RC's Preseason Top 25

[RealityCheck]

Here it is. Hate, love, whatever.

1. Alabama (14-0, National Champions in 2009)
Offense: RB Mark Ingram, RB Trent Richardson, WR Julio Jones
Defense: DE Marcell Dareus, LB Dont'a Hightower, CB Dre Kirkpatrick

2. Boise State (14-0 in 2009)
Offense: QB Kellen Moore, WR Austin Pettis, WR Titus Young
Defense: DE Ryan Winterswyk, LB Winston Venable, S Jeron Johnson

3. Texas (13-1 in 2009)
Offense: QB Garrett Gilbert, WR Malcolm Williams, WR John Chiles
Defense: DE Sam Acho, CB Aaron Williams, CB Curtis Brown

4. Ohio State (11-2 in 2009)
Offense: QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Brandon Saine, WR DeVier Posey
Defense: DE Cameron Heyward, LB Ross Homan, S Jermale Hines

5. TCU (12-1 in 2009)
Offense: QB Andy Dalton, WR Jeremy Kerley, TE Evan Frosch
Defense: DE Wayne Daniels, DT Cory Grant, S Tejay Johnson

6. Iowa (11-2 in 2009)
Offense: QB Ricky Stanzi, RB Brandon Wegher, WR Darrell Johnson-Koulianos
Defense: DE Adrian Clayborn, DT Christian Ballard, S Tyler Sash

7. Florida (13-1 in 2009)
Offense: QB John Brantley, RB Jeff Demps, WR Deonte Thompson
Defense: CB Janoris Jenkins, S Will Hill, S Ahmad Black

8. Oregon (10-3 in 2009)
Offense: RB LaMichael James, RB Lache Seastrunk, WR Lavasier Tuinei
Defense: DE Kenny Rowe, LB Casey Matthews, S Javes Lewis

9. Virginia Tech (10-3 in 2009)
Offense: QB Tyrod Taylor, RB Ryan Williams, RB Darren Evans
Defense: DT John Graves, LB Barquell Rivers, CB Rashad Carmichael

10. Penn State (11-2 in 2009)
Offense: RB Evan Royster, WR Derek Moye, WR Graham Zug
Defense: DE Jack Crawford, DT Devon Still, LB Nate Stupar

11. Nebraska (10-4 in 2009)
Offense: RB Roy Helu, RB Rex Burkhead, WR Niles Paul
Defense: DE Pierre Allen, DT Jared Crick, CB Prince Amukamara

12. North Carolina (8-5 in 2009)
Offense: RB Shaun Draughn, WR Greg Little, TE Zach Pianalto
Defense: DE Robert Quinn, DT Marvin Austin, LB Bruce Carter

13. Georgia Tech (11-3 in 2009)
Offense: QB Josh Nesbitt, RB Anthony Allen, RB Roddy Jones
Defense: DE Anthony Egbuniwe, LB Brad Jefferson, CB Mario Butler

14. Miami (FL) (9-4 in 2009)
Offense: QB Jacory Harris, RB Graig Cooper, WR Leonard Hankerson
Defense: DE Allen Bailey, CB Brandon Harris, S Ray Ray Armstrong

15. USC (9-4 in 2009)
Offense: QB Matt Barkley, RB Allen Bradford, WR Ronald Johnson
Defense: DT Jurrell Casey, LB Michael Morgan, LB Chris Galippo

16. Oregon State (8-5 in 2009)
Offense: RB Jacquizz Rodgers, WR James Rodgers, WR Jordan Bishop
Defense: DT Stephen Paea, CB James Dockery, S Cameron Collins

17. Pittsburgh (10-3 in 2009)
Offense: QB Pat Bostick, RB Dion Lewis, WR Jonathan Baldwin
Defense: DE Greg Romeus, DE Jabaal Sheard, S Dom DeCicco

18. Wisconsin (10-3 in 2009)
Offense: QB Scott Tolzien, RB John Clay, WR Nick Toon
Defense: LB Culmer St. Jean, CB Niles Brinkley, S Jay Valai

19. Oklahoma (8-5 in 2009)
Offense: QB Landry Jones, RB DeMarco Murray, WR Ryan Broyles
Defense: DT Adrian Taylor, LB Travis Lewis, S Quinton Carter

20. Cincinnati (12-1 in 2009)
Offense: QB Zach Collaros, WR Armon Binns, WR Marcus Barnett
Defense: DT Derek Wolfe, LB J.K. Schaffer, CB Dominique Battle

21. Clemson (9-5 in 2009)
Offense: QB Kyle Parker, RB Jamie Harper, WR Xavier Dye
Defense: DE DaQuan Bowers, DT Jarvis Jenkins, S DeAndre McDaniel

