College Football 2010 Preseason Rankings: Top 25

As September 2nd draws closer, college football preseason rankings are becoming more and more prevalant on B/R and many other websites.

The following slideshow is my view of what the college football Top 25 should look like when the season starts this Fall.

No. 25: West Virginia Mountaineers

The Mountaineers will return playmakers Noel Devine and Jock Sanders to work behind an offensive line with four returning starters. West Virginia will need to break in new quarterback Geno Smith after limited playing time behind Jarrett Brown in 2009.

WVU can have a potentially undefeated season if they can escape with a win out of Baton Rouge in late September. Besides LSU, the Mountaineers will travel to Pittsburgh in November as well as welcoming South Florida and Cincinnati to Morgantown.

No. 24: Oregon State Beavers

Oregon State will bring back a potential Pac-10 championship squad with seven offensive starters returning including brothers Jacquizz and James Rodgers. The defense will also return seven that include Lance Mitchell, who led the team in tackles with 72 and interceptions with three.

The Beavers will open their season with TCU in Arlington, TX at the new Cowboys Stadium. After the opener, they will have home games with USC, California, and Oregon, however they will travel to Boise State in late September.

No. 23: Clemson Tigers

The Tigers will return seven starters on defense in addition to five on offense in 2010. Kyle Parker, 2009 starting quarterback, is still a question mark after throwing 20 touchdowns along with more than 2,500 yards.

The Tigers will have an easy first two weeks until a week three matchup at Auburn followed by a home game with the resurgent Miami Hurricanes in week four. Along with those two games, the Tigers will have home games with Georgia Tech and road games at Florida State, North Carolina, and Wake Forest.

No. 22: LSU Tigers

LSU will have a unique season as the expectations for the team seem to be higher than usual. This season will be a key for Les Miles with only returning five starters on offense, including QB Jordan Jefferson, and only four on defense.

The Tigers will have home games with WVU, Tennessee, and defending National Champion Alabama in Baton Rouge. LSU will travel to showdowns with Florida and a neutral site game with North Carolina in Atlanta.

No. 21: Penn State Nittany Lions

The Nittany Lions will have to break in a new quarterback this season while Joe Paterno will move the offense in the direction of the style of the player that wins the job. The offense will return seven players, though the defense will only return five to the 11 win season from 2009.

Penn State will have a huge test in week two as they travel to Tuscaloosa to face off with Alabama. Along with a date with the National Champions, PSU will have games with Iowa and Ohio State on the road while bringing Michigan and Michigan State to Happy Valley.

No. 20: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Yellow Jackets will return 12 total starters from their 2009 ACC Championship team. In those players, the team will include at least five seniors on either side of the ball containing QB josh Nesbitt who scored 28 total touchdowns with more than 2,700 all-purpose yards in 2009.

Georgia Tech will have road games with Kansas and North Carolina in the first three weeks of the young season as well as games at Virginia Tech and Georgia. Tech will welcome Miami, North Carolina State, and Virginia to Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.

No. 19: Connecticut Huskies

The Huskies will continue to improve as an FBS division school as they return eight starters to each side of the ball in Storrs. The offense will be led by QB Zach Frazer who threw 10 touchdowns and Jordan Todman who scored 14 touchdowns of his own with close to 1,200 yards rushing in 2009.

Uconn will open 2010 with a date in the Big House in Michigan along with Big East tests in South Florida and Rutgers. They will have home games against league favorites Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and West Virginia all at home.

No. 18: North Carolina Tar Heels

Coach Butch Davis have the Tar Heels coming off back-to-back bowl games for the first time since 1998 but have lost to both in that time. North Carolina will return nine starters to each side of the ball to make a push for an ACC Coastal Division title in 2010.

The Tar Heels will square off with LSU in Atlanta during kickoff weekend. They will also have games at home with Georgia Tech, Clemson, and NC State, and they'll travel to Florida State and Miami.

No. 17: Pittsburgh Panthers

The Panthers will try to ride the momentum off the bowl game win over North Carolina into the 2010 season where many have them as favorites to win the Big East. Dave Wannstedt will have playmaker Dion Lewis among the five returning starters on offense and six of the defense.

