5) Since the beginning of the decade, the Pac-10 conference has been about the outstanding quarterback play. Joey Harrington, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, John David Booty, Rudy Carpenter all come to mind when we think of high powered offense from the Pacific coast. This year is not the case, in fact only two Pac 10 teams are sure who their QBs will be heading into the 2009 season. Jake Locker from Washington and Jeremiah Masoli from Oregon are the only two with secure jobs. Locker is coming off an injury to rejoin his teammates who went 0-12 last season. Instead, the Pac-10 seems to boister the deepest and most explosive group of running backs in the nation. Jahvid Best and Jacquizz Rodgers of Cal and Oregon State respectively are outsiders in the Heisman race this season. Pac 10 also includes the powerhouse backfield in Southern Cal of Joe McKnight, C.J. Gable, and Stafon Johnson. Oregon's LeGarrette Blount is an explosive back for the Ducks and their spread offense. These running backs all have the talent to breakthrough the scene, and the best back out of the Pac-10 this season could wind up in New York with Big 3.
4) Playoffs? Still talking about playoffs? Yes Coach Mora...playoffs. Probably the biggest controversy in sports in the past decade, aside from the steriod-era in baseball being revealed, has been the BCS and how much a playoff system would benefit in figuring out a champion for each season. Last year was a prime example for those in favor of a playoff system. Texas beat Oklahoma in last year's Red River Shootout 45-35, but failed to jump over the Sooners in the BCS standings, thus sending OU to the National Championship game against Florida. Also, three teams with two or more losses were sent to BCS games based on conference championships. Ohio State, Cincinnati, and Virginia Tech were thought by many to have not belonged in their respective bowls. Cincinnati and Virginia Tech played each other in one of the more boring BCS games with the Hokies winning 20-7. Ohio State would end up taking it to Texas coming up short 24-21. Then the biggest shocker came from Utah, laying the wood to arguably the 3rd or 4th best team in the nation Alabama 31-17. All these factors caused stirs for playoffs, but arguing and discussing it is a mood point with ESPN getting the rights to the BCS for the next several years.
3) 2009 could be the make or break year for the Big East in the eyes of college football fans. While is it true they have an affiliation with the BCS, they got it back in the BCS's inception in 1998, when Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College are all a part of the Big East. In 2003, when those three went, so did the conference. The Big East held on for a little bit thanks to big time players like Brian Brohm of Louisville and the two-headed machine of Pat White and Steve Slaton, and the rise of fame in 2007 of Rutgers and South Florida. Now that the magic has worn off, the Big East is running low on big time playmakers and nationally competitive teams. Some polls don't even have a Big East team in their preseason Top 25, compared to three teams from the Mountain West conference getting preseason nods. The best team going into the season is anyone's guess, but comes down to either Pittsburgh or West Virginia. Pitt lost their best player to the NFL in the form of LeSean McCoy, but coach Dave Wandstadt has had good recruiting classes. West Virginia is in rebuilding mode after Pat White graduated, but a solid returning defense and playmaker Noel Devine could lift the Mountaineers. This year could be the same as the last with 4 or 5 teams sharing the same record, thus having another 9-3 or 8-4 team going back to the Orange Bowl.
2) Many think that the Big East is keeping teams like Boise State, BYU, Utah, and TCU from getting their shot at the BCS pie. But since we have an automatic bid by the Big East, the discussion begins on who has the best shot in claiming an at-large bid. Utah and Boise State have both had success in BCS bowls. The Utes are 2-0 in their appearances (35-7 over Pitt in 2005 and 31-17 over Alabama in 2008). Boise State won their lone appearance in an historic way, beating one of the best teams of the decade, Oklahoma, 43-42 in overtime. In order to make their names known to the nation, Utah, TCU, and BYU have made their non conference schedules tougher. Utah has added games @ Oregon and Louisville at home. TCU goes on the road to Virginia and Clemson in a couple of tough ACC games. But the team with the most to gain this season if they win, is BYU. The Cougars have put games @ Oklahoma and Florida State at home in the month of September. BYU also plays host to their Mountain West counterparts TCU and Utah at home.
1) What else is new? Anytime someone puts a number one in ranking down, how can it not contain the words Florida or Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow's road to a 2nd straight Heisman Trophy is much tougher than his team's road to a third national title in four years. Tebow arguably more talent around him this year than he did last year, which is scary considering Percy Harvin is gone to the NFL. The list of names is almost scary to opposing teams. Jeffery Demps and Chris Rainey at runningback, Carl Moore, David Nelson, and Aaron Hernandez at receiver/tight ends, and the always dangerous Brandon James at kick returner have the makings for yet another high powered Urban Meyer offense. This is all good news and bad news to Tim Tebow. Good news: his immense talent (and soft schedule to boot) around him gives a great chance at more hardware on his fingers. Bad news: the spotlight is taken off Tebow and spread to the rest of his team. Tebow's chances of winning a 2nd Heisman are hurt, but maybe his team around will put number 15 on the same wall as Archie Griffin.
