Picking the best college football team in each state entering the 2019 season

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The 2019 college football season is fast approaching. To help kick off the year, we're rebooting our preseason tradition unlike any other: picking the best Division I program in every (applicable) state. Before getting to the selections, though, let's lay out a few ground rules from our end.
This is not a list of the programs that have had the most all-time success in each state. Rather, it's a look at what teams we believe are playing the best following last season and entering the 2019 campaign. As such, records, head-to-head wins and other recent accomplishments were taken into consideration. If the choice was tougher, we looked at the last two to three years. Conversely, this is not a projection of which team will be the best this upcoming season. And there weren't any choices close enough to warrant that as a tiebreaker. 
We evaluated Division I programs from the FBS and FCS to cover 48 of 50 states. Alaska and Vermont were the only two states without a college football program at either of those levels -- Alaska doesn't have one at any level -- so they are being withheld. All others have at least one FBS or FCS football program. By and large, we found many states to be simple. But, of course, there are always a handful each year that prove to be more difficult than others to decide. 
Here are our choices for the top football program in each state. Did we get it right? Wrong? Check them out below.

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Alabama -- Alabama: Five straight trips to the College Football Playoff, five national championships since 2009 and eight wins out of the last 11 tries over Auburn makes this an easy choice. Maybe the Tigers should try the "Kick Six" play more often to make this at least debatable. -- Barrett Sallee

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Arkansas -- Arkansas State: Arkansas went from bad to worse in 2018 when it went 2-10 in Chad Morris' first year at the helm. Across the state, Arkansas State went 8-5 and 5-3 in the Sun Belt. They both got smoked by Alabama, so there goes that comparison. It's impossible for us to put a 2-10 team in here when there's another FBS program that went 8-5. Maybe if the two would play each other every once in a while… --Sallee

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Florida -- Florida: UCF won this title last year, but Florida's run to the Peach Bowl and a 10-win season in the SEC was enough to knock the Knights off of their perch after one season. Plus, the Gators topped LSU by eight points while the Knights lost by eight to the injury-riddled Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl. Maybe the two should play a two-for-one series and settle this once and for all? Just a thought. -- Sallee

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Georgia -- Georgia: This isn't as much of a no-brainer as Alabama, but it's close. The Bulldogs nearly won the national title two years ago, played a de facto national quarterfinal against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game last year and have won eight of the last 10 games over Georgia Tech in the rivalry known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. -- Sallee

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Kentucky -- Kentucky: Louisville held this spot heading into last season -- the first without quarterback Lamar Jackson. Then Bobby Petrino forgot how to coach football, Mark Stoops led Kentucky to a 10-win season and the Wildcats thumped the hapless Cardinals 56-10 in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicated. Kentucky has stability, a pedigree of success and hope in 2019. -- Sallee

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Louisiana -- LSU: The Tigers don't have much in-state competition, but that hasn't stopped them from becoming a consistent force in the state between the white lines and on the recruiting trail. Louisiana Tech played the Tigers relatively close last year in Death Valley, but even an upset wouldn't be enough for the Bulldogs to make a case. -- Sallee

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Mississippi -- Mississippi State: First-year Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead led the Bulldogs to an 8-5 record, one-year after Dan Mullen left for Florida. Meanwhile, Ole Miss finished 5-7 during its second season under Matt Luke. The Bulldogs destroyed the Rebels 35-3 in the Egg Bowl and regained state pride in a series that has gone back-and-forth over the last four seasons. -- Sallee

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Missouri -- Missouri: Southeast Missouri State went 9-4 and made the second round of the FCS playoffs last year, which deserves at least a little bit of recognition. That pales in comparison to Missouri's 8-5 season, .500 record in the SEC, dismantling of Florida and pattern of success under coach Barry Odom. It would take a complete debacle to have any team other than Missouri in this spot in the near future. -- Sallee

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South Carolina -- Clemson: All Clemson has done this decade is win two of the last three national championships, five ACC titles, and had double-digit wins every year since 2011. In the process, the Tigers have topped South Carolina in each of the five seasons. Coach Dabo Swinney has been dominating the state, the ACC and now the nation, and it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. -- Sallee

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Tennessee -- Memphis: Vanderbilt topped Tennessee at the end of last season to make a bowl game, but that pales in comparison to what's going on at the western edge of the state. Memphis has been to the AAC Championship Game in each of the two seasons and has become one of the highest-profile Group of Five teams in the country. Vanderbilt is in good hands with Derek Mason at the helm and Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt should get the Vols turn around at some point. But until that happens, Tennessee is a Tiger state. -- Sallee

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Texas -- Texas: It's been a minute since we said Texas was the best team in its own state, which is a good microcosm for the program over the last decade.Last year was the Longhorns' return to prominence, though. They beat the Big 12's three other Texas-based schools and made a run to the Big 12 title game. Expectations for 2019 are just as high. -- Kercheval 

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