Is this on its way to being the best offseason ever for Clemson? The Tigers completed a productive spring. Dabo Swinney signed the largest contract in college football history. The NFL Draft spread the Clemson brand all over the league. The Tigers landed the No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2020. Can it get better? You bet. The Tigers end the spring like they ended last season -- on top of the college football world and these top 25 rankings. This run of excellence may just be getting started for Swinney, who is 18 years younger than Nick Saban. The spring did little to narrow the gap between the nation's top two teams. Within that, Clemson may have widened the gap on everyone else. Sure, Alabama isn't going anywhere, but is it possible that Clemson is just getting started? Here's where our top 25 stands with 2019 spring practice in the books.<doc-sep>We are officially in the dog days of the college football offseason as spring football across the Southeastern Conference is in the rearview mirror and fall camps are months away from kicking off. With football so far out of reach at this time, once coined talkin’ season by Steve Spurrier, the speculation and forecasting of what is to come next fall is all we have to lean on in the coming weeks and months. Thankfully CBS Sports has given us something to talk about as writer Dennis Dodd has revealed his post-spring top 25 rankings. The SEC has five teams on the list, including four of the top 10. Here is every league team ranked in Dodd’s top 25: #2 Alabama #3 Georgia #5 LSU #7 Florida #14 Texas A&M #22 Auburn<doc-sep>The second national signing day and spring practices have passed since the previous USA TODAY Sports early Top 25, which had Alabama and Clemson atop the list of college football's best teams heading into the 2019 season. When it comes to the Tigers and Crimson Tide, the post-spring update isn't much of an update at all — the two national powers still lead the way. For the rest of the Bowl Subdivision, spring practices provided a glimpse into what to expect come August. The end of drills also provided a shakeup to our projected Top 25, with a handful of Power Five additions and several changes to the list that debuted in the wake of Clemson's national championship in January. The initial postseason ranking for each school from January is in parenthesis. 1. Clemson (2) It's all sunshine and rainbows in the wake of the program's latest national championship. Not that everything is peachy: Clemson lost wide receiver Amari Rodgers to an ACL tear in March, potentially robbing the offense of an all-conference weapon. Rodgers is a good one, but I think Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers will be OK. SPRING OUTLOOKS: ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | Southeastern | Pac-12 IS THERE CEILING? :After Swinney's deal, how high can salaries go? FUTURE PROS:Tagovailoa, Lawrence set to rule next two NFL drafts NFL DRAFT:Winners and losers from college football after the first round 2. Alabama (1) The spring provided a look at the Tide's revamped and overhauled coaching staff, even if a few key faces — such as offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian — aren't new to the program. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Alabama and Clemson are the nation's best teams entering the summer. 3. Georgia (3) Georgia may have something to say about that. The Bulldogs' series of practices revealed a team loaded with underclassmen talent set to contribute at many important spots — such as the secondary, for example, which coach Kirby Smart singled out for praise multiple times in April. 4. Oklahoma (4) If the spring game is any indication, Alabama transfer Jalen Hurts is going to be a good fit for Lincoln Riley and the Sooners. As if there were any questions about the Sooners' quarterback play. Hurts was strong through the air and unsurprisingly effective as a runner to cap the spring and head into the summer on a high note. 5. Ohio State (6) Meanwhile, the Buckeyes' quarterback transfer didn't do the same: Justin Fields was spotty in the spring game. But his work throughout the spring was strong, helping the Georgia transfer to lay a foundation for securing the job come fall camp. Ohio State's going to be a major contender in Ryan Day's first season. 6. Michigan (7) Not to overrate an individual spring game — no one ever does that — but the Wolverines' scrimmage saw an offense under new coordinator Josh Gattis that allowed skill players to make plays in space, a painfully missing piece for much of Jim Harbaugh's tenure. If this holds, the Wolverines are going to be a national factor. 7. LSU (8) The same can be said of LSU. The Tigers spent most of the spring in a spread-based, no-huddle system that conceivably would bring the offense out of its malaise and take advantage of a strong cast of skill players. Another takeaway? That true freshman defensive back Derek Stingley is going to be the program's next great one in the secondary. 8. Texas A&M (10) The Aggies have a ceiling as high as the College Football Playoff, though the program might not be ready to take that leap in Jimbo Fisher's second season. A&M needs to improve its pass defense after a lackluster 2018, addressing those concerns by signing one of the nation's top secondary classes in December and February. 