My Pre-Preseason Rankings In College Football

The season is finally over, which means a brand new one is on the horizon. It's time to decide who is the best coming into next year. Many of these top ten teams you may be able to guess, but some may be a surprise.

1. Florida- Their is no doubt in my mind that Florida should be ranked #1 coming into next season. Their entire defense is returning after a dominating national championship run last year, and they're simply just gonna get better. Tim Tebow, one of the greatest of all-time, is returning to play QB, and most other starters are coming back also. Lately, the pre-season ranked #1 hasn't won the big one, but Florida has an awfully good chance.

2. Texas- Texas was very good last season, and all longhorn fans had a gripe about the BCS when it was all over with, but they still have much room for improvement. They have many young defensive back starters that will only get better, and they have QB Colt McCoy coming back for his senior season. With Colt McCoy directing the longhorns on offense, and some slight pass defense improvements, look for the longhorns to be high in the rankings.

3. Oklahoma State- When you think of national title contenders, Oklahoma State doesn't pop up in most peoples heads. But most college football fans do not realize how great this football is. With their big brothers Texas and Oklahoma overshadowing them, not many fans got to see how great they really are. They have tremendous veteran talent coming back on the offensive side of the ball, including QB Zac Robinson, WR Dez Bryant, RB Kendell Hunter, and OT Russell Okung. They're also not looking bad on defense either, with six starters coming back.

4. LSU- LSU may surprise many people next year. They won the national title two years ago, but were easily forgotten with their embarrassing five loss season, and outstanding performances by Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Florida. LSU has the #1 recruiting class coming in, which can do wonders for a football team. Just look what it did to Alabama. They went from 8-5 to 11-2. LSU also has all of it's impact players returning, including WR Brandon LaFell, which may be one of LSU's best ever. If they can get their QB problem under control like they did in the Chick-fil-A bowl, then they will be a force to be reckoned with.

5. Ole Miss- Ole Miss surprised the nation last year with an amazing four loss season. Now...... wait a second. Four losses isn't amazing!!! Well in this case, some how it is. They were the only team to beat Florida, beat Arkansas, stuffed Auburn, squandered LSU, shut-out Mississippi, and showed Texas Tech who's boss. This team was a physical smash-mouth football team that improved during the season more than any other team in College Football. They have almost all of their starters coming back on both sides of the ball, and if some of their younger players can be a little bit more focussed, then they can be a threat to many SEC contenders next year.

6. Oregon- Usually USC is the top team in the Pac-10 year after year. But this year is going to be different. Sophomore QB Jeremiah Masoli is going to be a huge force for Oregon next year. With his powerful running game and poise in the pocket, It's gonna take one strong defense to tame him. Oregon also has motivated runner RB LeGarrette Blount, which will get more carries with former Oregon RB Jeremiah Johnson leaving. Oregon made a run at the title in 2006, but with QB Denis Dixon breaking his leg, the season went on a free-fall. The bottom line is that Oregon will be playing in the Rose Bowl one way or another.

7. Oklahoma- Oklahoma is virtually unstoppable at home. Better yet, they're unstoppable with Sam Bradford at home. Sam Bradford, along with most other offensive starters, are coming back for another season. Although the Sooners had an appearance in the national title last year, I don't think that they have the team to quite do the same this year. They simply have too many tough games on the road including Texas, Texas Tech, and Nebraska. I think that Oklahoma will be a great team, but Texas will end up grasping the Big 12.

8. USC- The reason I'm ranking USC lower than most people would, is because they lost 8 starters on defense. When You lose that many starters, no matter how good you are, it's hard to perform the same way. Losing Mark Sanchez won't be a problem though. USC is known for first year starters to be phenomenal. Their offense looks to be a little better than last years, but defensively, I don't think they can survive with only one loss.

9. Alabama- Although many fans were disappointed with their loss in the SEC championship game, the Tide have a good future in front of them. The #1 recruiting class was what sparked their great season last year, but I think it will do the same next year too. The players are only going to mature and improve their play, which results in Alabama being a considerable force the next couple of years.

10. Penn State- I'm not expecting Penn State to be the same one loss team as they were last year, but with Daryll Clark returning for his 5th year, Penn State looks to have a steady offense. Also, with the ol ball coach coming back to lead the Lions for the 44th straight season, they'll have a disciplined defense as well. I'm saying that they might be headed to the Rose Bowl if they get a few breaks.

Mountain West Wants BCS Bid, But It's Not A Good Idea

The Mountain West has recently argued that they deserve a BCS bid, and that college football fans should want it too because it would add another factor to the BCS. Well at least they got one thing right, it would add another factor to the BCS. But not a good one. The BCS system is already confusing and complained about on a regular basis. We do not need to confuse it.
The Mountain West simply does not have enough quality teams in their conference to put up a quality opponent each and every year. Utah may have beaten Alabama, but I guarantee you that it will not happen again. Only two teams out of the Mountain West (made up of nine teams) beat a ranked opponent this year.
We already have enough lukewarm conferences in the BCS. And they happen to play each other!!! It's the ACC and the Big East. Although they had four losses, Virginia Tech represented the ACC this year in the Orange Bowl. That's weak. The best team in the ACC should have less than four losses.
Now to the Big East. Cincinnati may fool you at first with three losses on their resume, but they're really just a fluke. They haven't beaten a USA top 25 team all year!!! They lost to Oklahoma, Connecticut, and Virginia Tech.
Mountain West, Your just looking stupid by proposing an automatic bid. Usually the harder you try, they better you look. But this time it's the harder you try, the dumber you look. Cause your not gonna get a BCS bid for your conference, and so your gonna come out next year and try as hard as you can to prove us wrong; but it won't happen. Once the midpoint of the season comes along, everyone will agree that we made the right decision.

