RANKINGS WEEK: THE PRESEASON TOP 136
We’re going back to school today, with what we’re almost positive is our first ever attempt at a 136-team preseason ranking.
It's June, and here at Channel 6 means it's time to rank some things. What things? Yes.
This week, subscribers to our $10/month and $100/year plans have been treated to a fresh newsletter every day, filled with only the MOST rankings possible. On Monday, we ran down the best sports video games of all time. On Tuesday, we explored the best possible historical moments to visit via time travel. Wednesday’s offering introduced readers to the cinematic universe of dumb guy movies.
Today, something a little different. First, we’re sending this newsletter to our free email list along with our paying subscribers, as both a token of our affection and a marketing ploy to get you to sign up for the rest of them. Second – in what might be a predictable move for what’s allegedly a college football newsletter – we’re going back to school today, with what we’re almost positive is our first ever attempt at a 136-team preseason ranking.
Below are those 136 college teams, ranked by school colors. We didn’t say it was a good marketing ploy.
Teams are listed in order from best to worst, and interspersed with helpful explanations about our ranking process (for transparency) along with notes from our selection committee on individual teams, where appropriate, and answers to frequently asked questions.
HOW DO I READ THIS CHART? School names are listed on the left, followed by the team’s corresponding primary color, along with secondary and tertiary or accent colors. As you’ll see, a lot of those secondary colors are just going to be “white.” To avoid confusing white blocks with blank blocks for teams that don’t have a tertiary or accent color, those spaces have been marked “XXXXX.” You’ll see one of those examples immediately below, and hopefully that will calm everybody down.
WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING HERE, I ONLY RECOGNIZE MAYBE THREE OF THESE AS BEING COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAMS? Great question! Like the size of the universe, our concept of what does or does not constitute a major college football team is constantly in flux. So in the interest of maximum fairness and competitive balance, we’ve expanded the Top 136 pool to include every institution listed here, including those schools that don’t have football (and in some cases, don’t have sponsored athletic programs at all) and, for the purposes of this contest, treating each of them as though they’re currently fielding a college football team. This method still left a number of competitive advantages and disadvantages in play, and we’ll get to those as we move through the rankings.
