Monday, July 14, 2008

2008 College Football Pre-Season Rankings

The other day I did the College BBall Pre-Season Rankings, so it seems fitting that I do some college football now.

1. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia has to be the top team, they have plenty back, they return their QB in Matthew Stafford and one of the up and coming RBs in Knowshon Moreno, who should be one of the top backs in the nation. The offensive line is decent with 3 starters back and one decent WR in Mohamed Massaquoi. The have plenty of talent on the defensive side, they all have tremendous depth on the defensive line which includes Gino Atkins. The LB and secondary corps will need to step up with only a few starters back there. Overall, the Dogs have depth and tremendous talent. They have a tough schedule playing at Arizona St., South Carolina, LSU, Auburn, and Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia Tech at home plus the Florida showdown. So we'll see if they can get through their schedule.


2. Florida Gators
Florida returns plenty of talent and experience. Not only are they talented but they're deep and I mean very deep. Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow is looking for another national title. The offense should be explosive again with 8 starters back. Percy Harvin will lead the WR corps along with one of the best TEs in the country in Cornelius Ingram. USC transfer Emmanuel Moody is looking to boost the RB unit. And 4 starters return on the offensive line. The defense should be better, they will be young but talented. The LB crew will be one of the best in the land lead by junior Brandon Spikes.

3. USC Trojans
The reason I have the Trojans 3rd is because they don't have their starting QB back. But Mark Sanchez is more than capable to lead this team to the promised land. The Trojans only return 4 starters on offense but they are loaded all over the place. The WRs will be exceptional with Vidal Hazelton and Patrick Turner back. They will have the deepest backfield in the nation with Joe McKnight, Stafon Johnson, CJ Gable, and Allen Bradford. The defense will be the best in the nation, the defensive front will be stellar and the LB unit will be the best in the nation lead by Rey Maualuga and Brian Cushing and the secondary returns starters which includes Kevin Ellison and Taylor Mays.

4. Ohio St. Buckeyes
The Buckeyes will be the most experienced of all the top teams next season. They return 17 total starters and this could be the year they finally put it together and win it all. QB Todd Boeckman returns along with WRs Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline. RB Chris (Beanie) Wells should be one of the top backs in the nation. The defense should be solid with James Laurinaitis and Malcolm Jenkins deciding to return.

5. Oklahoma Sooners
The Sooners should be the favorite to win the Big 12 once again. 18 total starters are back in all. QB Sam Bradford returns along with DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown at tailback. Oklahoma should have two of the top front lines in the nation, which will only help their cause for a BCS Title berth.

6. West Virginia Mountaineers
WVA should be one of the fastest teams in the country again. Speedster QB Pat White is back, RB Steve Slaton may be gone but sophomore Noel Devine showed he can replace him. Devine could be a darkhorse for the Heisman this season. The defense should also be solid with several starters back and some experienced LBs.

7. Missouri Tigers
Mizzou returns 15 starters from a team that should have made a BCS Bowl. Heisman candidate Chase Daniel is back along with a slough of talented WRs. There's questions at RB with Tony Temple gone. The defense should be very tough again as 3 linemen return. The LB corps returns all 3 starters along with the secondary as well. Missouri should challenge Oklahoma and Texas for the Big XII Title.

8. Clemson Tigers
Clemson should be the ACC favorite. QB Cullen Harper returns after having a surprising 2007 campaign. They also have the best RB tandem in the nation in James Davis and C.J. Spiller. Both starting WRs return but they'll need to find some people to step up on the offensive line. The defense will good again, the defensive front will be nasty which includes Dorell Scott. The LBs return only one starter but the secondary will be one of the best in the nation with Chris Clemons and Crezdon Butler.

9. Texas Longhorns
QB Colt McCoy returns and is looking for a BCS Title berth. One question is at RB where Jamal Charles left early for the NFL. The WRs should be solid along with the offensive line. OG Cedric Dockery is one of the top linemen in the country. The defense has quite a few wholes to fill as they only return 4 starters and not much experience.

10. Auburn Tigers
Auburn is switching to the spread which seems fitting in the SEC. They do lose QB Brandon Cox but they have some talented back-ups to help fill that void. The WRs will be talented and help out the new QB. The line will be stellar with 4 starters back there. Watch out for the defense as they have plenty of starters and depth back led by LB Tray Blackmon.

Outside Looking In:
Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Arizona St., Illinois, Virginia Tech, Kansas, & BYU

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow you don't have LSU in the top ten. QB or no QB LSU still has a top offensive and Defense line with alot of talent around them. I can't wait till the end of the season and we finish on top.

Anonymous said...

In regard to the Auburn comment: "They do lose QB Brandon Cox but they have a talented one in Blake Field." I'm sure you must mean Kodi Burns or Chris Todd, who are the top two candidates to fill the starting QB spot.

Anonymous said...

Re Auburn:

Blake Field transferred to Valdosta in Janurary. He sat at 3rd string behind Kodi Burns last year. He was 3rd string again at AU in the Spring behind Chris Todd and Kodi Burns and would not have started at Auburn even if he had stayed. His role at Auburn was marginalized to that of a special teams player.

http://blog.al.com/goldmine/2008/01/auburn_backup_qb_blake_field_t.html

I'm not sure if it is possible for your statement to be more misinformed than it is...

Stefan Ming said...

Sorry about the misinformation on Blake Field. I guess I didn't do enough research on Auburn. TSF regrets the error.

As for LSU being a top 10 team. Absolutely not. If Periloux was still there, yes. They do return a number of defensive starters but the offense will struggle this year. Remember they play in the SEC. They will be a top 20 team though. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.