), USC (No. 14), Miami (No. 16), Wake Forest (No. 22) and Houston (No. 24) were the five teams in the AP rankings that did not crack ESPN’s list. Instead, ESPN included Tennessee, Penn State, Mississippi State, Auburn and Texas.

A couple of those teams finished just on the outside of ESPN’s rankings, though, as Miami came in at No. 29 and Baylor was ranked at No. 30. Florida, Iowa and LSU were also right outside the Top 25.

The makeup of ESPN’s preseason SP+ rankings are undoubtedly in favor of the SEC, as the conference leads the way with nine selections. The Big Ten ranks second with five teams. Then, the Big 12 and ACC each have three selections while the Pac-12 has two and the American has one. Notre Dame and BYU also cracked the list as independents.