RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Athletic’s Chris Vannini ranked all 138 FBS teams ahead of the college football season, and he placed the Tigers at No. 62 in the country. Last week, Vannini predicted every Group of Six conference and picked Memphis to finish fifth in the American Conference, and he used the same conference predictions for his full 138-team ranking.
Charles Huff’s team is listed behind four teams from the American and 11 total Group of Six teams. Vannini is clearly more skeptical about the Tigers than others, but it’s easy to understand why.
Memphis hired Charles Huff after Ryan Silverfield left for Arkansas, and Huff brought in an entirely new coaching staff and more than 70 new players. Memphis brought in a lot of talent, but it’s hard to predict how the team will mesh, especially with two huge non-conference games in the first three weeks of the season.
Huff brought in multiple quarterbacks this offseason, and West Florida transfer Marcus Stokes and South Carolina transfer Air Noland have spent most of the the offseason in a quarterback battle. The head coach said last week he would tell the team who the starter is on Sunday, but everyone outside of the program would have to wait until Saturday to find out who the quarterback will be.
With a lot of questions about the team and no decision on a quarterback, it’s hard to predict much about this team heading into the season.
Vannini wrote a few sentences on every team, and while he didn’t go into specifics, he noted Noland as part of the quarterback battle. He also mentioned the high floor that Memphis has.
The Tigers sit at No. 62 between South Florida and West Virignia, and they’re ahead of 18 Power Four programs, including UCF, Cincinnati and Arkansas.
While they’re ahead of multiple Power Four programs, Memphis is listed behind USF, Fresno State, Western Michigan, Tulane, UTSA, UNLV, San Diego State, James Madison, New Mexico, Navy and Boise State.
The writer included both the Broncos and the Midshipmen in his top 25, ranking Boise State at No. 21 and Navy at No. 25.
Vannini picked the Broncos to represent the Group of Six in the College Football Playoffs, and the Tigers will play them on September 12 in Boise, Idaho. Huff’s team will also travel to Annapolis, Maryland to see the Midshipmen in late November.
Memphis’ schedule is tough this year, but they will have an early opportunity to see where they stand in the Group of Six on Saturday when it kicks off the season against UNLV in Allegiant Stadium.
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