Their should be 2 things that decide whether or not a team plays in a BCS bowl game. 1) Their record, and 2) Their strength of schedule. Virginia Tech and Cincinnati both wouldn't have made it if the BCS relied on those two factors. Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Georgia, Oregon, Oregon State, and Missouri. Those are a list of teams that deserve to be in the Orange Bowl more than Virginia Tech and Cincinnati.
The bottom line is that the Mountain West is just not strong enough, and doesn't play a hard enough schedule to deserve to play in a BCS bowl. They can earn an At-Large bid like any other team in the nation. But they shouldn't get an automatic free pass to the BCS every year.

Brandon LaFell Decides To Stay With The Tigers

Starting receiver Brandon LaFell declared for the NFL draft on Friday. But every underclassmen has a 72 hour period after they declare to change their mind. LaFell waited until the last minute to change his mind and come back for one more season with the Tigers.

“We are extremely excited to have Brandon returning to the LSU football team for his senior season,” head coach Les Miles said on Sunday. “We were going to support him no matter what decision he made."

Brandon LaFell had one of the best season's in LSU history last year by racking up 63 receptions, 929 receiving yards, and 8 touchdowns. One of his more impressive performances when he accumulated for 12 receptions, 129 yards, and 1 touchdown in LSU's 28 point comeback v.s. Troy State.

“The news of Brandon coming back to school is big for our football team. His contributions to our football program have been very significant and I’m glad we are going to get another year with him," said head coach Les Miles.

When it's all said and done, Brandon LaFell will be one of the best receivers LSU has ever had. Brandon has a legitimate shot at breaking numerous receiving records at LSU. He will be a HUGE help to the Tigers next season, and it looks to me that he came back for the same reason Glenn Dorsey did; to win a national title.

Why Does Sanchez Get More Respect Than Stafford?

Their has been plenty of controversy going around the last couple of weeks about whether or not Matthew Stafford will be picked #1 overall in the NFL draft. Now of course nobody knows who the Lions will choose yet, but some sports fans are brave enough to testify that Stafford doesn't deserve to be the #1 pick, and that Mark Sanchez does! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read an article on how Matthew Stafford isn't worthy to go to the NFL. How come Mark Sanchez gets worshiped, and Matthew Stafford doesn't get any respect? This is a quarterback that stepped in and took control of his team during his freshman year, went up against some of the best defenses in the nation, and still put up decent numbers. But that wasn't it. The next year, he improved drastically by more than doubling his touchdown passes. He came into this year with very high expectations, ranked #1 in the country, and was expected to dominate. He came out throwing for two touchdowns and no interceptions in their win against Georgia Southern. USC did the same by beating unranked Virginia. But for some reason, despite both teams winning, USC hopped Georgia in the polls. And let the spiral begin. Georgia then lost a blow-out to rival Alabama 4 weeks later. Although none of the game could be blamed on Stafford as he put up 274 passing yards, along with two touchdowns and only one interception, he wasn't seeming to live up to expectations. Although many injuries to key players had stumped his team throughout the season, Stafford finished the year with only three losses on his resume. He ended up with 25 touchdown passes, 61.5% completion percentage, and only 10 interceptions; making himself one of the top QB's in the nation.

But then their's the conflict. How come Mark Sanchez gets so much respect? Is it cause he's from USC? The answer is yes. When it comes to football, USC is the most spoiled rotten team in all of college football. How come it's that every time USC wins one game, all of California celebrates like they just prevented the Holocaust? USC blows out winless Washington and Washington State, and the next day everybody's talking about how their defense is the best in the history of college football. It's the PAC-10! The PAC-10 can't play football. That's why everybody go's to USC! Cause it's in California were their's sparkling beaches, great weather, and when it comes to football they play a bunch of Po-dunk high-school teams, so every year you hear about how they're going to the Rose Bowl! AGAIN! Doesn't it ever occur to everybody that USC is in the Rose Bowl EVERY YEAR, and then you think I wonder how they got so good? Well if you want your favorite college football team to be The Team of the Ages and be respected for the rest of eternity, then write a letter to the head of your school persuading him to join the PAC-10. Their is no reason that Mark Sanchez should be ranked ahead of Matthew Stafford. The biggest challenge for him came when he played Arizona State! That's the game in which he threw one touchdown and three interceptions! Matthew Stafford played some of the best passing defenses in the nation including Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Ole Miss. Now for my last point. If your a quarterback, you want the ball as many times as possible so you can make more plays. Obvious, right? Well it's A LOT easier to get the ball when your team has the best defense in the nation. And if you said that they were playing crappy offenses, it would be an overstatement. Georgia doesn't play passover offenses. They played a very tough schedule when it comes to the opponents offense. They played Florida, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, and Central Michigan. All of which could score 20+ on USC's defense. If Stafford doesn't get the ball, then he can't make the plays. Don't take my word for it, just look at where Matt Leinart ended up.

Tim Tebow Keeps Florida Fans On Their Heels

Your gonna have to pause the music on the right side of the screen, and turn up the volume if you wanna watch this one.