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Top 25 teams could see records fall

Dabo Swinney is within reach of a career win milestone at Clemson. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

If records are made to be broken, which ones could be shattered this season? Here's a look at the possibilities for each team in Mark Schlabach's post-spring top 25.


1. Ohio State

J.T. Barrett is on pace to become the 12th member of college football's exclusive 40-40 club -- 40 rushing touchdowns and 40 passing touchdowns. To make the list, Barrett needs nine rushing TDs this season, something he has done in each of his first three years. If the offense gets humming in Columbus, he has a good shot of ending his career at the very top of that list. If he scores 49 times this season (his previous career high is 45 touchdowns), he'll top Central Michigan's Dan LeFevour as the most productive member of the 40-40 club in his career. --Dan Murphy


2. Florida State

Perhaps the bandwagon is already getting a little too full for rookie Cam Akers, but the mere fact Florida State fans aren't apoplectic over the departure of Dalvin Cook only serves as a reminder of how good the Seminoles' "next big thing" could be. So here's a record to watch: Cook set the school's rushing record for a freshman back in 2014, running for 1,008 yards after getting a late crack at the starting job. Akers could have the gig from Week 1, and if he does, 1,000 yards would be reasonable, even if most reasonable expectations have gone out the window for the talented RB. --David M. Hale


3. Alabama

Defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick has a school record four career interceptions returned for a touchdown. The SEC and national record for career pick-sixes is five, so it only makes sense for him to break that record this fall with two more touchdowns. --Edward Aschoff


4. USC

The Trojans are one of three schools in the country (Auburn and Notre Dame are the others) to have five players selected No. 1 overall in the NFL draft. After the way quarterback Sam Darnold played last season, it stands to reason the Trojans might have the most at this time next year. --Kyle Bonagura


5. Penn State

Barring some type of major problem, Trace McSorley should end his second season as a starter at Penn State as the program's all-time leader in passing touchdowns. Joe Moorhead's offense has a chance to break several school and conference marks this season. McSorley, who will probably also top some of the program's season-high marks he set in 2015, needs only 19 touchdowns after throwing for 29 a year ago to pass Christian Hackenberg in the record books, which makes him the best bet. --Murphy


6. Oklahoma State

With a huge opener against Tulsa, Mason Rudolph could surpass Brandon Weeden's career mark of 9,260 yards. Rudolph surpassed his coach, Mike Gundy, in the Cowboys' bowl victory over Colorado and enters this season at 8,714 yards, 546 yards short of Weeden, who played the position from 2007 to 2011. If Weeden's record doesn't go down Sept. 2, it's likely to happen a week later at South Alabama. --Mitch Sherman


7. Clemson

The Tigers have won 10 games or more for six straight seasons, a school record. But here's another nugget for head coach Dabo Swinney that might carry even more weight: Clemson needs to win just eight games this season for Swinney to pass the legendary Danny Ford in career victories at Clemson. Before Swinney won it all last season, Ford was the last Tigers' coach to win a national title. In 12 seasons at Clemson, Ford went 96-29-4. Swinney enters his 10th season with a career mark of 89-28. --Hale


8. Oklahoma

Quarterback Baker Mayfield already owns the FBS single-season passing-efficiency record. He is seventh all time with a career rating of 166.7. With another big year, Mayfield could threaten Sam Bradford's FBS career efficiency record of 175.6 as well. --Jake Trotter


9. Washington

QB Jake Browning smashed Keith Price's single-season school record (33) with 43 touchdown passes last season and needs just 17 more to break Price's career mark (75). With five games in September, that record could fall before the calendar turns to October. --Bonagura


10. Auburn

Kicker Daniel Carlson is closing in on several records. He has 69 career field goals, putting him within range of the FBS record of 96, held by Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez. If Carlson hits as many field goals as he did last season (28), he'll break that record. He also has a good shot at the SEC record of 161 consecutive PAT kicks made, held by Tennessee's John Becksvoort. Carlson has 141. (The national record is 233 by Texas Tech's Alex Trlica). --Sam Khan Jr.


11. Wisconsin

Paul Chryst is on pace to be the first Badgers coach to reach 30 wins in his first three seasons, something neither Barry Alvarez nor Bret Bielema could accomplish. In fact, the only coaches from any current Big Ten school who have had the same early success are Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Frank Solich, Ralph Friedgen and Fielding Yost. Chryst walked into a good situation in Madison (and obviously had more games in that timespan than many predecessors), but his ability to keep Wisconsin a consistent winner might be one of the more underrated coaching accomplishments in 2017 if his group is as good as expected. --Murphy