Here is my list of BCS conference champions:
ACC: Virginia Tech (over Florida State in the ACC Title game). The Hokies return a stout defense and a duel threat quarterback in Tyrod Taylor. Frank Beamer no longer has to decide to choose between Taylor and Sean Glennon, so maybe this takes the pressure off and allows Taylor to be that explosive quarterback that he's shown he could be. Speaking of Beamer, his patented "Beamer Ball" of doing little things (like defense and special teams) has led to a lot of success. Look for Virginia Tech to roll into Jacksonville for their 3rd straight ACC Title game appearance and winning over whoever comes out of the ACC Atlantic.
Big East: West Virginia. The Mountaineers are probably the best team in this mediocre conference. Noel Devine is still an exciting player, and has a great chance at being the Big East player of the year. Backed with a solid defense, the Mountaineers will win a tough, but mediocre Big East, but because of nonconference games against Auburn and Colorado, they're record won't leave them with a good taste in the mouths of the rest of the college football nation.
Big 10: Penn State. It may be time for a changing of the guard for one year in the Big 10. Ohio State has dominated the conference, but find themselves with lots of question marks. Will Terrelle Pryor step up and be the leader they need? Will Pryor find any targets at running back or receiver? How will the defense be with the losses of Lauranaitis, Freeman, and Jenkins to the NFL? Evan Royster and Daryll Clark in Happy Valley look to have the formula to win the Big 10 this year. Along with a strong defense and a home game Nov. 7 against the Buckeyes, look for Joe Pa to have his boys in the BCS mix.
Big 12: Texas (over Nebraska in the Big 12 title game). This is the most exciting and hardest to predict conference in the nation this year. Texas and Oklahoma are at the top, but Oklahoma State is nipping at their heels this year. Up north, Kansas and Nebraska will duel it out for a shot at runner up in the title game. Texas this year has to go to Oklahoma State and arch rival Texas A&M, and of course that "small" game in Dallas Oct. 17 against Oklahoma. But Colt McCoy has his favortie target in Jordan Shipley back, and coach Mack Brown has put together another strong defense to close down on teams, but the season will fall on the arm of McCoy. This is a hard selection with the offense the Sooners return of Bradford, Murray, Brown, and Gresham. It's a coin flip either way, and mine landed on Texas.
Pac 10: USC. Yes, the Trojans will rise up yet again to capture the Pac 10. This year may be a little harder on USC than in recent years. Oregon, Cal, and Oregon State are all much improved and have a great chance to upset USC for the crown this year. USC also plays away games at Ohio State and Notre Dame. If the Trojans struggle against the Irish, they could fall into a trap the next week against the stingy Beavers. The schedule gets tougher after that with back-to-back road games at Oregon and Arizona State. That stretch of games will prove the mettle of this year's Trojans. They have the talent, but do they have the quarterback?
SEC: Florida (over LSU in the SEC Title game). How easy was that? Sure, the SEC may be the toughest conference and the hardest to win year in and year out. But when you have the talent the Gators do, the hype is well deserved. No one in the SEC east is anywhere close to competing for the bid to Atlanta with Georgia losing its big playmakers and South Carolina & Tennessee being down again. LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss will have a battle royale of a year in the west. But look at the roster, and look at the last 3 years. 12 of Florida's starters are seniors this year, seniors that have won 2 other national titles during their time in Gainesville.
My Top 5 guys to make it to the Heisman ceremonies (with career stats):
5) Dez Bryant. WR/Oklahoma State. 2102 yards receiving 25 TDs. 2 full years of play
4) Jahvid Best. RB/California. 1801 yards rushing 17 TDs. 1 full year of play
3) Sam Bradford. QB/Oklahoma. 70% completion 7481 passing yards 86TDs. 3 full years of play
2) Tim Tebow. QB/Florida. 65.7% completion 6390 passing yards 67 TDs. 2 full years of play
my preseason Heisman selection 1) Colt McCoy. QB/Texas. 70% completion 9732 passing yards 85 TDs. 3 years of play.
Four players on the outside looking in for the Heisman ceremonies:
Zach Robinson QB/Oklahoma State
Dan LeFevour QB/Central Michigan
Jonathan Dwyer RB/Georgia Tech
Jacquizz Rodgers RB/Oregon State
Here is a list of some of the top playmakers in the nation (these guys are worth the price of admission):
Noel Devine RB/West Virginia
DeMarco Murray RB/Oklahoma
Evan Royster RB/Penn State
Dexter McCluster WR-RB/Ole Miss
Julio Jones WR/Alabama
Arrelious Benn WR/Illinois
Javier Arenas KR/Alabama
Brandon James KR/Florida
Perrish Cox KR-CB/Oklahoma St
Eric Berry S/Tennessee
Taylor Mays S/USC
George Selvie DE/South Florida
Top Non-conference games (by order of date not importance):
Oregon @ Boise State--Sep. 3. What a better way to kick off the college football season than with an exciting matchup against between two of the most innovative offenses in the nation. Oregon would have a big edge, if they didn't have to travel to the smuf turf on a Thursday night. The Ducks' Masoli looks to give his team an early boost before the meat of the schedule, while this game will determine Boise State's BCS possibilities.
