It's been over two months since National Signing Day and the NFL Draft is this weekend. Now is as good a time as any to predict the top 25 teams for the 2008 college football season then, right? I think so.
1. Ohio State: The Buckeyes luckily got All-America linebacker James Laurinaitis back for at least one more season, and Chris "Beanie" Wells will finish as a top-two candidate for the Heisman Trophy. On Sept. 13, OSU will go on the road to face USC. In other words, potentially OSU's only loss.
2. Oklahoma: The Sooners lost some key players to the NFL, but DeMarco Murray will be poised for a 1,000-yard rushing season and Sam Bradford for another 30+ touchdown passing season. A plus is that the Sooners will not be facing Missouri in the regular season in 2008.
3. Georgia: Georgia should be a top-10 team all season, despite the difficult schedule. The Bulldogs have to play at LSU and Auburn in the conference, as well as at Arizona State in non-conference play. Knowshon Moreno should come close to a 1,500-yard rushing season.
4. USC: USC lost a lot of talent to the NFL, but this program does not rebuild. It reloads. Quarterback Mark Sanchez and the Trojan defense should have big years as long as the injury bug stays away from the USC campus.
5. Missouri: Chase Daniel will once again be a Heisman Trophy candidate for the Tigers. Missouri lost just one starter on defense and does not face Oklahoma, Texas A&M or Texas Tech in the regular season.
6. Florida: The Gators will put up tons of points yet again in 2008, and they'll have to because of yet another questionable defense. The running game should be improved with the addition of USC transfer Emmanuel Moody.
7. Clemson: Tommy Bowden will lead his Tigers to the ACC Championship in 2008. Quarterback Cullen Harper has two great backs in James Davis and C.J. Spiller and a solid receiver in Aaron Kelly to throw to down the field.
8. Arizona State: Knowing the status of this squad's offensive line, this ranking could be a stretch. Quarterback Rudy Carpenter threw 25 touchdown passes last year, but was sacked an astounding 54 times. The Sun Devils do bring in some freshman offensive linemen, so only time will tell for this team.
9. Texas: Jamaal Charles going pro certainly hurts the Longhorns run game, but five running back signees should come in and provide some depth. Colt McCoy's touchdown pass total must increase, while his interception total must decrease significantly.
10. Virginia Tech: Some consistency at the quarterback position will be needed, as well as a running back will have to emerge to fill Branden Ore's shoes. Maybe a 1,000 yard, 15+ touchdown season like he had in 2006. The defense won't be as solid as this past season, so the offense cannot sputter like last season.
11. LSU
12. Kansas
13. Texas Tech
14. West Virginia
15. Wisconsin
16. Penn State
17. Pittsburgh
18. Auburn
19. BYU
20. Tennessee
21. Illinois
22. Virginia
23. Fresno State
24. South Carolina
25. Wake Forest
Comments (12) Add a comment »
from 20 days ago
You forgot to mention the number one reason Ohio State will make the BCS championship game this year: The Big 10 is a joke! Illinois and Wisconsin are the only other two teams in the Big 10 that will even win 9 games.
Jim Rome says it perfectly: There's the Ohio State, and everyone else. Look for Illinois to upset Ohio State though to mess up the title picture this season. Illinois is fast, Ohio State is big, strong, and way slower. Can't stop the spread offense.
from about 8 hours ago
OSU is fast, very fast..Their struggles with the spread has nothing to do with team speed, and everything to do with the defensive zone they have been running. Look for OSU to update and go to man...All four de b`s will play on Sundays.
OSU will dismantle Ill this year. Wisconsin is the only Big Ten game that worries me.... Wisconsin at home is always a tough game.
By the way Penn St. will be good again this year
from 20 days ago
Tyler, read the last two sentences under Ohio State.
from 20 days ago
The Sooners will be fine as long as they don't go back to the Fiesta bowl, that place just does not like them for some reason. Their powerful O-line must improve its movement if they don't want to get the run around like West Virginia's blitzes gave them in January.
from 20 days ago
Are you serious about ASU? Their offensive line was horrible last year. Now they are going to be a collection of guys without experience? No way they are going to be better than last season. It's possible they might not even finish in the top half of the Pac-10, let alone warrant a Top 25 pick.
