| Team | 1996 Record | Returning Starters |
| 1. Penn State | 11-2 | 13 —Seventy, pleasant, no sign of gray: a favorable weather forecast? Nope, Joe Paterno |
| 2. Tennessee | 10-2 | 15 —Give LB/DE Leonard Little lots of credit for sparking the SEC's top defense (236.6 yards allowed per game in '96) |
| 3. Washington | 9-3 | 16 —Last 11 Huskies quarterbacks have gone on to play pro ball; Brock Huard will be the 12th |
| 4. Florida | 12-1 | 12 —Steve Spurrier, the winningest SEC coach in history, is 53-6 in conference games and 41-2 in the Swamp |
| 5. Colorado | 10-2 | 15 —With games at Michigan, Texas and a season finale at home against Nebraska, Buffaloes hard-pressed to match '96 record |
| 6. Florida State | 11-1 | 14 —Four-year starter and Butkus Award candidate Daryl Bush will anchor defense that was No. 1 against the rush in '96 |
| 7. North Carolina | 10-2 | 17 —Cornerback Dré Bly was named first-team AP All-America on defense, the first freshman to earn that honor |
| 8. Nebraska | 11-2 | 11 —Big game: Sept. 20 at Washington, the only foe Tom Osborne (0-2) hasn't beaten in a regular-season game in the past decade |
| 9. Notre Dame | 8-3 | 15 —Why Ron Powlus really returned: an offensive line that includes four starters who average 6'6 1/2", 297 pounds |
| 10. Louisiana State | 10-2 | 18 —SEC's best ground team (211.1 yards per game in '96) has all its rushers back and could make a run for conference title |
| 11. Ohio State | 11-1 | 9 —Junior safety Damon Moore was first nonlinebacker since World War II to lead Buckeyes in tackles |
| 12. Alabama | 10-3 | 10 —For opposing QBs, tackle Michael Myers (13 sacks last season) is scarier than his Halloween namesake |
| 13. Texas | 8-5 | 14 —Austin powers James Brown (QB), Ricky Williams (TB) and Phil Dawson (K) will lead the Longhorns' scoring explosion |
| 14. Miami | 9-3 | 12 —Hurricanes lost three games in Orange Bowl in '96, one more than their total from 1985 through '95 |
| 15. Arizona | 5-6 | 18 —Keith Smith not only most efficient passer among returning Pac-10 quarterbacks but also Arizona's No. 2 rusher (546 yards) in '96 |
| 16. Michigan State | 6-6 | 17 —Tailback Sedrick Irvin tries to improve on his 1,067 yards rushing last fall, a record for a Spartan freshman |
| 17. Syracuse | 9-3 | 12 —The Orangemen have never won the Big East title outright. Could this be the year? |
| 18. Michigan | 8-4 | 15 —Why does junior cornerback-flanker Charles Woodson wear number 2? Because he's the best two-way player in the game |
| 19. Stanford | 7-5 | 13 —Smart choice, Chelsea Clinton: Princeton has no home games in '97; Cardinal has six, including one against Notre Dame |
| 20. Auburn | 8-4 | 18 —Tigers have 10 starters back on a defense that tied for Division I-A lead with 36 forced turnovers |