Georgia @ Oklahoma State--Sep. 5. This game could either be a test by a young Bulldog team, or the coming out party for Mike Gundy and the Cowboys. Offense will rule this game in what could be an old fashioned shootout. Young recievers from Georgia, A.J. Green and Marlon Brown shine for Georgia, while the offensive juggernaut of Zach Robinson, Kendall Hunter, and Dez Bryant look to put a black eye on the SEC.
Virginia Tech/Alabama in Atlanta--Sep. 5. Another big tussle for the SEC, this time against the class of the ACC. While the Tide handled business in the same scenerio last year versus Clemson, the Hokies look to become a darkhorse national contender. Stout defenses will rule this game in what could turn into a field goal game.
USC @ Ohio State--Sep. 12. It's pretty simple. Win, and your going to be in the thick of the national title picture, lose and maybe start reserving your Rose Bowl seats. This could even be a preview of the 2009 Rose Bowl, but this will be an exciting game not because of their history, its exciting because the future of these two teams is so clouded. Both look to be rebuilding after major losses in the team, but USC still has immense talent on their sidelines. This will be the opportunity for Terrell Pryor to go from high school legend, to big time college football player.
Florida State @ BYU and Utah @ Oregon--Sep. 19. Mountain West, here is your opportunity to put your product out to the rest of the college football world. BYU has the talent to knock off the Seminoles in a trap game for Bobby Bowden. Utah matches up nicely with Oregon, but Autzen Stadium is one of the most hostile places in all of college football. Wins by either BYU or Utah will catapault them into BCS discussions. Losses, and those spots will probably go to bigger conference teams.
Here are the top conference games to keep an eye on this year:
Florida @ LSU--Oct. 10. Probably the only really tough game on the Gators schedule, and they get a week off before their trip to Death Valley. LSU always gives Florida fits, and Les Miles always has a few tricks under that tight hat of his. Florida has the talent and the experience, but the Tigers have won the last two meetings against the Gators in Baton Rouge.
Texas/Oklahoma in Dallas--Oct. 17. Not only is this game the benchmark year in and year out for the Sooners and Longhorns, and not only has the game had national title implications for the last several years, but it is one of the most exciting games on the college football schedule. Now the country to full aware of Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford, its time for these two Heisman finalists to show why they are the best. Texas has had the better of Oklahoma, winning the last three of four games by a combined total of 139-85. But the Sooners do own a 6-3 record against their rival since 2000.
Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech--Oct. 17. The Hokies and Yellow Jackets are probably going to be the class of not only the ACC Costal, but the entire ACC. Frank Beamer and his Hokies will bring their strong defensive play and try to stop the elusive option attack of Tech coach Paul Johnson and his star at runningback, Jonathan Dwyer. Winner will have the inside track to Jacksonville, and a possible BCS game.
USC @ Oregon--Oct. 31. By the time the Trojans pull into Auzten Stadium, they will have played at Cal, at Notre Dame, and home game against Oregon St...all in the same month. USC will no doubt prove their worth for a BCS title game by going undefeated during this stretch. A loss will almost totally put them out of the title picture because of teams like Texas and Oklahoma playing each other. The Ducks have a tough first month against Boise State, Purdue, Utah, and Cal in September, and may be looking to bring the Trojans back down to them. USC has lost 3 straight games in the state of Oregon (Oregon and Oregon State).
Utah @ BYU--Nov. 28. This could be the game that not just decides the Mountian West champion, but if Utah goes back for a 3rd BCS game, or if the Cougars make it their their 1st BCS game in school history. Utah has a bit of a softer schedule and could wind up undefeated heading into this game. BYU has games against Oklahoma and Florida State early in the year. Utah stomped their counterparts last year 48-24 en route to yet another undefeated season. BYU will be battle tested and ready for a much tighter game when they host the Utes at the end of the year.
Here are my predictions for the 2009-10 BCS:
Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Penn State
Sugar Bowl: West Virginia vs. BYU
Fiesta Bowl: Texas vs. Notre Dame
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma
BCS Title game: USC vs. Florida. Winner & National Champion: Florida
Florida plain and simple has the talent, experience, and rings to prove why they are the favorites. But college football fans could get their dream match up between the two best teams of the last decade in USC/Florida. Notre Dame probably won't deserve a BCS bowl, but their schedule sets up nice for a 9-3 record, which has meant BCS bid in the past. I believe BYU will lose early to Oklahoma, but be able to work themselves into a BCS bid thanks to other tough games they are capable of winning. Because of BCS tie ins, teams like LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech, and Boise State could get passed over by lesser teams.
