RETURNING PRODUCTION: 87%

OFFENSE: 80% (12)

DEFENSE: 94% (2)

Florida State has a plethora of talent returning across the board, including quarterback Jordan Travis. He improved remarkably as a passer as the redshirt junior threw for 2,796 yards and 22 touchdowns to 4 interceptions. The Seminoles also got a surprise when projected first-round NFL Draft pick Jared Verse announced his return. In Verse’s first season after transferring from Albany, the redshirt sophomore collected nine sacks and 16.5 tackles for a loss in 11 games while playing through a nagging knee injury, per Noles247.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 85%

OFFENSE: 91% (2)

DEFENSE: 80% (10)

With 17 offensive and defensive starters expected back from a team that reached Kansas’ first bowl game since 2008, the Jayhawks have big expectations heading into the 2023 season. And Lance Leipold and company helped to fill in some of the gaps — and build for the future — with a 25-man recruiting 2023 recruiting class. Kansas currently has one of the Big 12’s better quarterback rooms with one of the conference’s best quarterbacks in Jalon Daniels and an experienced backup with starting experience in Jason Bean.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 83%

OFFENSE: 68% (59)

DEFENSE: 99% (1)

Tom Herman comes to Florida Atlantic after spending the 2022 season as a studio analyst with CBS Sports. Before that, he had head coaching stints at Texas and Houston. He also called plays at Ohio State. Herman has an experienced roster with a team that flirted with a bowl game in each of the last two seasons, going 5-7 in each campaign.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 83%

OFFENSE: 82% (7)

DEFENSE: 84% (4)

Craig Bohl and company return far and away the most production of any Mountain West team, with the next closest to Wyoming being UNLV, which ranks at No. 42. The Cowboys enter 2023 off back-to-back 7-5 seasons, a record Bohl hopes to improve. Since taking over in 2014, Bohl has led his program to eight wins on three different occasions.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 81%

OFFENSE: 84% (4)

DEFENSE: 78% (16)

Michigan has gone 24-3 over the past two seasons, a stretch that has resulted in two Big Ten Championships and a ticket to the College Football Playoff in both campaigns. We knew quarterback J.J. McCarthy would be back, but the Wolverines got a surprise when star running back Blake Corum announced his return. Corum was a Heisman Trophy candidate throughout the majority of the season before he endured a meniscus injury in the first half of Michigan’s final home gain against Illinois. Still, he finished the regular season No. 8 nationally in rushing yards (1,463), No. 10 in yards per carry (5.9, min. 15 attempts) and No. 3 in rushing touchdowns (18). Corum was the only player in the Big Ten to exceed 1,000 rushing yards and average 5.5 yards per carry.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 80%

OFFENSE: 89% (2)

DEFENSE: 71% (39)

UConn had four wins from 2018-21, as it did not play in 2020. Only one of those wins was against an FBS team, which was UMass in 2019. It had not defeated a Power Five program since 2016 and had not gotten the best of a ranked program since 2015. All of those streaks were broken this season. Jim Mora completed one of the best turnarounds in college football, and has a lot of his team returning, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 80%

OFFENSE: 82% (8)

DEFENSE: 71% (39)

While it’s far below the standard that A&M fans, donors, and administrators hoped for when they brought on Jimbo Fisher in 2018, this certainly indicates that the program could have bottomed out in 2022 due to its youth. There are no more excuses in 2023. Fisher’s Aggies need a big season, and it is one where a quarterback competition is possible. Conner Weigman, who saw plenty of action in 2022 as a five-star freshman, likely has the inside track.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 78%

OFFENSE: 78% (17)

DEFENSE: 79% (13)

Boston College had their worst season since 2015, finishing 3-9, with brutal losses to UConn and Rutgers thrown in the mix. The offense was a mess, finishing near the bottom in the country in many different metrics including rushing yards, sacks allowed and points. Head coach Jeff Hafley needs to turn things around, and there are plenty of familiar faces in the locker room to do so. Look for Emmett Morehead to get the nod at quarterback, as he took over for Phil Jurkovec, who is now at Pittsburgh.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 78%

