2007 NCAA College Football Preview

Seven full months. Can you believe it’s been seven months since the Super Bowl? It seems like such a long time since Rex Grossman single-handedly gave the Indianapolis Colts their championship. In that span not much has really changed on the college football scene. USC appears to be the favorite, again. The SEC is absolutely loaded, again. Ohio State has a ridiculously easy schedule, again. And lastly, the BCS will more than likely mess everything up at the end, again.

However what makes college football so great are the unpredictable moments that last a lifetime. Take for instance last year with the Boise St. Broncos. The ‘hitch and ladder’ play to tie their bowl game against Oklahoma with under a minute to go, followed up by the ‘statue of liberty’ play to win it in overtime. You simply could not predict any of that. Another unpredictable moment occurred in the Championship game between Florida and Ohio State. The Buckeyes were big favorites but got pounded by the Gators 41-14.

The simple unpredictable nature of College Football is a big reason why I absolutely despise preseason rankings. In a sport where rankings and polls mean so much it is absurd to rank all the teams before anyone plays a game. It would make much more sense to wait until at least 4 or 5 weeks into the season before coming out with the first batch of rankings. As great as College Football is they do a lot of things that just do not make sense. The preseason rankings is one and the BCS is another.

College Football needs a playoff system. There is no debating this. A playoff system would truly crown a champion and would not require a whole lot of tweaking from the current system in place. The best playoff formula would include eight teams. You could even use the BCS rankings to determine the top eight teams and then use the current bowl games for each match-up of the postseason. For example, have the Cotton Bowl, the Capital One Bowl, and then two of the four ‘major’ bowls representing the first round of the playoffs. Then in the semi-finals you could use the other two ‘major’ bowls with the championship game simply being the NCAA Title Game (as it is now). Wouldn’t take too much work but it won’t happen for a very long time.

My buddy Max asked me to rank my top ten teams for the upcoming season, so what follows is a transcript of what I sent him. A couple teams I left out were Ohio State and Wisconsin. I just don’t see Ohio State having a very good year and when Barnes tells me that they will go 9-3 I tend to listen. As far as Wisconsin goes, they just never seem to put together an entire year. They have had some very talented teams over the past ten years but they never close the deal. Wisconsin is like the new girl who moves in across the street during the summer and looks absolutely stunning. However, when she shows up for the first day of school and you compare her to all the other good looking girls in the class, she falls back in the pack. They look good by themselves, but not so much with all the others.

As for Notre Dame, they are headed towards a 7-5 season. They have a very tough schedule and question marks at quarterback. This will be the first time during Coach Weis’ tenure the Irish do not make it to a BCS bowl game.

10) Florida - I think new quarterback Tim Tebow is awful and will not be able to run the offense effectively. I also believe that Auburn is better than the Gators, but there is this rule that if you win the national championship the year prior, you get a spot in the top ten. Here it is.

9) Louisville - Another rule in college football is that if you have the preseason consensus number one draft pick in next year's draft then you get a spot in the top ten. I really wanted to put TCU here. QB Brian Brohm will lead these Cardinals to a decent season, but I don't see them getting past West Virginia.

8) California - I really liked this team last year, but then Tennessee ruined their season early. If they get past that game this year, watch out. Yeah they don't have RB Marshawn Lynch anymore, but Justin Forsett should be able to handle the load. Name to remember is DT Matt Malele. Big frickin dude.

7) Oklahoma - Huge Bob Stoops fan. His team got absolutely screwed last year against Oregon. Oh, and there was that Boise St. game, but I really don't remember how that one ended. Only thing keeping me from making them higher on the list is their schedule. They got Miami, at Texas, and at Texas Tech. I just don't think they can win all of those games.

6) Texas - As much as I hate putting the Longhorns in the top ten, I guess you kind of have to. QB Colt McCoy is going to have a great season, unfortunately, and more than likely lead this team to a BCS Bowl game. Their offense will be sick this year.

5) West Virginia - The Steve Slaton and Pat White combo is going to be deadly this year. The Mountaineers are the class of the Big East and if they run the table, which they are more than capable of doing, they should be in a great position to maybe land in the title game. Owen Schmitt is another name to remember. Awesome fullback.

4) Virginia Tech - In a loaded ACC, the Hokies stand out tremendously. They are absolutely loaded on defense, and have a plethora of options for QB Sean Glennon to choose from. The only thing holding this team back is Glennon. He has to have a better year, it's a must. They play at LSU on September 8th. Good thing for the Hokies is that it's early. A loss will not ruin their chances of getting in the title game.

3) Michigan - Sorry Max, these guys are the class of the Big Ten. They bring back everybody on offense, including Jake Long who will win the Outland Trophy this year. They have a relatively soft schedule and it all will come down to the last two games of the year. At Wisconsin and then I think they end up with Ohio State. I guess those two teams typically play towards the end of the year. Only thing hurting Michigan is that QB Chad Henne has never beaten the Buckeyes.

2) USC - As much as I love Bob Stoops, I hate Pete Carroll that much more. However, he does bring back a very talented team with one of the more polished QB's in the nation with John David Booty. The Trojans are the consensus preseaon number one, but I believe they have two things working against them. First, they are inexperienced at both wide receiver and running back. Secondly, they have one helluva schedule. I don't see them running the tables at all. Two losses wouldn't take much.

1) LSU - When a team losses two players (Russell and Landry) who were drafted in the top ten and still somehow manages to not only make the top ten but be in first, well, then you know you have a special team. I see the Tigers as the best team in the country, hands down, no doubt about it. Russell is replaced by QB Matt Flynn who was the MVP of their bowl game against Miami a couple years back, so you know he is capable. Early Doucet is one of the best wideouts in all of college football. Despite losing Landry, some, myself included, believe they have the best secondary in the nation as well. They play in the SEC, so you know they have a tough schedule, but, they play all of the big games at home this year. VaTech, Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, and South Carolina all at home. These guys are the real deal.

In the national championship game LSU will defeat West Virginia in a shoot-out.

That’s all I got for this post. Expect my next couple of posts to include my NFL rankings and where I feel the Cleveland Indians will end up. Also, if anyone is still interested in my ATS (Against The Spread) NFL Pick’em, let me know soon.

Until next time, “read it, roll it, hole it.”