Alabama, LSU, Oregon and Florida State Round Out Top Five on Inaugural List

The Oklahoma Sooners are the number one team in ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com’s first-ever joint preseason college football “Power Rankings,” part of a comprehensive look at the upcoming season in The Mag’s College Football Preview Issue on newsstands today.

Coach Bob Stoops’ Sooners, led by Heisman Trophy candidate Landry Jones at quarterback and a defense built around ball-hawking linebackers Travis Lewis and Tony Jefferson, were tops in the voting among ESPN The Magazine’s and ESPN.com’s panel of college football analysts, columnists and reporters. The University of Alabama ranks number two overall, with LSU, Oregon and Florida State rounding out the “Power Rankings” top five.

“The ‘Power Rankings’ allow us to cut through the clutter—the scandals, the sanctions and the conference musical chairs—and put the game back in college football,” said ESPN The Magazine Senior Editor, Ryan Hockensmith. “This is focused on the sheer talent, teamwork and coaching necessary to take home the BCS title.”

The top 25 college football teams in ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com’s inaugural “Power Rankings” is listed below with additional narrative available at https://es.pn/nluycl and in ESPN The Magazine:

1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Oregon
5. Florida State
6. Boise State
7. Stanford
8. Texas A & M
9. Oklahoma State
10.  Arkansas
11.  Wisconsin
12.  South Carolina
13.  Nebraska
14.  Virginia Tech
15.  Notre Dame
16.  TCU
17.  Michigan State
18.  Ohio State
19.  West Virginia
20.  Georgia
21.  Arizona State
22.  Texas
23.  Mississippi State
24.  Missouri
25.  USC

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