22. Florida State (7-6 in 2009)
Offense: QB Christian Ponder, RB Jermaine Thomas, WR Taiwan Easterling
Defense: DE Markus White, LB Nigel Bradham, LB Kendall Smith

23. LSU (9-4 in 2009)
Offense: RB Richard Murphy, WR Terrance Toliver, WR Reuben Randle
Defense: DE Lazarius Livingston, LB Kelvin Sheppard, CB Patrick Peterson

24. Stanford (8-5 in 2009)
Offense: QB Andrew Luck, WR Chris Owusu, WR Ryan Whalen
Defense: DE Chase Thomas, CB Johnson Bademosi, S Delano Howell

25. Boston College (8-5 in 2009)
Offense: QB Dave Shinskie, RB Montel Harris, WR Colin Larmond
Defense: LB Luke Kuechly, LB Mark Herzlich, LB Mike Morrissey

Also received consideration:
Arkansas, Auburn, BYU, East Carolina, Houston, Georgia, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Temple, Texas A&M, UCLA, Utah, West Virginia

[wonderbredd24]

7 ACC teams, huh?

[Brent]

I hate to admit it but I think OU is underrated.

[RealityCheck]

Me too, I wanted to have them a bit higher but I couldn't after last year's weak final record.

[Sniper]

Originally Posted by RealityCheck

10. Penn State (11-2 in 2009)

With what QB?

[Sloopy]

you got it all messed up... THE Ohio State is obviously the #1 team in the nation

[YAYareaRB]

Originally Posted by Sniper

With what QB?

Same could be said of Oregon and Oregon State.

[duckseason]

Nice work. I like how you named a few key players for each team.

Just wanted to point out a few things about Oregon though.

Javes Lewis is currently slated to backup John Boyett at FS. Former LB Eddie Pleasant has been moved to rover and is considered the starter right now. Marvin Johnson will play 2nd string there, although Lewis will likely be the backup for both slots in the event of an injury to either Boyett or Pleasant. If I were going to name a key player from our secondary, it'd have to be either Boyett or Cliff Harris. Even though Talmadge Jackson is considered our "1" corner, I expect Harris to outplay him this year.

At RB, Kenjon Barner should be named before Seastrunk. Obviously Seastrunk will eventually become a star, but he won't pass Barner this year on the depth chart without an injury. Seastrunk won't be with the team until fall camp. His integration to the offense will likely come due to an injury to either James or Barner. Barring that, expect to see him sparingly this year.

At WR, I agree that Tuinei should probably be our "1" right now, but to hear Chip Kelly talk about Jeff Maehl, that's not happening. Expect to see Maehl once again be the top option in the passing game and lead the team in receptions despite being a better fit in the slot than on the outside.

So a more accurate representation of our key players would be this:

Offense: QB Nate Costa, RB LaMichael James, WR Jeff Maehl

Defense: DE Kenny Rowe, LB Casey Mathews, FS John Boyett

[duckseason]

Originally Posted by YAYareaRB

Same could be said of Oregon and Oregon State.

Probably meaningless coming from a Duck fan, but for what we lose in Masoli's rushing ability, we gain double that in Costa's far superior passing ability. And no player on the entire team is more familiar with Chip's offense. It'll be great to finally be able to utilize some of our talent on the outside now that we have a true QB back there. People seem to forget that Costa only lost his job due to injury. I'm not knocking Masoli when I say that Costa is an upgrade.

[MaxV]

As a Penn State fan, I certainly like the idea of them being top 10 this year, but realistically, I don't think it'll happen.

Overall, this team certainly has plenty of talent, but there are question marks with QB and along the O-line.

Penn State also lost their only scholarship punter. That too could be a significant problem if the offense will be inconsistent moving the ball.

[LizardState]

Good list RC. Needs more SEC & less ACC IMO.

Tested early: Boise St. Broncos have to leave their weird blue field Private Idaho comfort zone & go to Va. Tech. Both teams have lots of experienced leadership & skill at the skill spots, offensive advantage to Boise St. with Moore & his experienced receivers, slight defensive advantage to the Hokies. Win in Virginia & the Broncos will silence the non-BCS, WAC critics that they're not a national contender, lose & it's tilt-season over, Va. Tech vs Boise St. s/b the season for both teams. Also, Alabama has Penn St. & Florida in September, both @ home.

Best reloads: Alabama, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma. All top 10 recruiting classes, Florida with #1-ranked class.

