2009 College Football Top 25: Ranking Teams 21-25

As a writer who covers college football, I suppose it had to be done sooner or later. The following is a modest assessment of the country's 25 best teams, complete with 2008 records and final ranking, anticipated records for the upcoming season, and criterion for each team's place within the rankings.

Without further ado, here's my teams Nos. 21-25 in my preseason Top 25 poll:

25. Iowa Hawkeyes

2008 record: 9-4 (ranked No. 20)

Projected 2009 regular season record: 10-2 (losses at Penn St. on Sept. 26; at Michigan St. on Oct. 24)

The 411: Between the years of 2002-04, Iowa was one of the premier programs in the country, winning a total of 31 games, including bowl wins over Florida and LSU, and representing the Big Ten in the Orange Bowl once. Then came a three-year disappearing act.

As teams like Ohio State and Michigan flexed their muscle, Iowa ran away and hid, failing to capture a bowl victory while averaging just six wins a season from 2005-07. It appears now as if the pattern is set to recycle. On the heels of a nine-win season—one that included a streak of six wins in the final seven games, as well as all four losses by five points or less—the Hawkeyes are again front and center in the Big Ten picture, even if no one wants to notice.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a publication that picked them to finish any higher than third in conference in 2009, but that's what makes the Hawkeyes so dangerous. Eight starters return to the Big Ten's best defense from last season, and the offensive backfield will house solid quarterback Ricki Stanzi, yet it remains to be seen how Iowa will compensate for the loss of promising sophomore tailback Jewel Hampton, who will miss the entire season due to a knee injury initially suffered earlier this summer. 

Prior to the injury, Hampton was being counted on to fill the shoes of the departed Shonn Greene.

24. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Bo Pelini's 'Huskers are the favorite in the Big 12 North (AP)

2008 record: 9-4 (unranked)

Projected 2009 regular season record: 8-4 (losses at Virginia Tech (9/19); at Missouri (10/8); at Baylor (10/31); vs Oklahoma (11/7))

The 411: A popular pick to win the Big 12 North, Nebraska has just as many questions to answer as anybody in the division, but at least second-year head coach Bo Pelini has constructed a base upon which to build. At this time last year, Pelini must have been wondering why he left defending champion LSU to sift through the ashes and utter chaos left behind by the Bill Callahan regime.

But with Pelini's arrival to Lincoln came re-examination of what made Nebraska so dominating during its glory days, and a shimmer of the ol' winning ways shone through in 2008. Now, with a full year under his belt, one which produced nine wins and a renewed sense of pride among the fan base, Pelini is one year wiser as a head coach, but how will that translate?

Overall talent will allow the Cornhuskers to compete, but starting quarterback Zac Lee has played in all of two games at the BCS level, and nobody knows for sure whether the Blackshirts on defense still exist. A division title is by no means a forgone conclusion, but if Pelini can steer his team through a treacherous three-game road gauntlet consisting of its top three threats—Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado—the chances of playing in the Big 12 Championship will increase dramatically.

23. BYU Cougars

2008 record: 10-3 (ranked No. 21)

Projected 2009 regular season schedule: 11-1 (loss vs Oklahoma (in Arlington, TX) 9/5)

The 411: A visit from Florida State in mid-September notwithstanding, the Cougars should make quick work of a schedule that doesn't feature many challenges. That is, of course, unless you count the opener against the Sooners.

The winner of 32 games over the last three seasons, BYU has become entrenched in the reputation of BCS buster, but head coach Bronco Mendenhall's team has only a pair of lesser bowl victories to show for it. However, with fellow spoilers TCU and Utah both set to venture into Provo this fall, 2009 may finally be the year the program emerges over the hump.

22. Missouri Tigers

2008 record: 10-4 (ranked No. 16)

Projected 2009 regular season record: 9-3 (losses at Oklahoma St. (10/17); vs Texas (10/24); at Colorado (10/31))

The 411: I've been called things much worse than a homer, so feel free to let fly. The bottom line is, in the wake of two of the most successful seasons in school history, Missouri's too talented to sink back into obscurity. Prognosticators who insist a rebuilding project is in order in Columbia are merely skimming the surface for reasons as to why Gary Pinkel's club is the third-best team in the Big 12 North.

Unbeknownst to many is the fact that a program once viewed as a perennial joke is beginning to stabilize. Stockpiling of solid recruits and effective player development over recent years by Pinkel and his staff have the Tigers nearing reloading mode, possibly rendering the losses of players like Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin, and Chase Coffman an afterthought by season's end. 

21. Miami Hurricanes

Miami QB Jacory Harris is a threat to throw or run (Miami Herald)

2008 record: 7-6 (unranked)

Projected 2009 regular season record: 8-4 (losses at Florida St. (9/7); at Virginia Tech (9/26); at Wake Forest (10/31); at South Florida (11/28))

The 411: Take note that the four projected losses don't include a defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooner, whom the 'Canes host at the back end of a brutal four-game stretch that includes in-conference road battles at Florida State and Virginia Tech. That's because head coach Randy Shannon, if he wants his aspirations of returning Miami to national prominence realized, has to have that landmark victory.

Once a faux NFL farm system, Miami hasn't exactly been laden with superstars over the past few years, but that may change. A veteran offensive line should give exciting true sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris plenty of time and space to do his thing, while a running game that was just pedestrian a year ago should get better with the returning duo of Javarris James and Graig Cooper.

Mix in an athletic defense that has been infused with stellar recruiting, including linebackers Sean Spence and Arthur Brown, and the Hurricanes could be on the cusp of taking a leap, not step, toward their return to power.

 Here's a scheduled breakdown of my Top 25:

Aug. 25: Nos. 21-25

Aug. 26: Nos. 16-20

Aug. 27: Nos. 11-15

Aug. 28: Top 10