College football rankings: SI releases preseason top 25 with 5 B1G teams included

College football rankings continue to filter out as we are less than two weeks away from the official start of the season in Week 0.

Recently, Sports Illustrated entered the scene with its selections for a preseason top 25. The top three teams on SI’s list mirrored most publications – including the USA TODAY Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 – with Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia anchored in those spots.

However, SI deviated a bit at No. 4, selecting Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan squad as the final team for the College Football Playoff. SI is not alone in being high on the Wolverines with 247 Sports analyst Josh Pate putting Michigan at No. 4 and projecting the team to be better than the 2021 version.

Utah and Notre Dame were the first teams outside of the top 4 with SI slotting Clemson – a top-5 team for many analysts – at No. 7. Sports Illustrated also included Michigan State, Iowa and Purdue in the top 25 to give the B1G 5 total teams.

Here is where B1G teams checked in on the rankings list:

• 2. Ohio State
• 4. Michigan
• 12. Michigan State
• 16. Iowa
• 25. Purdue

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.