The needle is pointed up with QB Greg Ward Jr. However, the secondary is going to be tremendous. The defense is another story with the front seven needing to be retooled. If the quarterback situation has to be settled, and the line needs three new starters, but the Oregon offense is the Oregon offense. Okay, Montana State transfer Dakota Prukop, are you ready for the fun? RB Royce Freeman is a legitimate Heisman candidate, but star WR Bralon Addison took off early. Best of all, the D got a massive break when CB Desmond King decided to return for his final year. Beathard is back under center, but who will he throw to? Three of the top four tacklers are gone, but 12 of the top 15 return.

IowaД¬an the program get past the disastrous final 69 minutes of the season? It should with a potentially stronger team coming back with enough good running backs to make up for the loss of Jordan Canzeri. The defense is the big concern losing Jaylon Smith and most of the top tacklers. Prosise is gone early, and superstar WR Will Fuller came to his senses and is taking off, but there are just enough decent players back for the O to go. The quarterback situation is tremendous, but will the rest of the skill players be able to shine? RB C.J. All the problems on defense should be gone with eight of the top ten tacklers returning and the back eight ready to be outstanding. The offense needs all the new parts to kick in fast with four starters gone up front and QB Trevone Boykin gone, but if the system is solid, this should be a decent group with a little bit of time. ItвЂ™s all about the quarterback situation. The O line is a problem, but the top eight receivers are back. DT Maliek Collins is leaving early, but nine other starters are back on defense to go along with QB Tommy Armstrong and just about all the skill position players back on offense. The coaching staff said throughout all of the 2015 season that the goal was to just get something, anything positive to build on because 2016 was supposed to be strong. ThereвЂ™s a boatload on talent on both sides of the ball, but itвЂ™s just young. Chad Kelly could be the best quarterback in the SEC and Evan Engram could be the nationвЂ™s top tight end, but four starters are done up front. How do you get past losing all that talent? The Rebels might be doing a great job recruiting, but theyвЂ™re not going to bring in another Laremy Tunsil, Laquon Treadwell and Robert Nkemdiche right away. While thereвЂ™s good talent waiting to step in, itвЂ™s going to be a rebuilding job. The defense loses eight starters and PK Conrad Ukropina is gone.

StanfordД¬hristian McCaffrey will be one of the biggest superstars coming into the season, but will he have a line to work behind? Four starters are gone up front and steady QB Kevin Hogan is done. So, keeping in mind that the pre-preseason college football rankings will still come later вЂ¦ Way-Too-Early Top 25 College Football Rankings 25. That didnвЂ™t matter going into the 2015 season. Georgia Tech blew out Mississippi State and TCU destroyed Ole Miss two seasons ago. And finally, donвЂ™t get into a twist over something that might have happened this last bowl season. Also, this has nothing to do with schedules and where teams are going to finish up вЂ“ thatвЂ™s coming later once all the schedules are finalized. ItвЂ™s not just about returning starters вЂ“ Clemson proved that вЂ“ but itвЂ™s a big part of the equation. Way-too-early top 25 college football rankings for 2016, because itвЂ™s never too soon to start thinking about next season.ДЇollow dive much, much deeper into this over the next few weeks after all the early NFL entries have left, the coaching carousel has stopped, and recruiting has become a bit clearer, but hereвЂ™s a quick look at 25 of the best-looking college football teams going into the 2016 season.ДЄ few caveats here.

Top 25 college football games of 2016