Way-Too-Early Preseason Top 25

College Football 2008 Preseason Rankings

It's that time again, and I’ve received a few e-mails demanding rankings for the college football preseason of 2009.

A bit early, I’ll go ahead and lay out my predictions (I’ll also stress that no poll can be too accurate until we’ve seen our titans clash a few times).

I can't wait for the season to kickoff (these NFL preseason games just ain’t doing it for me).

Without further introduction: these are the teams that I think will come out of the gate charging and won’t slow down until the big dance.

1. Oklahoma

2. Texas

3. Florida

4. Ole Miss

5. Virginia Tech

6. Alabama

7. USC

8. Oklahoma State

9. Georgia Tech

10. Boise State

11. Ohio State

12. Oregon

13. Penn State

14. Florida State

15. LSU

16. Oregon State

17. Georgia

18. Utah

19. Missouri

20. South Florida

21. North Carolina

22. West Virginia

23. Iowa

24. Clemson

25. TCU

 Sleepers:

My heart goes to Ole Miss this season, these boys have the talent to go all the way this year, if they can remain consistent and ignore the media hype that is sure to spread like wildfire once the Rebels put up a strong show of force against Vandy and Bama. If these guys can overcome their inconsistency and step up their pass defense, expect big things.

Oklahoma State also has a lot of potential to shake things up on the national scene this season (Who knows, we might even get to see Gundy thump his chest again). We will know where they stand after their first game of the season against the visiting Georgia Bulldogs.

Over-rated:

Tim Tebow and the Gators. While their defense returning all 11 starters, a relatively easy schedule ahead of them, and a Heisman quarterback that has left the talking heads from ESPN with severe cases of tennis elbow after repeated fondling under their desks while they discuss Tebow. What could go wrong? Everything. I will pray to the football gods every night until the Gators fail, horribly.

As always,  my way-too-early preseason prediction would not be complete without taking a stab at the different conference champions…

ACC

Coastal

1. Virginia Tech

2. Georgia Tech

3. North Carolina

4. Miami

5. Virginia

6. Duke

Atlantic

1. Florida State

2. Clemson

3. Boston College

4. Maryland

5. North Carolina State

6. Wake Forest

ACC Championship game: Florida State vs. Virginia Tech
Champion: Virginia Tech

Big 10

1. Ohio State

2. Penn State

3. Iowa

4. Illinois

5. Indiana

6. Michigan State

7. Purdue

8. Wisconsin

9. Michigan

10. Minnesota

11. Northwestern

Champion: Ohio State

Big 12

North

1. Missouri

2. Kansas

3. Nebraska

4. Kansas State

5. Colorado

6. Iowa State

South

1. Oklahoma

2. Texas

3. Oklahoma State

4. Texas Tech

5. Texas A&M

6. Baylor

Big 12 Championship game: Missouri vs. Oklahoma
Champion: Oklahoma

Big East

1. South Florida

2. West Virginia

3. Pittsburgh

4. Cincinnati

5. Connecticut

6. Louisville

7. Rutgers

8. Syracuse

Champion: South Florida

Pac 10

1. USC

2. Oregon

3. Oregon State  

4. California

5. UCLA

6. Arizona State

7. Washington

8. Arizona

9. Washington State

10. Stanford

Champion: USC

SEC

East

1. Florida

2. Georgia

3. Vanderbilt

4. South Carolina

5. Kentucky

6. Tennessee

West

1. Ole Miss

2. Alabama

3. LSU

4. Mississippi State

5. Auburn

6. Arkansas

SEC Championship game: Ole Miss vs. Florida
Champion: Ole Miss

Other Conferences:

Conference USA Championship game: Southern Miss vs. Tulsa
Champion: Southern Miss

MAC Championship game: Ball State vs. Kent State
Champion: Ball State

Mountain West Champion: TCU

WAC Champion: Boise State

Sun Belt Champion: Troy