Pittsburgh will welcome old conference rival Miami to Pittsburgh in an early September showcase of up and coming teams. The Panthers will have home field in the Backyard Brawl but will travel to Utah, Cincinnati, Uconn, and Notre Dame in 2010.

No. 16: Arkansas Razorbacks

Ryan Mallet and his Razorback team will a potential challenge to the stranglehold that Alabama has on the SEC West division and a sleeper National Championship contender in 2010. Coach Bobby Petrino will have nine returning starters on his offense, however will only return five starters to a defense that ranked last in the SEC in 2009.

Arkansas will have a difficult stretch where they will have a home game with Alabama and neutral site game with Texas A&M sandwiched by road games with Georgia and Auburn. The LSU-Arkansas matchup in the last week of the season will prove if Hogs will be good enough to make their first BCS Bowl Game in school history.

No. 15: Wisconsin Badgers

The Badgers will look to challenge for the Big Ten after recording its first 10 win season since 2006. Scott Tolzien will command the high powered offense that returns 11 starters, which led the league in scoring. The defense will return five starters from 2009.

Wisconsin will have Ohio State, Northwestern, and Indiana visit Camp Randall in Big Ten play in 2010. The Badgers will go to Big Ten rivals Michigan, Iowa, and Purdue as they pursue yet another 10-win season in head coach Bret Bielema’s fifth season.

No. 14: Miami Hurricanes

The Miami Hurricanes made significant improvements jumping out to a startling 5-1 start while finishing with 4-3 ending with a 20-14 loss to Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl.

The U will bring back eight starters on defense and five on offense including Jacory Harris who threw for more than 3,300 yards and 24 touchdowns, however he collected 17 interceptions as well.

Miami will welcome Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Maryland to Sun Life Stadium, and they'll get to visit Duke, Virginia, and Georgia Tech for 2010 ACC play.

No. 13 Florida State Seminoles

The Bobby Bowden era has ended while the Jimbo Fisher era is beginning with seven and six returning starters on offense and defense respectively. The Seminoles will have enough talent to make a run at least to an ACC Atlantic Division title in 2010.

FSU will have a difficult road to reach that goal with trips to Norman, OK along with others to Miami and Virginia in ACC play. BYU, Clemson, and Florida will all come to Tallahassee to face with the Seminoles throughout the season.

No. 12: Georgia Bulldogs

The Bulldogs will try to bounce back from the worst season under Coach Mark Richt at a mark of 8-5 overall and 5-4 in SEC play in 2009. Georgia will return 12 starters to Athens with eight of those on the offensive side of the ball.

After the season opener with UL Lafayette, Georgia will have back-to-back SEC games with South Carolina in Columbia and Arkansas at home. The remaining part of the schedule will see visits from Tennessee, Georgia Tech, and Vanderbilt, however they will travel to Colorado and Auburn in 2010

No. 11: Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes should have enough players in position with the majority of the Orange Bowl championship team to make a run at the Big Ten Title for the first time. Iowa will have six starters returning on offense but will return eight starters to a strong defense from 2009.

Iowa will have games with Wisconsin, Penn State, and Ohio State all at Kinnick Stadium in 2010. They will also make trips to Michigan in the Big Ten and Arizona in non-conference play.

No. 10: Florida Gators

The Tim Tebow era ended this spring as Junior John Brantly takes over in place of the legendary Gator QB in Gainesville. Along with Brantley, Florida will restock the cupboard with new freshman to take the spotlight with the return of 10 starters from the Sugar Bowl Champions.

The young Florida team will travel to Tallahassee, Knoxville, and to Tuscaloosa, the home of current SEC and BCS Champions. Ben Griffin Stadium will play host to games with South Florida, LSU, and South Carolina as the Gators try to advance to the SEC Championship Game for a rematch with Alabama.

No. 9: Virginia Tech Hokies

The Hokies will be coming off their sixth straight 10 win season entering the 2010 season. Virginia Tech will only return 10 starters, seven of them being on offense, but the defense will have four seniors and three juniors to lead the defense that lacks 2009 starters.

