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By Trevor, Section College
by Trevor Freeman
Tailgate parties. "The Swamp". Pabst Blue Ribbon. Camp Randall. "Whoa Nellie". Saturday afternoon. Buffalo Wings. Flutie to Phelan. Boise State. It has been eight months, but ladies and gentlemen........college football season has arrived. With that, it is time for us to take our annual look. Let's begin our Top 25 in the land of sun, sports cars and hot cheerleaders.......
You hate to pencil a team into the national title game in August; however the only thing that separates USC from a trip to New Orleans is injuries. On both sides of the ball, the Trojans return just about every key player from last year's Rose Bowl Champions. USC does have nonconference road games against both Nebraska and Notre Dame, however I don't think the ghosts that inhabit both team's stadiums will be enough to keep either team within fourteen points of the Trojans. The toughest game on the slate is the road game against California. However, the Golden Bears don't have enough on defense to seriously scare the Trojans. 2. LSU A game being played on September 8th could very well determine who faces USC for the national title. Virginia Tech travels to Tiger Stadium to take on LSU in what will undoubtedly be one of the most physical contests of the college football season. Les Miles needs to have the Tigers on alert as the Hokies will be flying around at the beginning of the season. While playing in the SEC is never easy, LSU has been handed a conference slate that is very manageable. Florida, Auburn and Arkansas all have to travel to Baton Rouge. Their only tough conference road game is against Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide. 3. Wisconsin Sophomore P.J. Hill is a nice dark horse pick for the Heisman as he should build on the 1,569 yards he gained last year as a freshman. The defense will once again be stout. Wisconsin should be 9-0 entering the last three weeks of the season. After that it gets a little dicey as they play at Ohio State, home against Michigan and finally a rivalry game at Minnesota. 4. Michigan Lloyd Carr needs to do two things to retain his job after this season. They are:
5. Virginia Tech Going to be pretty easy for Frank Beamer to get the troops up this fall. The only game the Hokies will not be favored in is their heavyweight fight with LSU on September 8th. 6. West Virginia Every single season the Mountaineers seem to have the most manageable schedule of all the BCS conference teams and every year they seem to blow it. This year is no exception. On paper, West Virginia will be favored in every single one of their games as quarterback Patrick White and running back Steve Slaton give them the best 1-2 punch on the ground in the nation. That being said, I can already envision Rutgers fans storming the field on October 27th. 7. Florida The Gators run of national titles in football and basketball ends this fall. There is no way the Gators don't lose twice this season. Florida has too many pieces to replace on the defensive side of the ball. Toss in a five game stretch where they play Auburn, at LSU, at Kentucky against Georgia in Jacksonville and at South Carolina and it seems like a little too much for Urban Meyer's crew. 8. Arkansas All I know is this. Anybody who actually thinks Arkansas should fire Houston Nutt is smoking crack. The Razorbacks have won over 9 games three of the last five seasons and will win at least 10 games this season. The SEC West will be determined on the Friday after Thanksgiving when the Hogs travel to Tiger Stadium. Darren McFadden is an absolute beast for the Razorbacks. In my opinion he is the best player in college football and is a lock to go in the top five in next year's NFL Draft. In fact, if you are a New York Giants fan you should probably start watching Arkansas and Tiki Barber's real replacement. 9. Hawaii Some writers aspire to be Mike Lupica, Bill Simmons or Bob Ryan. I aspire to be Ferd Lewis. Now I know you are asking yourself, "Who is Ferd Lewis?" Ferd Lewis writes an opinion column for the Honolulu Advertiser. That means he......
