Preseason College Football Rankings: Top Teams Sure to Stumble in 2012
College football won't officially start the 2012 season for months. Spring games are approaching and the top teams in the nation are ready to prove they belong, though some are sure to disappoint.
Once the real action starts next fall these teams will likely romp the competition to start out the year, but they will stumble along the way, of that there is no doubt.
By the end of the season, the top 25 won't look anything like it does now, with few exceptions.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Here are the teams currently sitting atop the preseason college football rankings who will surely fall.
USC: No. 2
Matt Barkley and Robert Woods are likely going to have a monster season together. Barkley is one of the early favorites to win the 2012 Heisman Trophy, and the Trojans will feature an explosive offense that will likely steamroll inferior teams to start the year.
Unfortunately, they play in the Pac-12. In the last 10 years, there have only been three teams to finish the season with undefeated conference records: the 2009 Oregon Ducks and the 2003, 2004 Trojans.
Teams like the Washington Huskies and Oregon State Beavers always manage to pull off a few upsets every year, knocking the top seeds off their pedestal.
2012 won't be any different.
Oregon: No. 5
You can take everything I said about USC and apply it to the Ducks.
What's worse for the Ducks is that they will be going into the 2012 season without LaMichael James and Darron Thomas to spark their offense.
In Thomas' absence, Bryan Bennett is said to be leading the quarterback competition ahead of redshirt freshman Marcus Mariota and freshman Jake Rodriguez (watch an interview with Bennett here about his development, via The Oregonian).
The Ducks possess a lightning-fast defense, led by linebacker Kiko Alonso.
They are fast, but speed doesn't always win. The defense will get pushed around in the trenches by the Stanfords of the world, and without Thomas and James scoring every three minutes they are likely to get blown out a time or two this season.
South Carolina: No. 8
The Gamecocks are likely to fall out of the top 25 by the time the 2012 season is over and done with.
Playing in the SEC, they will face LSU (No. 1), Georgia (No. 4) and Arkansas (No. 6)—not to mention they also play against Florida and Tennessee this year, both of which will be tough tests.
Connor Shaw is likely to take the starting quarterback duties from day one, but he will be running for his life most of the time against the insanely fast and strong defenses these aforementioned teams throw out on the field.
It will be even tougher for Shaw when you consider that Alshon Jeffery isn't going to be around as a safety net.
The Gamecocks won't last long in the top 25, of that I'm certain.
2012 College Football Preseason Top 25
1. LSU
2. USC
3. Alabama
4. Georgia
5. Oregon
6. Arkansas
7. Florida State
8. South Carolina
9. West Virginia
10. Michigan
11. Oklahoma
12. Kansas State
13. Wisconsin
14. Michigan State
15. Ohio State
16. Stanford
17. Nebraska
18. Virginia Tech
19. Clemson
20. Oklahoma State
21. Texas
22. TCU
23. Boise State
24. Notre Dame
25. Florida
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
