The ACC is almost as easily winnable for the Hokies as the Big East is for the Mountaineers. They don't have a single preseason Top 25 team on their schedule, but I figure they'll lose one of their challenging road games at Nebraska, Boston College or Florida State. Still, I think VT will beat Wake Forest in the ACC title game, but will have too far to climb up the BCS rankings to make it into the National Championship.
16 - Arizona State (10-2, 6-2)
The Sun Devils have a couple of difficult road games to open October. They play at Cal and USC.
17 - BYU (11-1, 7-1)
Boise State, Hawaii, and now BYU. Even if the Cougars can get by non-conference battles with Washington and UCLA, they'll still have a hungry Utah team waiting for them in Salt Lake City on Nov. 22.
18 - Tennessee (8-4, 5-3)
The Volunteers have to travel to UCLA, Auburn, Georgia, and South Carolina.
19 - Illinois (8-4, 5-3)
The Illini have one of the most difficult schedules in the country. It includes road games at Missouri, Penn State, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
20 - Oregon (9-3, 5-3)
The Ducks travel to Southern Cal, Arizona State, and California.
21 - South Florida (10-2, 6-2)
The Big East Championship and quite possibly who plays USC in the BCS title game could be decided when the Bulls travel to West Virginia on Dec. 6.
22 - Penn State (10-2, 6-2)
The Nittany Lions play at Wisconsin and Ohio State.
23 - Wake Forest (11-1, 7-1)
The Demon Deacons are my sleeper team for 2008. The get to play Clemson and Boston College at home and their toughest road game is at FSU on Sept. 20. I don't think they'll get by Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game, though.
24 - Michigan (10-2, 6-2)
If the Wolverines can get by Miami of Ohio on Sept. 6, they'll still probably lose at Penn State and Ohio State.
25 - Fresno State (10-2, 7-1)
The Bulldogs have a tough enough non-conference schedule that if they run the table, they should be able to move up the polls enough to grab a BCS game. If they can get past Rutgers, Wisconsin, and UCLA, they'll still have a tough game at Boise State on Nov. 28.
ACC Championship Game
Virginia Tech (12-1) def. Wake Forest (11-2)
Big XII Championship Game
Oklahoma (12-1) def. Missouri (11-2)
SEC Championship Game
Georgia (11-2) def. Auburn (10-3)
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
USC (13-0) def. West Virginia (12-1)
Jordan Schwartz is Bleacher Report's New York Yankees Community Leader. His book "Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man" is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and authorhouse.com. Jordan can be reached at jordanschwartz2003@yahoo.com.
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