A) Lives in Honolulu This year Mr. Lewis has a little more pressure on his shoulders as he will probably get to write about a team who will be playing in a BCS bowl. I think Colt Brennan wins the Heisman Trophy while leading Hawaii to an undefeated season. The only landmines on the schedule for the Rainbow Warriors are home games against Boise State and Washington and an away game against Nevada. 10. Oklahoma How many times do you think the guys at Oklahoma have heard about that loss to Boise State? My guess is 1,265,898,745 times in the last eight months. If you want to talk about a team with a chip on their shoulder, look no further than Norman. I think the Sooners bounce back and win the Big 12. 11. Texas The Longhorns have an offense that will rival the best in the country as Colt McCoy could emerge as a Heisman candidate this season. The problem is that the Longhorns are sporting a defense that is worse than Paris Hilton's on a Friday night. Losing Gene Chizik, Aaron Ross and Michael Griffin amongst others is too much. 12. Louisville I said it once and I'll say it again. Michael Vick getting arrested for dogfighting could be a blessing in disguise for Bobby Petrino. It affords him the opportunity to go 3-13 in the regular season with nobody holding it against him and be in the position to draft his former pupil Brian Brohm in next spring's NFL Draft. Brohm is a much better fit in his offense than Vick ever would be. In terms of how the Cardinals are going to do this year, I think they will be undefeated up until the last three weeks of the season when they see West Virginia and South Florida on the road and Rutgers at home. Unfortunately for Louisville fans, I do not see anyway they can run the table in those three contests. 13. UCLA I went to the Florida State-UCLA Emerald Bowl game last December and I'm going to be honest. I was just as interested in seeing who would win the Battle of the Cheerleaders as I was in watching the game. It wasn't even a comparison. Maybe it was because they were wearing skirts while the FSU cheerleaders were in windpants, but UCLA's squad was far superior. Not only that, but there were no Cowgirls whatsoever. Not even a random Jenn Sterger sighting. While the Bruins lost the football game, they killed in the Battle of the Women department........and really isn't that what is most important in the grand scheme of things. On the field the Bruins are sporting their finest team in years. They return 21 starters from a team that beat USC in the regular season. I see the Bruins winning ten games and finishing a solid second in conference behind the Trojans as I think they will beat California at home. 14. California Remember this name. Jahvid Best. Best is a quicker version of Warrick Dunn and he will involve himself in a Heisman race before he graduates. Best is a true freshman this season. If I'm Jeff Tedford, I think long and hard about playing him over Justin Forsett. 15. The Ohio State University Never in my wildest dreams did I see The Ohio State University getting slapped by Florida in last season's national title game. By halftime, you were hoping Fox would switch to an encore performance of Boise State-Oklahoma. Losing the way they did is reminiscent of waking up after a sloppy night of drinking in college with a wildebeest sleeping next to you. The physical hangover mixed with taunting received internally from yourself and externally from others just lingers. I have the Buckeyes ranked fifteenth, however it would not surprise me if they dropped 3-4 games this season. 16. Rutgers Ray Rice is another solid guy to bet on in the Heisman Trophy race. The only reason Rice and his 1,794 yards weren't more of a factor last season is because the New York media didn't pick up on Rutgers quickly enough. That won't be the case this season. Rutgers and Rice should both get off to hot starts and steal the back page of the New York Post. 17. Nebraska There's a lot of people who love Missouri and are picking them to win the Big 12 North. There's also lots of people who shoot heroin and think Nicole Richie is attractive. Nebraska wins the Big 12 North as Bill Callahan has something good brewing in Lincoln. Callahan doesn't get enough credit as a coach. He coached two seasons in the NFL and made the Super Bowl in one of them. Now he has come down to the college level and has slowly built a team the right way. 18. TCU A TCU win over Texas on September 8th means the Horned Frogs stand an outstanding shot of playing in a BCS bowl. If they lose to Texas they will once again be headed for a berth in the Poinsettia Bowl. Those last two statements in and of itself is a good enough reason for an NCAA Tournament in football. 19. Boise State I can honestly say that I doubt I will ever watch a better college football game than the Boise State-Oklahoma tilt from last season. It was like Rocky IV except in real life. Do I think the Broncos are going to shag the BCS prom queen for a second straight season? Probably not. Ian Johnson and Ryan Clady are both NFL players on the offensive side of the ball. However, I think the uncertainty at quarterback drops them slightly behind Hawaii in the WAC. Plus I cannot see an undefeated Colt Brennan and the Rainbow Warriors blowing it against Boise State on the Islands. 20. Clemson I honestly believe Tommy Bowden is holding onto pictures of Clemson's president receiving a blow job from a transvestite hooker. The only reason his teams crack the top 20 is because their superior talent can get them to 8 wins. 21. Penn State The Nittany Lions could be a sleeper. Dan Connor is the best linebacker in the country and Derrick Williams is due for a bust out season. The only thing that could hold Penn State back are questions at both running back and along the offensive line. 22. Georgia As long as Mark Richt is the coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, they will continue to be the Susan Lucci of the SEC. Richt is a great recruiter but an extremely shaky game coach. 23. Purdue 20 starters return for a Boilermaker team that will be a real pest in the Big 10. They should be 6-0 going into "The Big House" and have a style of offense that could give the Wolverines problems. Quarterback Curtis Painter is the best player you have never heard of. 24. Auburn The Tigers have arguably the toughest schedule in the country as they play on the road against Florida, LSU, Arkansas and Georgia. Getting one win out of those four games should be considered good. Toss in a nonconference home game against a national sleeper in South Florida and you might be looking at a good team that could have a mediocre record. 25. Miami Their game on September 8th against Oklahoma will determine their season. A poor showing and I think they fold up shop. If they lose a competitive ballgame or win then they become a serious threat in the ACC.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me at trevor@rffradio.com. Story writing contestLog in or create an account to vote for this story!
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