USC had 10 potential running backs in spring ball last year. This year they were down to 6. That said, as soon as Coach Carroll discovers that Mark Sanchez isn't the best quarterback on the squad, the Trojans are going to be OK. By then, they will have enough losses to drop out of the Top 10 for the season.
This might be the year for Oklahoma.
from 20 days ago
Clemson does have all that offensive firepower, but being a Bama fan you should know they still have to protect it. The Tigers have to replace 2 linemen from last season to a line that allowed 35 sacks last season. Thats a big if for this team if they want to accomplish anything this season.
from 20 days ago
i'm a huge illinois fan but they won't consistently be in the top 25 or even at all. Mendenhall leaving is a huge loss b/c it took pressure off juice williams, who is extremely inconsistent. He will be forced to throw a lot more which will results in more turnovers.
Most importantly there schedule is unfavorable. They play missouri in STL, @ Penn st, @ Michigan, @ wisconsin, and get ohio st at home. That would make them 7-5. 8-4 could be a possibility but nothing beyond that. They will struggle more than people think this year even though last season was a great year.
from 20 days ago
Arizona State is WAY TOO high, freshman offensive lineman. They MIGHT make the Holiday Bowl but look for them to be in the Las Vegas Bowl.
from 20 days ago
Looks good to me. Wheres Iowa though? just kidding. Arizona State might be a stretch but they could make you look like a genious too! George will have to play really well in the SEC to stay in the top five as well. They definately could but I think Florida will finish higher than them.
from 19 days ago
Virginia Tech will be good, but not in the top 10. They lost too much talent and leadership on defense, and their offense frankly isn't very good, let alone they lost their top 2 WR's.
I expect Oklahoma to be #1 in the polls for at least a couple weeks of the season. It depends though on if OSU gets the #1 in the first released poll. If so, expect OSU to keep it for a while.
I guarantee that the Mizzou will not do as well as they did last year. Texas and Oklahoma will both be much better,
Mark my words: South Carolina will win the SEC East. Their defense is going to be ruthless with the Brinkleys and Eric Norwood. If they can get their QB and RB situation down, they will be a very tough team.
from 19 days ago
Tell me why Mizzou won't do better than last year. Because they're returning Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, and Chase Coffman on offense? Because the trio of Jimmy Jackson, Derrick Washington, and Da'Vion Moore have looked great in spring practice? Because Jered Perry, Tommy Saunders, and Danario Alexander will form a great WR corps behind Maclin? Because the defense only lost two starters (Lorenzo Williams and Pig Brown) and will return players like William Moore, Sean Witherspoon, Van Alexander, Brock Christopher, Carl Gettis, Ziggy Hood, Stryker Sulak, and Tommy Chavis, to name a few?
If Mizzou makes the Big 12 Championship, it will be at Arrowhead in Kansas City. Read: home field advantage. This just might be the year that Pinkel finally beats Stoops...
from 6 days ago
Tennessee has still one of the best overall records in the country for the past two decades, but this years schedule will be a perpetual trial by fire. After a warm up with UAB the Vols take on UCLA, Florida, Auburn, Northern Illinois and then Georgia. The big question how good Sophmore Quarterback Jonathon Crompton will be. If a second quarterback emerges to share the spotlight with Crompton or if Crompton turns into a first rate producer Tennessee will be poised to compete with anyone in the country. The big game will come early with Florida in Knoxville. If they can win there the next week at Auburn could be back to back victories for the Vols. They are returning alot of people from last season, and running backs Arian FOster and Lennon Creer (a true speedster) could make for an awesom duo. It is very possible for Tennessee to repeat as SEC Eastern champion if they can manage to lose only once to their SEC opponents.
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