<~>College Footbal Pre-Season Rankings<~>

Young Star

1. USC Trojans
You win championships with great defense and a veteran quarterback, and the Trojans are lights out in both areas. There are 10 starters back from a defense that head coach Pete Carroll called the fastest he has had during his time at USC, and quarterback John David Booty could be the third signal-caller at USC in the last six years to win the Heisman Trophy. They should start out No. 1 on everybody's preseason list and will be favored in every game.



2. Michigan Wolverines
The Wolverines were 11-0 last season before losing their last two contests against highly ranked Ohio State and USC. There is some work to do on defense where they lost seven starters, but they return huge play-makers on offense in quarterback Chad Henne, running back Michael Hart, and wide receiver Mario Manningham. Michigan also has eight home games, including one against Ohio State. I just can't believe the Wolverines would lose to the Buckeyes four years in a row.



3. West Virginia Mountaineers
When it comes to matching athletes with a system, there is no team in the country with a better quarterback/tailback combination than Pat White and Steve Slaton. The Mountaineers' toughest road games are at Rutgers and South Florida, but more importantly they play Big East challenger Louisville at home. WVU will be favored in all 12 games this year, and the biggest question mark just might be how it handles the loss of offensive line coach Rick Trickett, who left for Florida State.



4. LSU Tigers
Last year the Tigers played four top-10 teams on the road and still finished with an 11-2 record and a No. 3 final ranking. This year's schedule is a whole lot easier as only one of LSU's five road opponents had a winning record last year. There is no replacing the No. 1 selection in the NFL draft, quarterback JaMarcus Russell, but senior Matt Flynn gets a shot. Flynn was the 2005 Peach Bowl MVP filling in for Russell. The defense, with eight starters back, will be one of the nation's best.



5. Texas Longhorns
The Longhorns won 10 games last year with redshirt freshman quarterback Colt McCoy, and along the way he threw for more touchdown passes in a game (six) and in a season (29) than any QB in school history. Had he not missed most of the Kansas State game and been less than 100 percent against Texas A&M in the final two contests of the regular season, Texas would have had a chance of playing for the national championship. The winner of the Red River Shootout with Oklahoma should win the South Division and have a chance to contend for the national championship.



6. Florida Gators
In quarterback Tim Tebow, head coach Urban Meyer finally has a quarterback at Florida with the running and throwing ability to run his offense. But the Gators just lost too many players to the NFL for them to return to the national championship game. Florida has the fewest returning starters (eight) in the SEC and plays only three conference games in Gainesville, but until someone shows me he can slow down Urban Meyer's quest to be the best football coach in the country, I'll have to put the Gators back in the SEC championship game.



7. Wisconsin Badgers
Last year the Badgers won 12 games for the first time in school history, and with 16 starters returning it could have an even better team this season. However, Wisconsin draws a tougher schedule this year including Penn State and Ohio State on the road, and it may not have such a fine record. Still, second-year head coach Bret Bielema's Badgers are a definite contender for the Big Ten title.



8. Oklahoma Sooners
As the defending Big 12 champion with the conference's best returning defense, you would think Bob Stoops' Sooners would be the No. 1 choice to win the conference title in 2007. But there is enough uncertainty at the quarterback position to create some doubt about just how good Oklahoma will be this year. I still think of the Big 12 as a two-team race for the conference crown so the Oct. 6 matchup with Texas should be for a Bowl Championship Series game and a possible shot at a national title.



9. Virginia Tech Hokies
With eight starters back on both offense and defense and the ACC's best returning stop unit, Virginia Tech is everyone's pick to win the conference title. And after having gone through such a devastating tragedy in the offseason, the entire nation will be pulling for the Hokies. However, they must be aware of the potential difficulty of their schedule. After a tough nonconference game against LSU in Baton Rouge, the Hokies play Clemson and Georgia Tech on the road and Boston College, Florida State and Miami at home.



10. Ohio State Buckeyes
The biggest difference with Ohio State this year and last is that after getting humiliated by Florida 41-14 in the national championship game the Buckeyes now know they are human. If they do not get mentally ready for each and every game, they will lose just like any one else. That being said, they still ought to be 8-0 going into their last four games, which include Wisconsin at home and Penn State and Michigan on the road.



11. Louisville Cardinals
Brian Brohm is the best NFL-caliber quarterback in college football, and the only reason I am picking the Cardinals to finish second in the Big East is because they play West Virginia in Morgantown. Louisville and WVU remain two of the most likely teams in the country to finish the season undefeated and play for the national championship.