Most Undermined by transfers, NCAA investigations & Offseason Police-Related Events: Tennessee, Oregon, Michigan. Vols lost best RB in Brown, & a QB (??) -- IDK Oregon Quacker QB status at this time, Michigan & Rodriguez' fate very precarious at this point, probably NCAA probation & possible scholarships lost.
Edit Update: Oregon has dismissed suspended QB Masoli.

Best Experienced offenses: Oklahoma, Alabama. Both the Sooners & Tide return majority of starters on offense including QBs & RBs, maybe add Florida b/c Brantley got SEC game experience in relief of Tebow, & add Ohio St. with the way Pryor finished strong in 09 & Stanford with arguably the best QB-WR combo in the nation with Luck-Owusu.

Best experienced defenses: UNC, TCU. Tar Heels with 3 potential 1st team AA players & TCU b/c Patterson always puts a quality Hornytoad defense on the field.

Giant Killers to Watch in 2010: Iowa, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Houston, Auburn. Stanzi has one of the best season to season improvement arcs of any QB, & the Hawkeyes s/b Big 10 CG-ready. TAMU has a QB clone of Jamarcus Russell with Jerrod Johnson& with all the superlatives I've seen about Sr. DE Vonn Miller lately he could be the real deal. Hogs' Mallett & Cougars' Case Keenum s/b among nations leaders in passing yardage & scoring. Auburn was at rock bottom when Chizlik took over but had incredible turnaround last season + surprising no. of top-ranked recruits.

[JRTPlaya21]

You made some good points Lizard but the game against Boise for us is at FedEx like that USC game was.

[Sniper]

Originally Posted by LizardState

probably NCAA probation & possible scholarships lost.

Don't read the news much, do you?

[wonderbredd24]

Originally Posted by Sniper

Don't read the news much, do you?

Has the NCAA said they are satisfied with Michigan's sanctions?

[Sniper]

Originally Posted by wonderbredd24

Has the NCAA said they are satisfied with Michigan's sanctions?

No. Want to bet that they won't take away scholarships for extra stretching?

[wonderbredd24]

Originally Posted by Sniper

No. Want to bet that they won't take away scholarships for extra stretching?

I don't think they will either. But be honest... this is the stupidiest violation for a program that's never had one in 100+ of playing football. They simply didn't keep their books.

But I think because of that history of never having a problem or even really the appearance of one, I think the NCAA will be satisfied with what's already been done.

I was just curious if they had come out and said anything official yet.

[LizardState]

Originally Posted by Sniper

Don't read the news much, do you?

Michigan was listed as among those most affected by transfers too, read the whole post. With the loss of their RB & Mallett a yr ago you don't think it seriously affected the Wolverines? Sanctions are sanctions, self-imposed or not. I should have learned no tto take Sniper bait by now, but since I started the post.....

Speaking of the Wolverines, I should have added this to Tested Early, I didnt realize they played UConn in their opener. From Adam Rittenberg & ESPN.com:

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/...in-the-big-ten

Rittenberg points this out as a pivotal game for Rodriguez, & it is -- they will be favored at home & expected to win, but lose the upset to the Huskies & that will sour the whole season for them & especially for Rodriguez. You have to wonder why so many Wolverine fans are dubious at best about him, what did that say for Rodriguez' image? There are still these dark clouds over his head & he left WVA in a mess too. They went from top 5 or top 10-ranked recruiting classes to falling off the cliff, & that's on the Rodriguez image. Rod went from Welcome to Michigan! to coach on a hotseat in rcd. time.

[Sniper]

Originally Posted by LizardState

Michigan was listed as among those most affected by transfers too, read the whole post.

I did. Mallett was two years ago. We've moved on. McGuffie has a promising future, but he still got vastly outproduced by Brandon Minor in his freshman year. RB is the easiest position to replace.

Sanctions are sanctions, self-imposed or not. I should have learned no tto take Sniper bait by now, but since I started the post.....

Point still remains that there's no scholarship reduction.

Rittenberg points this out as a pivotal game for Rodriguez, & it is -- they will be favored at home & expected to win, but lose the upset to the Huskies & that will sour the whole season for them & especially for Rodriguez. You have to wonder why so many Wolverine fans are dubious at best about him, what did that say for Rodriguez' image? There are still these dark clouds over his head & he left WVA in a mess too. They went from top 5 or top 10-ranked recruiting classes to falling off the cliff, & that's on the Rodriguez image. Rod went from Welcome to Michigan! to coach on a hotseat in rcd. time.

Michigan should not be favored over UConn. If they are, no oddsmaker has watched Michigan over the past two years. It would be on name alone. I said the exact same thing when Michigan opened 2008 with Utah at home.

[OaklandRaider56]

What's Andy Dalton, like a 7th year senior? It seems like he's been around forever.

Texas Tech will surprise people, end up in the top 25.