College Football Top 25

It's that time of year. We can all smell it. The college football season just around the corner. And that means two things: Great college football action and great commentary from everyone's favorite TV coach, Lou Holtz! Seriously, it doesn't get much better than Lou getting excited about anything. Don't believe me? Just watch this and tell me this doesn't get you ready for the college football season...



Good ol' Lou. Well, no preseason college football post wouldn't be complete without a Top 25 from yours truly. I was going to do bowl predictions but well, that's just ridiculous. I do have a job. So here's my take on the season to come.

MY TOP 25
1. Ohio State (Tough to pick against my Buckeyes. 47 fourth or fifth-year players, including Heisman hopeful Beanie Wells. Plus, Big Ten is down this year and USC seems to get a player injured every other day. Tough roads tests at Wisconsin and Illinois could pose problems but no doubt, going to SoCal will be the biggest game of the year)
2. Georgia (Probably has better talent than OSU but not the better "team". That schedule scares me. Games at S. Carolina, Arizona St., LSU, and Auburn puts the Dawgs through the ringer. If they get through their reg. season with just one loss, they still have an SEC championship just to get to the Orange Bowl. Good luck)
3. Florida (I was wrong about Tim Tebow. I never thought he would be this good this quick but he is. And he has weapons around him. Game against Georgia may determine the SEC West champion and maybe that BCS National Championship berth. Game at Tennessee is a tough early test)
4. USC (If they stay healthy, they'll be good. Props to them for a tough schedule too. Virginia and the Bucks before the Pac-10 slate. Good thing for the Trojans is that all the tough conference games are at home. Going to nearby UCLA though could be the upset a #3 ranked team would love to see)
5. Missouri (Can't believe they are even in this conversation. But Chase Daniel is another one of those Big 12 QB's like Eric Crouch and Jason White that plays the college game well. 10 defensive starters back is nice but playmaker Jeremy Macklin is nicer. Finale against Kansas will be fun to watch.
6. Auburn (As usual, they will be overlooked by their SEC rivals so they may play spoiler to UGA and UF. Travel to West Virginia this season, making up for years of pathetic non-conf schedules)
7. Clemson (Class of the ACC. Finally, a different Bowden should take the crown. Cullen Harper is a solid QB and they sport a nice tailback tandem. Open against Alabama in ATL. First true test)
8. Wisconsin (Weak Big Ten + Weaker Non-Conf Schedule = Great Record. Tough month of October though. Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois....but all at home)
9. Oklahoma (It's a Bob Stoops team so you know they'll be coached well. As for the talent, debateable. Could see an early upset from the Cincy Bearcats in their second game)
10. Texas Tech (When you pass like they do, you're gonna score points. This year, they have a defense to go with that offense. And their coach, well, he will tell it like it is if they lose...)





11. BYU (BCS Buster?)
12. Kansas (Fightin' Manginos bring back QB Todd Reesing)
13. LSU
14. Arizona State
15. West Virginia
16. Illinois (The Juice is still loose)
17. Tennessee
18. Virginia Tech
19. Pittsburgh
20. Texas
21. Cincinnati (look out for them...)
22. Penn State
23. Oregon State
24. South Florida
25. Oregon

There you have it. My top 25. Sure to be mangled within the first three weeks of the season. Now, just because I put Ohio State at the top of this list does not necessarily mean I think they will win it all. I just think they are the best team on paper right now. How that translates onto the field in a big game is unknown, unless you take into account the past two games they've played in January. Games I am still trying to forget.

Oh, and my prediction for my beloved Bobcats? How about a modest 6-6. Tough to win a bunch of games when you lose people like Kalvin McRae, Landon Cohen and Todd Koenig. 6 wins may be optimistic but it is reachable. It's a weak MAC this year so might be able to surprise some people.

And my favorite for the Heisman right now...Beanie Wells. The schedule just is asking for him to run over the competition, including ending the year with a big impression running over a Michigan squad that is clearly rebuilding under Richie Rich Rodriguez.

That's my take. Again, comments are welcome. And in case you still aren't excited for college football, here is some more reason to be. I will post before the first week of games kick off.