Greg McElroy shares what stands out to him in the AP Top 25

With the AP’s Preseason Top-25 here, college football is just around the corner as we reach the middle of August. We also now have 25 teams’ worth of news and storylines to break down based on how the ranking shook out on Monday.

Greg McElroy joined SportsCenter yesterday to discuss several of the newsworthy items from how the AP Poll. He started by noting the interesting placement of Clemson and Florida State, overall and compared to the other, considering how much the Tigers and Seminoles have been discussed out of the ACC this offseason.

“The first that jumped to mind is Florida State and Clemson. We’ve been talking all offseason – who’s going to be ahead of who? Clemson has dominated, dominated the ACC for the better part of a decade. Where’s Florida State going to be? They had the better roster on paper coming in,” McElroy said. “They edged Clemson just ever so slightly – Florida State at No. 8, Clemson in at No. 9..”

From there, McElroy went out west to point out the clear depth in the final year of the Pac-12. Nearly half of their dozen schools, USC, Washington, Utah, Oregon, and Oregon State, all made it into the Top-18. He also believes they could have very easily made it a half dozen in the AP Poll with the Bruins not making the cut.

“I think the depth of the Pac-12 has long been documented as well. Five of their 12 teams resides in the Top-25. That’s notable,” said McElroy. “By the way, one of their best teams, UCLA? Not in right now, which is surprising I might say.”

Finally, McElroy, for the life of him, could not understand Texas finishing outside the Top-10 at No. 11. He understands that the Longhorns spurning voters before likely played a factor in the AP’s ranking. However, when it comes to rosters, he isn’t sure how they didn’t consider Steve Sarkisian’s to be top-five or at least sixth or seventh.

“Texas in at No. 11 would be something else that also stands out. Texas on paper? I think AP voters have been burned by the Longhorns in the past. So there’s a little apprehension about putting them up there in the top-six, in the top-seven,” said McElroy. “But, Matt, you’ve studied it, I’ve studied it. We’ve been talking about it all offseason. On paper, Texas’ roster is a top-five roster.”

“Quarterback with Quinn Ewers? Excellent. Maybe one of the best receiver corps in America by anyone not named Ohio State. The defensive front seven is really beginning to emerge based on some of the notes and the whispers out of what they’ve done in the scrimmages the last couple days. So Texas being outside the Top-10? A little surprising to me as well,” McElroy said. “That should be a team that’s, at worst, ranked sixth or seventh in America.”

You could go through this opening AP Poll with a fine tooth comb and pick a ton of headlines that are worth mention. These are the three, though, that caught McElroy’s eye with the season’s official kickoff a little over two weeks out.