I missed last Thursday, folks, I was doing some little thing with the NFL draft, my apologies. It was just, you know, 15 hours of live streaming video talking about all the picks. Nothing big or anything. Anyway, I'm back and ready for action. You all have questions, I have a lot of bottled up rage from not being in the South last week and, also, football answers.

Gah, this is a tough one. The Clemson defense was not very good last year, even though it allowed the third-fewest points in the ACC. Giving up 25 a game is not the hallmark of a quality defense, but Clemson is going into Year 2 with defensive coordinator Brent Venables, and that's a big plus.

After a year of learning his scheme, understanding some of the principles that he is looking to employ and going from knowing assignments to comprehending the scheme, I think they will get better. After finishing right in the middle of the ACC in total defense, I think they can get to the top quarter of the league this season. 

That also depends on health, most notably Tony Steward, the former 5-star linebacker recruit. He's a kid who's been itching to get back on the field and will provide an instant upgrade if he can play for the Tigers this year.

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CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd reported late Wednesday that the Coaches' Poll was here to stay, as college football moves into the next postseason era. Grant Teaff, the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, and his gang have decided they could not leave well enough alone.

Whether you like the playoff or you don't, this is a bad move for the game.

We talked about it at Your Best 11 in June of last year. We talked about it again in August after the Lane Kiffin fiasco. Then we hit on Grant Teaff's rebuttal to the Kiffin fiasco, again reminding folks why the Coaches' Poll does not work. Once again, it was brought up in August, when Chip Kelly made the clear point about why the Coaches' Poll is not to be trusted. 

In other words, if you've followed along, we have been over this, folks.

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There are several points in the offseason that signify movement, a reminder that a new season is on the horizon.

Spring football, which has concluded for just about everyone, is one of those markers. Conference media days—which have become a sound bite-packed summer tradition right before camps—are another.

An additional strange but celebrated milestone comes courtesy of the oddsmakers. When the brightest, faceless college football minds begin to release point spreads for the season ahead, you can sense the season isn’t far away. That moment, which has arrived earlier each year with the increasing presence of online sportsbooks, is upon us yet again. 

Actual point spreads have been posted, four months in advance of the 2013 college football season. This is not a drill and those are indeed sirens you can hear going off in the distance.

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The Big Ten is doing it. The Pac-12 is thinking about not doing it anymore. The ACC decided it isn't going to do it. The SEC is still debating it. The "it" is, of course, going to a nine-game conference schedule. Before they all go too far, everyone should have their finger on the pause button.

For fans, media and even just casual observers of the game, moving to nine makes perfect sense. It results in more games between quality opponents, more chances to play that cross-divisional rival and, more importantly, fewer games against Directional State University.

There's better competition on the field and a more enjoyable experience in the stands.

However, if you are the teams and conferences involved here, the best move is to leave yourself a little wiggle room. The entire landscape of the sport is about to change, and instead of making decisions before the College Football Playoff selection committee is assembled or the selection criteria is created, hold your proverbial horses.

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With another year of spring football in the books—outside of New Mexico State, which will officially drop the curtain on May 4—college football will hit pause until teams begin reporting to fall camp. I'm sorry, New Mexico State, but the show must go on.

To celebrate this intermission, we’ve created the "Post-Spring Football Top 25." SPOILER ALERT: New Mexico State did not make the cut.

Using our February Spring Football Top 25 as a baseline, we’ve taken into account spring observations, injuries, roster shuffles and other happenings over the past few months. For the most part, the moves aren’t dramatic, although there were a handful of noteworthy shifts and new additions.

With teams locked in place until recruits arrive on campus in the fall, there likely won’t be much movement until then. 

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Last week, we expected to get word on how the new College Football Playoff's selection committee would be set up. Instead, we got a lot of hemming and hawing as the powers brokers were unable to decide what they were looking for in a selection committee.

As we've said at Your Best 11 before, you have to have football guys on board to make this whole thing work.

That means not going the basketball route that so many people are clamoring to see.

Football is not basketball. It's not a sport with a 30-game regular season. It's not a sport with games upon games of cross-conference competition. And it certainly is not a sport that lends itself to simple computer formulas; as evidenced by folks constant complaining about the computer portion of the BCS formula.

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By now, you've all heard how the major college football conferences fared in the NFL draft. The SEC, kings of the world, paced all leagues with 63 guys drafted, more than doubling the ACC's second-place 31. With just eight teams, the lowly Big East had 19 players selected, while the Big Ten, with 12 teams, only had 22 players picked, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

While that number doesn't look great for the Big Ten, the good news is this is not going to be the norm for a conference that is now on the downhill side of a major transition. The Big Ten took a step back, but is setting itself to regain that ground in the coming years.

The biggest names in the league—Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State—are all working with new coaches who are pushing to improve their talent levels, a good sign for the conference's NFL prospects as a whole. Teams like Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois are also looking to upgrade with new hires.

Rutgers and Maryland join the conference in 2014, and while they are not going to be powerhouses, both teams will help put players into the league.

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College football players and NFL draft picks of the future, learn from your predecessors. If your draft window is open and you’re all but assured to hear your name called early, jump right through it and declare.

Don’t think twice about getting your degree, at least not right now. Don’t try to suck the last bit of that magnificent collegiate leisure before life gets real. Don’t hesitate, wondering whether you believe you’re truly ready for the next level. If the information you receive is promising enough, and a big signing bonus is only a few months away, take it and run as fast as you can.

And hope you run really, really fast, because that will undoubtedly help your draft status and also bump up that lovely signing bonus.

As we see each and every draft, players struggle with the decision. Stay or go? Leave as a junior, or try to improve—or in some cases maintain—your draft stock?

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