Virginia Tech will start the season with the test being Boise State coming off their second Fiesta Bowl in four years. The Hokies will have away games with Miami and North Carolina and welcome Georgia Tech and rival Virginia to Blacksburg.

No. 8: Oregon Ducks

Oregon will look to recover from their Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State and repeat as Pac-10 Champions in 2010. The team will have to deal with the loss of Jeremiah Masoli, but will return nine and eight starters to the offense and defense respectively in Eugene.

The Ducks will have an early task going to Knoxville to take on a young Tennessee in September. In the Pac-10, Oregon has games at home with UCLA, Arizona, and Stanford as well as road games with USC, California, and Oregon State to defend their Pac-10 title.

# 7: Texas Longhorns

The Longhorns will look to rebound from their loss in the BCS National Championship to Alabama this past January. Garrett Gilbert will take over on offense in this his sophomore season, and he will be joined by seven seniors on offense. The defense will return six starters with four of them being senior classmen.

The Longhorns will have home games with UCLA, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State all coming to Austin. Along with the traditional game with Oklahoma in Dallas, UT will have to travel to Nebraska and Texas Tech in the 2010 campaign for the Longhorns.

No. 6: Nebraska Cornhuskers

The Cornhuskers were seconds away from winning the Big 12 title last year after coming up short to the Texas Longhorns. Nebraska will bring back nine offensive starters and six defensively but lose Ndamukong Sum to the NFL.

Nebraska’s schedule will include home games against Texas, Missouri, and Kansas. The Cornhuskers will travel to Washington as well as Texas A&M and Oklahoma State in the Big 12.

No. 5: TCU Horned Frogs

TCU came up short against fellow BCS Buster Boise State in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl after both schools completed and undefeated regular season. QB Andy Dalton will run the offense with nine starters returning while a defense ranked first in the nation in 2009 return seven to the Horned Frogs.

TCU will have a fairly forgiving schedule to navigate in 2010 with the biggest game coming Week One against Oregon State in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium. Within the Mountain West Conference, TCU will have road games with SMU and Utah along with a home game in Fort Worth against BYU in October.

No. 4: Oklahoma Sooners

Oklahoma will be licking their collective lips to improve on their disappointing 2009 season of 8-5 that was distressed with injuries of key players. Bob Stoops will have an offense that will return six starters with QB Landry Jones running the offense and Travis Lewis leading the defense that returns only five starters.

The Sooners will have early season tests with Florida State at home and Texas in the Red River Rivalry in Dallas. To add to those games, OU will have away games with Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and Cincinnati in the 2010 season.

No. 3: Boise State Broncos

The Broncos will attempt to be the first non-BCS conference school to advance to the National Championship this season. The Broncos will return 20 starters from the Fiesta Bowl winning team of 2009 including QB Kellen Moore who accounted for more than 3,500 yards through the air with 39 touchdowns with a minuscule three interceptions.

Boise State will be challenged out of the starting gates with a matchup with Virginia Tech in Landover, MD during Opening Week. Besides the game with the Hokies, the only stumbling block in the Broncos' way will be road games with Oregon State in late September and Nevada on Black Friday in November.

No. 2: Ohio State Buckeyes

The Buckeyes will be a National Title contender from day one of the 2010 season. Ohio State will be led by Heisman Candidate Terrelle Pryor with eight starters back on offense and six on defense.

OSU will welcome Miami to Columbus for the first meeting since the 2002 National Championship game. Michigan and Penn State will also come to the Horseshoe while they will have a Big Ten title rematch with the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.

No. 1: Alabama Crimson Tide

The Crimson Tide should almost be a lock to return to defend their 2009 BCS Championship with the depth charted stacked with the return of Greg McElroy, Julio Jones, and Heisman Winner Mark Ingram. The defense will only return one 2009 starter, however the offense will return nine starters that will continue the explosive output into the 2010 season.

Alabama will put their 16 game SEC win streak on the line with key games at Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU in conference play. The Tide will welcome Florida, Penn State, and Iron Bowl rival Auburn to newly expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.