2010

We are less than eight months away from the start of the college football season and about seven months away from pre-season rankings. The rankings don't mean a lot right nowor when the season starts but we can start the debate now. Here is how I think the Top-25 should look to start 2010.


1) Alabama - Plenty of talent still on hand. Defending National Champions.

2) Boise State - Time to give the Broncos some respect. Two BCS Bowl wins in last three years. A ton of returning players.

3) Oregon- Look what Chip Kelly did in his first year with the Ducks.

4) TCU - Head coach Gary Patterson got some wooing done by some other teams. Patterson knows what he has so that is why he stayed.

5) Nebraska - Defense. Enough said. Bo Pelini has the Huskers on a good path.

6) Ohio State - A Rose Bowl win now in hand and Terrelle Pryor leading the way.

7) Virginia Tech - Leader of the ACC. Beamer ball will hang tough in 10'.

8) Texas - The Longhorns regret not letting their freshman get some more mop up duty. The kid looked strong as the game progressed. It's still Texas and Mack Brown still has plenty of talent in the Lone Star state.

9) Iowa - Kirk Ferentz wants to finish what he has started.

10) Georgia Tech - Some talent leaving but hardly any team can figure out how to stop the hybrid option.

11) Wisconsin - Clamped down on Miami in Champs Sports Bowl. Plenty of returning talent to hang in Big Ten.

12)Arkansas - Not an elite SEC team yet but surging.

13)Florida - Too much talent leaving to warrant a top ten pre-season ranking.

14) Brigham Young - The Mormons will bring it again.

15) Oregon State - Mike Riley had a chance to leave but wanted to stay in Corvalis, there had to be a reason.

16) Pittsburgh - Dave Wannestadt has the Panthers getting some respect and wants to keep the program heading in the right direction.

17) Cincinnati - Should probably be ranked higher but after the Florida bowl beat down and a coaching change Bearcats will have an uphill climb in 2010.

18) Georgia - Mark Richt will be out to prove 2010 was an anomaly.

19) Miami - Randy Shannon is having a good recruiting season. Still has plenty of horses in the barn. Not the "U" yet but college football is becoming relevant again in Coral Gables.

20) LSU - Never that far off. LSU will have to step it up in 2010.

21) Utah - Another team that gets little respect. The Utes always seem to be hanging around though.

22) USC - Carroll gone. Kiffin in. Norm Chow says he'll stay at UCLA. It's still USC so we know they still have impact players as of now.

23) Stanford - Was 09' for real. Jim Harbaugh and the Cards are out to prove student/athletes are real.

24) Mississippi - After all the hype in 2009 and high rankings. The Rebels will be playing with a chip on their shoulders.

25) West Virginia - Third Big East entry in my poll. May be the best Big East team in 2010.

Some teams worth paying attention to but not quite Top-25: Oklahoma, North Carolina, FSU, Rutgers, Auburn, Texas Tech, Notre Dame, South Carolina, UCLA, Washington, Michigan and Navy.