12. Auburn Tigers
Tommy Tuberville probably did his best coaching job at Auburn last year (yes, even better than the 13-0 season) by riding his kickers, field position and an above-average defense to an 11-2 season and a Cotton Bowl victory over Nebraska. A stronger defense and running game and an eight-game home schedule means the LSU game should be for a chance to play for the SEC title.



13. California Golden Bears
Good things happen when you give head coach Jeff Tedford a veteran quarterback like Nate Longshore, especially when the three leading receivers also return. Despite the chance for an explosive offense, there are only five starters returning on the defensive side of the ball. And the Bears have the toughest schedule in the Pac-10. A repeat of last year's first conference title since 1975 (Cal and USC tied for first) is not likely, but a top-10 national finish is not out of the question.



14. Nebraska Cornhuskers
This is head coach Bill Callahan's fourth year at Nebraska. Although the Cornhuskers probably will be playing Missouri in Columbia on Oct. 6 for the Big 12 North title, the Northern Division just doesn't seem to be catching up with the South – well, Texas and Oklahoma at least. Arizona State transfer Sam Keller should be a natural at quarterback in the West Coast offense, but a tough schedule that includes Texas, Texas A&M, and USC along with a sneaky little booger bear at Wake Forest could keep the Huskers out of the national championship picture – and isn't that what the Nebraska fans really are waiting for?



15. UCLA Bruins
If there ever were a chance for head coach Karl Dorrell to solidify his position at UCLA, this season should be it. The Bruins have more starters returning than any other team in the league, and with that number (20) spread out evenly over the offense and defense the team should be strong on both sides of the ball. The schedule also is favorable and could allow the Bruins to be 11-0 going into their regular-season finale with USC.



16. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia struggled to find itself offensively last season, beginning the year 6-4 before settling on quarterback Matthew Stafford. He led the Bulldogs to three straight victories against Auburn, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech to end the season. Mark Richt's team should take up right where it left off, and if the schedule wasn't so dadgum hard I would have the Bulldogs in the SEC title game.

Young Star

For the most part I agree....
1) As much as I hate USC ...that defense is insanely fast, and they had a GGRREEAAT crop of talent come in.
2) Its simple if yall win against Ohio State = BCS Bowl, if yall dont then its back to the shitter....oh and yall better not fuck up like ohio state
3) Good athletes, but their schedule is not strong.... they will fuck up in the end.
4) The defense is going to be insane, I seriously think that they will be the team to beat.
5) Healthy Colt McCoy = Nationalt Champs, nuff said... watch out

only team I think got shafted are the sooners, as much as I hate them.... their receiver and running back corps is up their with USC..... talk about depth

tbrocato

Go Lsu!!!

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Brutal Strength

It's a somewhat educated guess that either Louisville or WVU is going to be really close to getting a national title bid this year (assuming the big guns stay healthy)..They really don't play anyone but each other. I did see next year that WVU is going to play Auburn so that's a good thing imo...

I think Michigan will fall to a big 10 team. OSU ah yea...Tough year for them,but they will stay around the top 10-15...Their schedule is really down this year. It'd be a good time to have a badass team but they don't...LSU is always sick,but will prolly drop a game in the sec....USC/WVU or Louisville if I had to make a super early prediction...Simply based on schedules versus talent..

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Young Star

valid points..... I just dont see WVU or Louisville coming through in the end, they will drop harder then Ohio State did....


I say its going to be Texas VS USC again in the championship, as you stated, LSU is prolly the toughest team IMO, but its going to be hard to sweep the sec

Brutal Strength

I've believed that for years,and it usually holds up in the end. Years and years of it will bring in new and better recruits so they will make it a reality soon. It's building a defense that neither of those teams every can accomplish. I think eventually building a team up to be a juggernaut in the big east will be as dominating as USC and the pac 10. I would guess WVU,and maybe louisville could be a comparison to a good year for CAL or UCLA.Lately they have been better...Brohmn is the best qb in college football..

Like I said above..Scheduling auburn next year is a bold move..........I really don't think anyone can make themselves look more unprepared then OSU did...

Texas will be good,but I'm not really ready to cash in my colt for heisman card yet...He's way young and definitely improved gradually,but the thing about college football is that you play pisselm tech all year long til you play a powerhouse...I can remember mccoy looking like shit against OSU last year,and people will say because it was so early in the year...I think he's going to be a great qb eventually...Maybe it will be this year,but maybe it won't...We'll just have to see how he does in big games..I honestly could give a shit less about stats or how someone does against pudacah college of the blind...

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Do or do not. There is no try.