OFFENSE: 77% (25)

DEFENSE: 80% (9)

While Eliah Drinkwitz has gone 5-5, 6-7 and 6-7 in his 3 seasons in Columbia, the roster appears to be stocked for this season. Quarterback Brady Cook returns, as he finished his redshirt sophomore season completing 64.6% of his passes for 2,719 yards and 14 touchdowns against seven interceptions while adding 585 yards and six scores on the ground. Cook played injured for most of the season with a shoulder ailment, as he will miss spring ball.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 77%

OFFENSE: 79% (15)

DEFENSE: 76% (22)

Temple went 3-9 under first-year head coach Stan Drayton, who arrived from being the running backs coach at Texas. The Owls signed 25 players in December and have since added three scholarship transfers – Florida safety Kamar Wilcoxson, Florida linebacker Diwun Black, and Colorado State safety Tywan Francis. Temple has not been to a bowl game since 2019, its first season under Rod Carey.

11. TOLEDO ROCKETS

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 77%

OFFENSE: 82% (6)

DEFENSE: 72% (32)

12. NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 77%

OFFENSE: 75% (33)

DEFENSE: 79% (12)

13. SOUTH ALABAMA JAGUARS

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 77%

OFFENSE: 71% (50)

DEFENSE: 82% (5)

This past season, Toledo averaged 33.3 points per game while averaging 406 yards per game as the Rockets finished with a 7-5 record. Head coach Jason Candle has amassed a 52-32 record as the head coach at Toledo, dating back to the 2016 season.

14. USC TROJANS

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 76%

OFFENSE: 75% (32)

DEFENSE: 78% (15)

15. UMASS MINUTEMEN

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 76%

OFFENSE: 75% (32)

DEFENSE: 78% (15)

16. UTAH UTES

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 76%

OFFENSE: 75% (32)

DEFENSE: 69% (45)

Both USC and Utah return star quarterbacks in what should be another year where the Pac-12 is loaded at the position. Coming off a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign, Caleb Williams is a candidate to recapture the nation’s most coveted award in what’s expected to be the final season of his collegiate career. Williams threw for 4,537, 42 touchdowns and five interceptions, along with 10 rushing scores. Utah, meanwhile, saw Cameron Rising announce his return for a sixth season, as he was an integral part of the Utes winning Pac-12 titles in each of the last two seasons.

17. NAVY MIDSHEPMEN

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 75%

OFFENSE: 76% (29)

DEFENSE: 74% (29)

18. FIU PANTHERS

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 74%

OFFENSE: 71% (52)

DEFENSE: 74% (39)

19. TEXAS LONGHORNS

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 74%

OFFENSE: 85% (3)

DEFENSE: 63% (68)

Running back Bijan Robinson is gone for Texas, but quarterback Quinn Ewers and wide receiver Xavier Worthy are not. In his first season as a starter, Ewers completed 58.1% of his passes for 2,177 yards and 15 touchdowns with six interceptions in 10 games, numbers that should improve with more familiarity this year.

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 74%

OFFENSE: 76% (27)

DEFENSE: 74% (28)

21. RICE OWLS

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 73%

OFFENSE: 72% (42)

DEFENSE: 74% (28)

22. WASHINGTON HUSKIES

RETURNING PRODUCTION: 73%

OFFENSE: 74% (34)

DEFENSE: 73% (30)

From 2018-21 at Indiana, Michael Penix never played in double-digit games. He was even hurt in the shortened 2020 season. That changed in 2022 in his first year at Washington, as he started all 13 games. The Huskies got a big boost when he announced his return. Can he have a clean bill of health for a second-straight season? That remains to be seen, but Washington’s ability to win the Pac-12 hinges on it. Penix was able to fast-track the rebuild in a big way under first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer, who inherited a messy situation.