While Virginia Tech should be in this group after the Darren Evans loss I dropped them slightly out of it. It should be no big surprise who is on this list as the AP and USA today polls top 6 are identical.
Let's break it down after the jump...
#7 Penn State Nittany
Name the best linebacker core in the nation, Sean Lee, Navorro Bowman and Josh Hull will make a serious bid for this title in '09. The defense should be on point all year long, the question mark is the offense. If Daryll Clark, and Evan Royster can play as well as the defense then this team will be trouble.
Projected Record: 10-2
# 6 Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State will have a one of the best defenses in the big ten. This season is all about Terrelle Pryor, this is his team and only time will tell what he can do with it. As dynamic a player as Pryor can carry an offense. If Pryor is great all year this team is going to be very hard to beat.
Projected Record: 10-2
Stuck in the middle
# 5 Alabama Crimson Tide
DT Terrence Cody is a house, you simply can't do anything effective near him. The Tide defense will be very good this season, they are fast and have playmakers at every level of the defense. On the offense they just need someone to get the ball to Julio Jones and they will be ok. Low scoring defensively dominated games are what you should expect from the tide this year.
Projected Record: 10-2
1-4 The Usual Suspects
#4 USC Trojans
Matt Barkley, Matt Barkley, Matt Barkley, Taylor Mays. Barkley is the first true freshman in the history of USC to start at QB. He has all sorts of weapons around him,( Joe McKight) and I think he can get the job done. The defense is lead by the best (Eric Berry your good too) defensive back in college football, and although they lost all those LB's, Taylor Mays is a beast and will knock some people around this year. USC is good again surprise, surprise.
Projected Record: 11-1
#3 Oklahoma Sooners
Sam Bradford, Chris Brown, DeMarco Murray(better then Brown in my opinion), and Jermaine Gresham are all back, aka those 60 point games might not be a thing of the past. This offense is explosive, and if the defense can hold guys under 40 they will probably be alright. DT Gerald McCoy will be the leader on defense and he is a beast.
Projected Record: 10-2 (scary schedule)
#2 Texas Longhorns
If Colt McCoy plays flawless football all year long he will win the heisman. Jordan Shipley will be his go to WR this year and this offense should be crazy good. On defense they have LB's, Roddrick Muckelroy, and Sergio Kindle as the leaders. Because McCoy is a dual threat QB this team will go as far as he takes them.
11-1
Well...this is stupid…in a good way
#1 Florida Gators
Ok, everyone including second string players are coming back for the Gators. Rumors are that even the cheerleading squad returns some solid girls. For this breakdown I will just list some of the Gators that will have a big impact on their season. WR Riley Cooper, DE Jermaine Cunningham, CB Joe Haden, CB Janoris Jenkins, LB A.J. Jones, DT Lawrence Marsh, C Maurkice Pouncey, RB Chris Rainey, DT Terron Sanders, LB Ryan Stamper, DE Justin Trattou, S Major Wright, RB Jeffery Demps, TE Aaron Hernandez, DE Carlos Dunlap, and LB Brandon Spikes(collegespots-fans). Well that is scary, really, really, scary. This Gators team is going to run over teams this year. I don't see the Gators losing a game in the regular season, and it is going to take a lot for someone to beat them in the National Championship.
Oh................................Tim Tebow
Projected Record: 12-0
Well that wraps up my top 25, it was a long journey but here we are it's Friday and the season is in full swing tomorrow.