9. Oregon (11) Ten returning starters on offense, led by a potential top draft pick in Justin Herbert. Another seven starters are back on defense. The early returns on new defensive coordinator Andy Avalos have been predictably positive. The Ducks made a great hire in bringing Avalos over from Boise State. 10. Texas (5) There's plenty to like about Texas but enough reason for concern exiting the spring to knock the Longhorns down a few pegs from their debut ranking. At heart is line play on both sides of the ball, with the offensive front still a work in progress as the staff looks to rebuild depth. The defense began the process of replacing eight senior starters. 11. Notre Dame (13) The Irish have to feel good about the spring performance of running back Jafar Armstrong, who put a strong hold on the starting job after serving as the backup to Dexter Williams a year ago. Better yet, quarterback Ian Book showed during drills that he's ready to build on a very solid first season as the starter. 12. Washington (9) Presumed backup quarterback Jake Haener has made things interesting this spring, though it would be a huge surprise to see anyone other than Jacob Eason at the controls of the Huskies offense come August. Washington will enter the summer with holes on defense but a number of talented youngsters ready to fill the void; based on the spring, look for the staff to lean on a heavy rotation of players. 13. Florida (14) Dan Mullen's second team will be just as good as his first, but whether the Gators can put a serious dent into Georgia's ownership of the East Division depends in large part on three factors: the performance by the offensive line, the health of the running game and the play on the back end of the secondary. The line in particular needs to improve after a spotty spring. 14. Central Florida (12) The Knights will take another run at the New Year's Six with a new quarterback, whether holdover Darriel Mack Jr. or Notre Dame transfer Brandon Wimbush. As of now, there's little separating the two main contenders. UCF is still the class of the Group of Five even without McKenzie Milton. 15. Iowa State (17)<doc-sep>Spring ball is in the books nationwide, and the next phase of the offseason is in swing. The 2019 college football season is roughly four months away. Immediately after Clemson’s resounding win over Alabama in the national championship game in January, several outlets unveiled way-too-early top 25 lists for 2019. Now, after a few months of recruiting additions, NFL Draft decisions and incoming and outgoing transfers, it is time to retool those sets of rankings. CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd revealed his updated top 25 today. During the season, Dodd changes his rankings weekly. Here is a look at the top 10 for Dodd, as of this afternoon: Clemson Alabama Georgia Oklahoma LSU Ohio State Florida Texas Michigan Oregon You can view the full CBS Sports preseason top 25 here. As for The Spun’s annual preseason top 25, it should be out sometime in June. We’ll spare you some drama and say that Clemson and Alabama will be 1-2, but things might get interesting after that. Is September here yet?<doc-sep>
Spring football around the college landscape is wrapped up, and we know a bit more about the sport’s top teams. Of course, spring is always a season of optimism in the sport, so most fan bases should feel pretty good about their teams. ESPN used the end of spring as an opportunity to update their 2019 preseason college football Top 25. A group of the site’s college football writers used what we learned about these teams during their spring practices and games to inform the new rankings. 14 people voted on the rankings and contributed to the list: Andrea Adelson, Joel Anderson, Edward Aschoff, Kyle Bonagura, David Hale, Sam Khan Jr., Chris Low, Ryan McGee, Dan Murphy, Adam Rittenberg, Alex Scarborough, Mark Schlabach, Jake Trotter, and Tom VanHaaren. Many of the usual suspects find themselves at the top of the list. Here is the Top 8 of ESPN’s post-spring 2019 college football rankings. With brief excerpts from their full write-ups: Clemson: “They return one of the most dynamic offenses in college football, and appear to have even enhanced that unit with some early-enrollee freshmen who could make a difference.” Alabama: “While Josh Jobe and a few other players created a buzz, the defense must find a way to replace a bunch of draft picks and bounce back from a rough end to last season.” Georgia: “We’re going to have to trust Jake Fromm when he says he and the offense made strides this spring, because it didn’t show up on G-Day, with the exception of a seemingly rising star in wideout Jeremiah Holloman.” Oklahoma: “Not only was (quarterback Jalen) Hurts spectacular in OU’s spring game, he has quickly taken over a prominent leadership role in the locker room despite being in Norman only four months.” Ohio State: “If (quarterback Justin) Fields stays healthy, Ohio State should be in the playoff discussion.” Notre Dame: “If Fields stays healthy, Ohio State should be in the playoff discussion.” Michigan: “If it doesn’t end with a conference championship or playoff berth, there will be quite a bit of grumbling around Ann Arbor.” Florida: “The Gators set multiple spring-game records on offense, a surprising breath of fresh air considering how poorly that unit has performed over the past decade.” Other notable inclusions: LSU (No. 9), Oregon (10), Texas (11), Texas A&M (12), Penn State (13), Auburn (18), Nebraska (20), Wisconsin (21), and Iowa (23). For the full list and write-ups, head to ESPN.