12. LSU

There are a lot of changes on LSU's offense, but if there's one sure thing, it's the proficiency of running back Derrius Guice. While filling in often for Leonard Fournette, Guice finished with 1,387 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns, both tops among SEC running backs despite having single-digit carries in four games. With Guice being "the man" this year, he might have a good shot at challenging Derrick Henry's SEC single-season touchdown record of 28, set in 2015. --Khan


13. Georgia

Running back Nick Chubb has rushed for 100 yards in 19 games in three years for the Bulldogs. That's good enough for second all time in school history. He's nine away from tying Herschel Walker's record of 28 career 100-yard rushing games. Chubb would need to rush for 100 yards in 15 games next season to tie DeAngelo Williams' FBS record of 34, but Walker's school record is very much a possibility. --Aschoff


14. Michigan

It won't be easy, but one of the Wolverines' new wide receivers will have a shot to catch more touchdown passes than any other Big Ten freshman in history. The current mark was set by redshirt freshman Charles Rogers, who caught 14 touchdown passes in 2001. If either Tarik Black, who turned heads during spring ball, or five-star prospect Donovan Peoples-Jones emerges as the team's top target, they have the athleticism and the opportunity to give Rogers' record a good challenge. --Murphy


15. Miami

Mark Walton is the only returning 1,000-yard ACC running back. That's notable in itself. But Walton also has a shot at the Miami career rushing touchdowns record. Walton needs 13 rushing touchdowns to set the mark, currently held by Stephen McGuire, who had 35 from 1989 to 1992. Walton had 14 last season and nine in 2015. --Andrea Adelson


16. Stanford

Pop Warner's school record for wins by a head coach (71) has stood since 1932, but this will probably be his last offseason atop the list. David Shaw enters the season needing just eight wins to pass Warner and has averaged 10.7 in his six years in charge. --Bonagura


17. Louisville

Lamar Jackson set several school records last season, but he doesn't have all of them. Jackson needs 14 total touchdowns to set the school record, currently held by Chris Redman (87). Redman had 84 passing and three rushing touchdowns. Jackson has 42 passing and 32 rushing touchdowns. --Adelson


18. Kansas State

On 56 carries last year, Alex Barnes averaged 7.9 yards per rush. If Barnes can carry some of that over as K-State's primary running back, he could challenge Darren Sproles' 2004 school record of 6.49 yards per rush (minimum 100 attempts). --Trotter


19. USF

Linebacker Auggie Sanchez has 303 career tackles, which ranks second among all returning defenders in the country. He needs 65 tackles to set the school record of 367 career tackles, set by Kawika Mitchell from 1999-2002. Sanchez also has a shot at the single-season tackles record of 121, set by Tyrone McKenzie in 2007. Sanchez had 120 last season. --Adelson


20. West Virginia

Through six games of his freshman year at Florida, Will Grier produced a passing efficiency of 145.4. That would've been the ninth-most efficient season ever at West Virginia. If Grier can build off his first season, he could challenge Jake Kelchner's 1993 mark of 164.0. --Trotter


21. Florida

Three players have hit 67-yard field goals at the FBS level, but all of those were from tees. Martin Gramatica's 65-yarder for Kansas State against Northern Illinois in 1998 stands as the longest field goal made without at tee at the FBS level. Florida's Eddy Pineiro made two 54-yard field goals last season, but he has hit a 77-yarder and an 81-yarder on the practice field. Don't be surprised if McElwain throws him out to attempt something from 65 yards or farther this season. --Aschoff


22. Virginia Tech

It's rare that a kicker gets lauded as a team leader, but that's the case with the Hokies' Joey Slye, who is one of the weight-room beasts (seriously!) and one of the hardest workers at practice. It's fitting then that Slye could set Virginia Tech's all-time record for scoring this year with 50 total points. The record of 371 currently belongs to Shayne Graham, but Slye, who racked up 118 points last season alone, is at 321, so he seems a safe bet to set a new standard. --Hale


23. Texas

QB Shane Buechele threw for 2,958 yards last season, a Texas freshman record. If he stays in a starting role for four years, with a 16 percent improvement over his production in 2016, Buechele would pass Colt McCoy's career yardage record. More realistic? Buechele -- or Sam Ehlinger -- surpassing McCoy's 3,859 passing yards from 2008, the UT single-season record. --Sherman


24. Boise State

In just two seasons, quarterback Brett Rypien has already attempted 824 career passes, which has him fifth on Boise State's all-time list and only 395 behind leader Kellen Moore, whose total of 1,219 came in four seasons. Rypien also needs seven 300-plus-yard passing games to break Moore's record of 16. --Bonagura


25. Washington State

In three seasons at WSU, including two as the full-time starter, QB Luke Falk has thrown 89 touchdown passes, which leaves him 27 behind former USC quarterback Matt Barkley's conference record. Considering he has thrown 38 touchdowns the past two seasons, Falk figures to have a good shot at owning the record when he leaves for the NFL. --Bonagura