Rank | Team |
1 | Alabama |
2 | Oklahoma |
3 | Oregon |
4 | Florida State |
5 | Stanford |
6 | Wisconsin |
7 | LSU |
8 | Nebraska |
9 | Virginia Tech |
10 | Texas A&M |
11 | Oklahoma State |
12 | Notre Dame |
13 | Boise State |
14 | TCU |
15 | South Carolina |
16 | Arkansas |
17 | USC |
18 | Ohio State |
19 | Missouri |
20 | Georgia |
21 | Mississippi State |
22 | Michigan State |
23 | West Virginia |
24 | Florida |
25 | Arizona State |
- I think Alabama's defense is without a doubt the best unit, period, of any college football team in America this year, which includes the Oklahoma, Oregon, and Stanford offenses. Say what you want about Nick Saban (no, really, do it...I won't stop you), but that defense should be very, very good once again.
- I like Stanford, and Luck is an unbelievable talent, but...there was just too much lost this offseason for them to be a legitimate national contender. PAC 12 contender, yes. However, their schedule is far from imposing...barring an upset (which is of course entirely possible), their only real challenges are playing @USC, Oregon and Notre Dame at home. I don't think Stanford wins all 3 of those.
- This might end up making me look really stupid but I think this is FINALLY the year that Florida State is legitimate once again. Replacing Ponder might be an issue, but EJ Manuel is not exactly chopped liver (talent-wise, at least). He will have to grow up fast with a home date against the Sooners coming in the third week of the schedule. The ACC is fairly mediocre once again, and with no Virginia Tech on the regular season schedule, the Seminoles have an outside shot at a BCS title game berth in my humble opinion. Plus, second year coaches and whatnot.
- It's hard to have a good team without a good quarterback (unless you're Alabama and can thrive on a steady stream of Trent Dilfer game manager clones)...which is why I'm high on SEC teams like Arkansas and Georgia, who both have young up and coming guys in Tyler Wilson and Aaron Murray. The fact that Richt is on the "hot seat" is kind of ridiculous in the first place, but I think UGA does more than well enough this year to save their job. They won't beat out the Gamecocks in the East, but they'll give it a good run. Arkansas losing Knile Davis hurts, but Arkansas still have some good options to go with there, as well as being loaded at receiver. The defense has gotten better the last few years too.
- While I previously had LSU in the national title mix, I don't anymore, and honestly it's not because of the Jordan Jefferson situation at all. LSU has made a living on winning with no-name quarterbacks (Matt Mauk in '03, Matt Flynn in '07, the hodgepodge of mediocrity they've fielded the last couple year in Jefferson and Lee), but I've lost a little bit of faith mostly because the more I've thought about it, the more unlikely it is that anybody unseats Alabama in the SEC West. LSU will still field a good team, but the offense will look pretty bad at times and you'll wonder how they come out with a win every week.
- Sorry guys, but Notre Dame will be good this year. Finding a reliable tailback is an issue, as is the secondary...otherwise, Notre Dame should win 9, if not 10, games this year. I will say that I think the USF game will be an interesting one to watch.
- Didn't know who to put at 25...everybody is saying ASU is the favorite in the PAC 12 South. I have no idea. Everything after about the 12 spot is somewhat interchangeable anyway.
- OSU is no longer a national championship contender in 2011, but they will still field a formidable defense and an offense that is full of talent and will also be given a chance to gel by a weak September slate before going into East Lansing.
- Wisconsin will win the Big Ten but like last year they won't quite be in the mix for the BCS title game. There figures to be a whole bunch of 1-loss teams this year fighting for one of the two spots, and if that's the case I don't think the Badgers get it (assuming they end with only 1 loss, of course).
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