The college football season is quickly approaching, but is still three weeks away. Personally, I've been ready for it since January 8th of last year, the day after LSU slaughtered Ohio State to win the national championship.
So to keep myself occupied while meaningless baseball and women's synchronized swimming are dominating the sports scene, and to provide some quality discussion about the upcoming year, I have decided to give an exclusive preview of the season from all angles. I'll call it my "Top Five" series.
During the next three weeks, I will break down teams, coaches, players, and schedules from different viewpoints, find my top five in each category, then post them here for all to see.
The best place to start is the polls, where the coaches have anointed Georgia the team to beat this season. Forget who the best team is, we all know that the best two teams aren't necessarily the two highest-ranked. There are many more factors that come into play.
So here are my top five college football teams going into the season, including my pick for the national champion.
5. Clemson
And right off the bat I go with the homer pick. But Clemson is the hands-down choice to win the ACC this season, and has arguably more playmakers than any team in America. Cullen Harper had better efficiency numbers than Matt Ryan last year, and James Davis and CJ Spiller look healthy and strong in camp.
On top of that, three quality receivers return including All-American candidate Aaron Kelly. If the offensive line can gel early—which it should considering the talent level up front—this team will be nearly impossible to stop.
Defensively, there are question marks at linebacker since none of last year's starters return. But this was a top-ten defense a season ago, and in a conference virtually bare of talented quarterbacks, it should be a top-ten defense once again.
The schedule sets up nicely—a neutral site meeting with Alabama and road games at Wake Forest and Florida State are the only potential stumbling blocks. I predict a 10-2 season and a BCS berth, but this team has the talent and schedule to go as far as it wants.
4. Oklahoma
Forget the BCS futility of the past few years this team is absolutely stacked. Sam Bradford was the most efficient passer in college football a season ago, and there's no reason to expect a drop-off this year. Wideout Juaquin Iglesias and tailback DeMarco Murray are spectacular all-purpose players. Murray ran a pair of kickoffs back for touchdowns and Iglesias averaged over 10 yards a carry last year on end-arounds. With all five starters on the O-line coming back, there should be plenty of holes to run through.
Bob Stoops' defense is always ready for prime time. Gerald McCoy is a hole-clogger on the inside, but the presence of linebacker Curtis Lofton inside will be missed. This unit is tough as nails and should be extremely difficult to run the football against.
The Big 12 is tougher this season, but the Sooners get Texas Tech, Nebraska, and Kansas at home. As usual, the game against Texas in the Cotton Bowl will be the key to a great season.
3. USC
21 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Joseph Morgan 11 months ago
Good list, but I think I'd put Missouri, Florida and West Virginia at #5 before Clemson.
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William Qualkinbush 11 months ago
I thought about each of those teams and it was very close, but Clemson's schedule is by far the easiest. Mizzou plays in the top-heavy Big 12 and will probably lose a couple games to good teams. Florida has some question marks on defense, and I'm not sure how they will spread the ball around with Moody at tailback--I think it will take some time for them to mesh. And WVU has a new coach that is unproven at this level. When it came down to the end, Clemson had fewer question marks than anybody else.
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Joseph Morgan 11 months ago
Good points. Clemson will be a force to be reckoned with in college football this season.
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Andrew Messick 11 months ago
good stuff skeet. i agree with each team and it's rankings but i dont think Ohio State will end the season number 1. even if they make the national title game, they wont be ready for whichever team (prob the SEC champion) that awaits them. But anyways i really enjoyed the read.
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Will Lewis 11 months ago
good list. in my mind the only thing keeping clemson out of a BCS bowl or even the title picture is if Tommy Bowden can finally turn the corner and consistently win the big games. I went to high school with Cullen, and the kid comes form a family of gamers, as my dad was with the UGA team when Cullen's dad Jeff Harper was an O-Lineman. I cant wait for Clemson and the Dawgs to renew their annual rivalry in a couple of years
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tom wisemiller 11 months ago
Nice analysis. Not sure if you are listing the 5 best teams to start the season or your prediction for the end-of-season top 5, but your analysis suggests its the latter. It should be a great year because all 5 of your top teams are very talented, solid clubs. That said, when comes to Clemson: I'll believe it when I see it. Also, you recognize that UGA has a brutal schedule. Well, you don't list them #1, so you obviously think they won't go undefeated this year. That means your pre-season predictions are counting on guided missile-like precision: OSU 12-0, UGA 12-1 SEC champs, USC 11-1 (losing only to OSU), & with OKLA probably 12-1 Big-12 champs because a two loss SEC team probably ahead of a two loss Big 12 team. If all that happens, it'll be one heck of a year. But more likely: if Ohio State goes undefeated, they face a non-SEC team because the SEC will be all around "brutal" this year.
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William Qualkinbush 11 months ago
That's pretty accurate, as far as what I thought might happen. I think Florida has some major issues on defense, so they will lose twice. I think they can, and probably will, beat Georgia for their only loss of the regular season. Oklahoma won't escape the Big 12 unscathed and USC will be shocked by an Ohio State team that is better but playing on the road. So that's a pretty accurate look inside my head.
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Thomas USC 11 months ago
I'm a USC guy,,,
but HOW can you put OKLAHOMA and CLEMSON ahead of
Georgia, Florida and LSU ???? !!!!!!
