Texas in the title game? Is No. 1 cursed? Which teams have toughest travel schedules?

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Hawaii won’t be the only college football team loading up the travel miles this season. Today, we’re looking at the most travel-heavy schedules and sleeper candidates to make the College Football Playoff.

But first, the first AP poll dropped yesterday. Let’s dive into rankings.

First AP Poll

Is No. 1 cursed?

Georgia ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll that was released yesterday. And that’s exactly why The Athletic’s resident AP voter Matt Brown isn’t picking the Bulldogs to win the national title.

As I learned in Matt’s “Behind the Ballot” column yesterday, since the preseason rankings debuted in 1950, just 12 teams that started at No. 1 have won at least a share of the national championship. Only four of those champions have come since the poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989. It’s not to say we should write off the Bulldogs — the preseason No. 1 has finished in the top five for the past 10 seasons — but it’s worth wondering about a championship curse for the team entering the season as the top dog (or in this case, top Dawg). Here are the rest of the AP top five (with first-place votes in parentheses).

2. Ohio State (15)

3. Oregon (1)

4. Texas

5. Alabama

Ohio State and Georgia are the overwhelming favorites for Nos. 1 and 2, and all but nine AP voters had the Buckeyes and Bulldogs in the top two spots in some order. One of those nine exceptions was Matt, who voted No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Texas and No. 3 Georgia. Here’s the rationale Matt told me:

“Texas has jumped from five wins to eight to 12 in Steve Sarkisian’s three seasons, and the tired ‘Is Texas back?’ narrative can be shut down. The Longhorns won the Big 12 and made the College Football Playoff last year, and there’s been enough momentum in recruiting and development for Texas to win a loaded SEC in its first year in the conference. I like Quinn Ewers to make a fourth-year leap and the Longhorns to get to the national title game.”

Read the full AP poll here and Matt’s full analysis here.

Quinn Ewers led Texas to the College Football Playoff last year. (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

Sleeper CFP Teams

Path to Playoff for unranked teams

With preseason rankings released, we finally can identify underdog candidates to make the first-ever 12-team Playoff. With no Group of 5 teams ranked in the Top 25, at least one unranked team is guaranteed to make the field (the top G5 conference champion gets an automatic bid). But The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman has a hunch that two sleeper candidates will make it in.

Of Bruce’s six top sleeper options (you can read them all here), I’m siding with Memphis to make the strongest CFP case. The Tigers have an early test at Florida State, but beyond that, they draw a schedule that plays primarily in their favor. Players to watch include QB Seth Henigan (79 TDs in the past three years), WR Roc Taylor (69 catches for 1,083 yards and four TDs in 2023) and Mario Anderson (South Carolina transfer who led the Gamecocks in rushing last year).

Our staff submitted its sleeper picks for the CFP (programs ranked in the preseason Coaches Poll and voted atop their league’s preseason media poll were excluded from consideration). Here was my pick:

SMU: The ACC race feels like a bit of a wild card, so why not pick the conference newcomer to make waves in Year 1? Last year’s Mustangs ranked No. 8 in the FBS in scoring offense en route to an 11-3 record and an AAC championship. Quarterback Preston Stone returns after throwing for 3,197 yards (26th in the FBS) and 28 touchdowns (11th) with a 161.3 passing efficiency rating (13th) as a redshirt sophomore. Of course, the Mustangs were beaten out by undefeated Liberty for last year’s G5 New Year’s Six bid, so there’s an added chip on their shoulders against the committee.

Travel Breakdown

Which teams have toughest travel schedules?

College football’s season of change is finally here. Expanded conferences and a 12-team CFP are finally about to affect real games (and if you need a refresher on the entire thing, Stewart Mandel wrote a great one to read today).

One of the most jarring changes to me is still the complete separation from geographical conferences. With that in mind, I thought it’d be a good time to rank the most travel-intensive schedules in 2024 (except Hawaii, which traditionally travels the farthest). Travel totals are courtesy of the gambling site, Bookies.

1. UCLA. According to my calculations, the Bruins traveled more than 5,200 miles in 2023, with the furthest trek being a 1,792-mile round-trip to and from Oregon State. In 2024, UCLA will travel a Big Ten-leading 22,048.04 miles. Out-of-conference trips to Hawaii and LSU don’t help the Bruins’ cause, but conference trips to Penn State and Rutgers are especially notable. You know how the new Big Ten commercial made the trip from L.A. to Nebraska look so short? Well, compared to the rest of the Bruins’ road schedule (save for Washington), that trip to Lincoln really does look the easiest.

Seriously, just look at this map of the travel for UCLA and California (The Pulse took a look today at travel as well):

2. Cal. The Golden Bears will record 20,660.7 miles in 2024 on five road trips that will cross 26 time zones in their first ACC season. Cal will leave the Pacific time zone for each of its road games and have the longest trip to Wake Forest, which covers 4,612.18 miles round trip.

Florida State (No. 10) will travel the farthest among AP-ranked teams. The Seminoles will record 12,028.14 miles in the new-look ACC, but there’s a bit of an outlier here with FSU traveling to Dublin for its Week 0 game against Georgia Tech. Behind the Seminoles in miles traveled among ranked teams is USC (No. 23 in the poll) in its first Big Ten season. The Trojans will travel 12,710.62 miles with a long trip to Maryland on the agenda.

And if you’re starting to notice a trend … yes, schools in California look to be the hub for the toughest travel schedules. Make sure you’re getting those frequent flyer miles, UCLA, Cal and USC!

Quick Snaps

Top ACC contenders Florida State, Miami and Clemson still have a lot to prove. Stewart Mandel breaks down the conference favorites and newcomers today.

Looking for the ultimate Big Ten road trip in 2024? Jesse Temple and Scott Dochterman analyze the best games to attend week by week for the new 18-team conference.

Speaking of conferences with tons of new members. What can we expect from the Big 12? Our Until Saturday podcast crew previews the conference’s season here.

You can buy tickets to every college football game here.

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(Top photo of Carson Beck: Megan Briggs / Getty Images)