Phil Steele is one of the most respected prognosticators in college football, so when he projects something, a lot of people are going to listen.
In his most recent project for ESPN, Steele projected the Top 10 for the AP preseason poll and the results at the top should be rather unsurprising: three of the team's from the 2015-16 College Football Playoff — Alabama, Clemson, and Oklahoma — are the Nos. 1, 2, and 3 teams in the projection, with Florida State filling in at the coveted No. 4 spot. LSU and Ohio State come in at No. 5 and No. 6 in the projection.
Alabama and Clemson as the Top 2 is completely deserved, as the two teams proved last year that they were the best teams in the country. While Clemson suffered several losses to their defense in the offseason, they should be fine as long as quarterback Deshaun Watson is healthy.
Interestingly enough, the Top 11 — which is below because Steele included Notre Dame as No. 11 — has the exact same teams as the Bovada sports book has in their Top 11 for 2017 national title odds. Obviously it's just a coincidence, but it seems so far that everyone has these 11 teams as contenders in 2017, and no one else.
The full Top 10 (plus 1) is below.
1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida State
5. LSU
6. Ohio State
7. Michigan
8. Baylor
9. Stanford
10. Tennessee
11. Notre Dame
