USCBlitz.com's College Football Preseason Top 10

Note: Originally written in March

Where would we be without preseason polls? Well...actually, we would probably be somewhere better off, but it's hard to resist ranking the top teams heading into spring practices. Among those just missing out; Dennis Erickson's Sun Devil team. Rudy Carpenter (yes, he did survive the beating from USC last year) will have his work cut out for him, facing a schedule that includes my #1 and #2 teams.

1. USC Trojans
Mitch Mustain and Mark Sanchez will be battling for the Trojans quarterback position. And whomever comes out on top will have to step up fast. USC has non-conference games at Virginia and at home to the Buckeyes in their first 2 games of the season. Once again, Pete Carroll will field the most talented team in the country on offense and defense. These Trojans appear poised for another national title run.

2. Georgia Bulldogs
Yes, everybody missed out when the Rose Bowl committee chose Illinois over the Bulldogs last year. And if Georgia is going to make it to the NC game to possibly play the Trojans this year, then they will have to navigate an extremely difficult schedule that includes road games against Auburn, Arizona State, and LSU.

3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Senior linebacker James Lauranitis bypassed the NFL and returns to a Buckeye team that has (once again) a dangerously easy schedule. The Big Ten sucks, thats pretty much all there is to it. Which is why the Buckeyes might make another (3rd times a charm?) run at the national title game and why Beanie Wells will probably be near the top of every Heisman watch throughout the season.

4. Florida Gators
Watch out college football. The sensational sophmore season that Tim Tebow (aka Superman) had last year was no fluke. Percy Harvin, former Trojan RB Emmanuel Moody, and senior TE Cornelius Ingram should be enough on offense so that a pretty mediocre defense can survive the SEC.

5. Oklahoma Sooners
Sophmore Sam Bradford lost his favorite target when Malcolm Kelly left (for the NFL). However, they return a boatload of talent on both sides of the ball, including a couple horses in the backfield. They don't play Missouri and the rest of their schedule is favorable. Bob Stoops' Sooners had better watch out for a rejuvenated Texas team on defense. Mack Brown hired defensive mind Will Muschamp in the offseason and hopes to bring back some bite to a young, athletic Longhorn defense.

6. Clemson Tigers
Yet again, it seems the Clemson Tigers are the sneaky favorites to walk away with the ACC title. They got a significant boost when James Davis decided to not bolt for the NFL. The explosive combination of RB's James Davis and CJ Spiller proved inconsistent last year, part of which can be blamed on the offensive line's inability to create holes. Look for big seasons out of the 2 of them. Will Proctor was very quietly the second best QB in the ACC last year and looks to take the next step toward stardom this year. Tommy Bowden has also done a terrific job bringing in new talent. It should be interesting to see how some of the young players on this team are utilized.

7. West Virginia Mountaineers
WR Darius Reynaud, FB Owen Schmidt, RB Steve Slaton, and Rich Rodriguez are significant losses. However, senior QB Pat White will be starting in his 4th consecutive season and speedy Noel Devine showed why he was such a highly touted recruit last year. The West Virginia defense always plays with passion and it looks like the Big East will be decided by 1 old contender (the Mountaineers) and 2 new contenders (Pittsburgh and South Florida). The Big East will be nowhere near as competitive as the Ray Rice, Steve Slaton, and Brian Brohm days and because of that, I expect Pat White to claw his team to the top.

8. Missouri Tigers
Look for the Tigers to dominate the Big 12 North as I see no other real contenders emerging. Missouri will be too much to handle behind the arm of Chase Daniel and explosive WR Jeremy Macklin. However, an emerging group on defense will have to step up if they are going to come out on top in the big games.

9. Texas Longhorns
Mack Brown needed change and he got it in Will Muschamp, a defensive genius with an impressive resume. And although losing Limas Sweed and Jamaal Charles to the NFL is tough, Colt McCoy will still have lots of great talent surrounding him. The Longhorns could emerge as national contenders should they win the competitive Big-12.

10. LSU Tigers
The defending national champs have all the talent they need but off the field issues like they had with QB Ryan Perrilloux can be especially costly in the SEC. A repeat appears a longshot for this Les Miles team.

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