Oklahoma and Clemson have proved NOTHING,,,
NEITHER has Ohio State because they haven'g PLAYED anybody the last 2 years,,
other than the BCS games,, and they got SPANKED !!!
WAIT until a team WINS 2 or 3 games IN A ROW against the top 10 BEFORE putting them in
the top 5 !!!!
OKLAHOMA and CLEMSON wouldn't even get CLOSE to even making the SEC Final !!!
I can't believe you even got posted here dude, you are LOST !
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William Qualkinbush 11 months ago
If you noticed, I have Georgia 2nd, ahead of both Oklahoma AND Clemson.
And it really doesn't matter what the teams did last year. Or the year before that. Or the year before that. I rank teams based on their rosters and schedules for this year--and only this year.
Also, you reference the SEC schedule. If Clemson and Oklahoma played in the SEC, then you would have a point. But every year, each team has to play its own schedule. That's how we rank teams, not based on what may or may not happen if they played each other's schedules, but how they fare against the competition they face each week.
I have already stated my issues with Florida's defense. LSU's lack of a quality QB will hurt them big-time this season, and I feel that they are overrated based on where they will be at the end of the year. Just playing in the best conference doesn't automatically make you a better team than somebody who doesn't.
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Timmy Squared 11 months ago
"Oklahoma and Clemson have proved NOTHING,,,
NEITHER has Ohio State because they haven'g PLAYED anybody the last 2 years"
Really Thomas.....If rankings are all that mean anything to you then you'll love this stat.
Ohio State has played in four #1 vs. #2 games in the last 2 seasons and they are 2-2. I am pretty sure that no other team has even played in two #1 vs. #2 games.
That is almost 1/5 of their games over the past 2 seasons.
Get over last season, no one deserved to play in the NC game, Ohio State happened to be the unlucky team that was chosen to lose to LSU, who would have beaten anyone that night (especially since it was basically a home game for them).
It's a new season and whether you like it or not, Ohio State is back in the hunt.
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Thomas USC 11 months ago
By saying you rank the teams NOT BY WHAT HOW THEY WOULD DO AGAINST EACH OTHER's SCHEDULE, but by WHO THEY PLAY ,,, you TOTALLY EXPOSE YOURSELF as a FRAUD.
IF you ADMIT that CLEMSON AND OKLAHOMA would get killed in the SEC , then you ADMIT
that they ARE NOT TOP 5 TEAMS !!!!!!
If 3 of the best 5 teams in the country are in the same conference,, you DON'T RANK THEM LOWER BECAUSE THEY ARE GOING TO PLAY EACH OTHER !!!
I seriously DOUBT you ever even PLAYED the game or you might have a little common sense.
By the same logic,,
YOU should be the Quarterback at Florida if YOU have a better completion percentage against your intramural team than Tebow does against the SEC.
Your logic smells.
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William Qualkinbush 11 months ago
By your logic, then, if Iowa State played the nation's toughest schedule, then they could be considered the best team. If the team goes 3-9 against the toughest schedule, they don't get brownie points for playing tough teams. They still finished 3-9. By the same token, a team doesn't get a free pass for playing 12 patsies. It's all based on who the best five teams are, period.
You also point out that if 3 of the best 5 teams play in the same conference, then you don't rank them lower automatically. I agree with that...I thought Florida and Georgia were the top 2 teams in the country last year, believe it or not. But I won't rank a team high simply because they play in a top-notch conference. I don't see Florida or LSU as a top five team at the end of the day, just my personal opinion.
I also wish you wouldn't yell...I have a headache.
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John Douthitt 11 months ago
Thomas, do you swim for the French relay team?
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Thomas USC 11 months ago
WAIT until a team WINS 2 or 3 games IN A ROW against the top 10 BEFORE putting them in
the top 5.
WAIT until a team WINS 2 or 3 games IN A ROW against the top 10 BEFORE putting them in
the top 5.
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William Qualkinbush 11 months ago
Your logic is baseless. No team has won any games against top 10 teams this season. Therefore, by your logic, there are no teams worthy of top 5 consideration. What Georgia and Ohio State and Florida and Clemson did last year is entirely irrelevant when forecasting this season. Players have left those programs and new players have come in. The team from last year is not the same team from this year.
Who would be in YOUR top 10?
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Raj Kamruddin 11 months ago
I would definatley have Notre Dame in the Top 5.
:) I Kid, I Kid! Just wanted to get the blood pressure going for the ND Haters.
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Andrew Messick 11 months ago
Virginia's schedule is looking lots tougher this year, why aren't they in the top 5 william?! wait lol u mean u don't predict the top 5 teams by the 5 toughest schedules? lol
Really?...
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Iceman 11 months ago
wheres Florida? they should be on the list before Clemson.
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Emily Thompson 11 months ago
I like the article, but being an Ohio State fan myself, I can't say that USC is the only challenge on their schedule. Away at Wisconsin and Illinios may be tough as well, and no one can predict what goes on when that team up north comes down to play.
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Ralph Richoux 11 months ago
LSU won't need a fantastic QB, we will have the best O-line in the country to block for him, along with some amazing receivers and 3 beast mode running backs. The two guys competing for the job now were cut from the same mold as Matt Mauck and Matt Flynn. Its gonna be another good year for LSU football.
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Chase Dunagan 11 months ago
Dude, Please do this list in late October, after Texas has beaten OU, and Missouri, so that I can see my team in your top 5.
People have no idea what's coming.....
Hook'em!
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