The College Football Season Kicks Off: Ohio State on Top and a Big Ten Dynasty in the Making

The long summer is over and one of America's great sporting spectacles has returned. College football is back, and the opening polls have already set the stage for another season of huge crowds, fierce rivalries and title dreams.

Ohio State on top

There is a clear favourite as the season begins. Ohio State is reported to have been named the top team in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, heading into the new campaign as the side everyone else is chasing.

The vote was not a runaway, though. Five different teams are reported to have received first-place votes, a sign that the gap between the very best sides is thought to be narrow as the season opens.

The names behind Ohio State are familiar heavyweights. Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas are reported to round out the top five, a cluster of programmes with the pedigree and the squads to go all the way.

A conference chasing history

One storyline towers over the rest. The Big Ten conference is reported to have won the last three national titles in a row, and it enters this season with a genuine chance to extend that remarkable run of dominance.

Its challengers for the crown come from within as much as without. Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon are all reported to have the pieces in place to keep the trophy inside the Big Ten for a fourth straight year.

The SEC loads up

The rival Southeastern Conference is not about to concede. It is reported to have two title contenders inside the top five in Georgia and Texas, a formidable one-two punch at the sharp end of the rankings.

Its strength runs deeper than that pair, too. A cluster of dangerous teams including Oklahoma, Texas A&M, LSU and Ole Miss are reported to sit just behind, any of whom could force their way into the title conversation.

Revenge and redemption

Two more famous names carry their own motivations. Notre Dame is reported to be out for revenge after being left out of the playoff last season, while Miami aims to build on a run that took it to the national championship game.

Let the games begin

The action is already under way. The season is reported to have opened with a Week 0 slate on 29 August, followed by a full first week built around the Labor Day weekend, the traditional launch of the college football year.

From here, the picture will change fast. Rankings that look settled today will be torn up within weeks, and by the time the playoff arrives, the only certainty is that few of the early assumptions will have survived intact.