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
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