The Vikings made it clear in no uncertain terms and actions that Mike Zimmer and his old-school defensive coaching style were the problem the past two years and that Kevin O'Connell, a 37-year-old first-time head coach, brings from the Super Bowl-champion Rams a new-school offensive approach that finally will make Kirk Cousins more than just a vastly overpriced .500 quarterback.

"I certainly believe even moreso now that we've got our leadership in place," co-owner Mark Wilf says. "We're going to work with Kirk as our quarterback … and for 2022, for sure, we're going to be super competitive."

The Vikings tinkered with the idea of trading Cousins and doing a total teardown. But O'Connell's offensive acumen and history with Cousins in Washington convinced ownership and new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to extend Cousins' contract, lowering his salary cap hit from $45 million to $31 million, as the first of many moves designed to run it back with much of the same roster. Perhaps Adofo-Mensah, the NFL's first general manager from a purely analytics background, coined a new term when he described the process as a "competitive rebuild." Sans Zimmer, of course.

2022 Minnesota Vikings Preview

Despite the seismic changes that took place during college football's offseason, the upcoming season will provide fans with a breath of familiarity.

Yes, the preseason College Football Power Rankings are once again led by perennial playoff teams, Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson. But last season's rankings had the Spencer Rattler-led Oklahoma Sooners at No. 2 and both Iowa State and North Carolina in the top 10 -- and we all know how that turned out.

Which team will we talk about as a bust next season? And which teams will tumble out of the rankings after two weeks this year? None of that matters now. It's August, and there's hope for all top 25 teams that made the preseason rankings.

Without further ado, this season's first Power Rankings.

College Football Preseason Top 25

To kick off their 2022 NFL regular season, Josh Allen's Buffalo Bills take a trip across the country to take on the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams, fresh off a Super Bowl victory in September, start their quest to repeat against a team billed as a favorite to reach the big game this season. Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp lead a Rams offense supported by Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey on defense. Meanwhile, Allen and star receiver Stefon Diggs look to take the Bills to the next level, beginning with Thursday night's 8:20 p.m. ET kickoff at SoFi Stadium.

NFL Week 1 Preview

"NBA 2K23 is like watching your favorite team clank a wide-open dunk to lose the game. They’d been playing well the whole time, with on-court gameplay that’s better than ever, plus various retro modes that are amazing for basketball history nerds like myself, and there is a litany of modes meant to hold your interest over for dozens, if not hundreds, of hours. So where does it all go wrong? The NBA 2K franchise has put such an emphasis on pay-to-win microtransactions that its most popular game mode, the online MyCareer, feels horribly discouraging from the outset due to the disadvantage you’ll face unless you’re willing to throw down extra cash. So even while NBA 2K23 emulates the game of basketball so well, both in its present form and illustrious past of the NBA – it’s just more difficult than ever to ignore the emphasis on sucking cash out of our wallets." -IGN

NBA2k23 Review

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