QB Rudy Carpenter returns under center for his senior season along with RB Keegan Herring and all of their top three wide receivers. The Sun Devils have some losses at offensive line that need to be addressed, but this team will still put up tons of points and will give Georgia a run for their money on September 20th.
7. LSU Tigers
The defending National Champs are reeling after suspending projected starting QB Ryan Perriloux for all of spring, but I would expect Perriloux to be back come fall. So, watch for former Harvard gunslinger Andrew Hatch to be running the Tiger offense this spring.
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders
The third team from the Big 12 South in my Top 10. The Red Raiders have very few losses and return Biletnikoff winner WR Michael Crabtree who I predicted last season to have a breakout year. A total of 10 starters return from the nation's No. 1 passing offense and they shouldn't lose a beat in 2008. Expect more yards from this pass-happy Mike Leach offense.
9. Missouri Tigers
Last year, the Tigers caught everyone off guard, but this year they will be a known commodity. The running game is a concern but there is some experience in senior Jimmy Jackson who ran for 331 yards on 67 attempts last year in the Tigers school-record 12-win season and Cotton Bowl win.
10. Florida Gators
Emmanuel Moody takes over at Running Back for a offense that has relied on the legs of Heisman winner Tim Tebow and departed WR Andre Caldwell. The Gators finally have a legitimate running back threat in the Urban Meyer era. On defense, the Gators look to be really stout even with the loss of Derrick Harvey to the NFL. DT Javier Estopinan is the lone senior on a defense that has plenty of experience.
11. Virginia Tech Hokies
The two QB system should be in full force this season in Blacksburg with Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor, who both had bright moments in a season that ended in a disappointing loss to Kansas in the Orange Bowl. Four of the five starting offensive lineman from last year return to give the two QBs plenty of protection as the Hokies look to defend their ACC crown.
12. BYU Cougars
BYU has had back-to-back 11-win seasons and has came close to crashing the BCS in both those years. But some early non-conference losses have done the Cougars in. Games at Washington and against UCLA at home are games BYU needs to win to prove to people that the Cougars are a legitimate BCS team. With 10 offensive starters returning on a offense that had a 3,842-yard passer in Max Hall and a 1,600 all-purpose yard running back, Harvey Unga, the Cougars could run the table and be the next "mid-major" to crash the BCS party.
13. Clemson Tigers
The Tigers have had a great off-season thus far with an outstanding recruiting class highlighted by DE DaQuan Bowers who is one of the best recruits in the class of 2008. He doesn't come until the fall but he should help a team that continues to fall short when expectations are placed upon them. This year, there are 16 starters returning including RBs James Davis and C.J. Spiller. Davis opted to return for his season and is hungry for a ACC crown along with all of Death Valley.
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