With the many different things that happened over the off-season, I couldn't be more excited that college football is within sight!
The whole Jim Tressel situation that led to his eventual resignation as head coach at Ohio State, seemed to be what made the most headlines recently, along with Terrell Pryor's unique exit from Ohio State, seemed to keep college football fans even more excited for this upcoming 2011 NCAA football season.
Alabama will reload at QB this year with Greg McElroy's departure, sophomore A.J. McCarron will take over the reigns in Tuscaloosa. McCarron backed up McElroy the past two years, so his experience in Nick Saban's system should be key for the Crimson Tide.
Some say that Oklahoma's Bob Stoops is possibly on the "hot seat" in Norman. I beg to differ with that, simply because of Stoops' track record. In his 12 years at OU, Stoops is 129-31 with one National Championship (2000) and 7 Big XII titles. He's not going anywhere.
Georgia's Mark Richt is another that I really don't think has much to worry about, despite a 6-7 record in 2010 and 7-9 in SEC play the past two years. Richt is 96-34 overall in his 10 seasons in Athens. They can't be too picky with his performance based on the top quality conference that the SEC is.
Butch Davis was fired at North Carolina a couple of weeks ago after going just 28-23 in four years.
Rick Neuheisel is for sure on the edge of being fired at UCLA for a 15-22 mark in three years. After he was 33-14 at Colorado and 33-16 at Washington in his previous coaching adventures prior to landing in LA, Neuheisel needs to push for 8 or 9 wins this year and that might be a tough task.
Ron Zook might be somewhat safe at Illinois after a 7-6 record last year, including a Texas Bowl thumping of Baylor, 38-14.
Texas A&M's Mike Sherman might be in the same boat as Zook. Sherman is only 19-19 in 3 years leading the Aggies. Last year's 9-4 record might have salvaged his job, even though he lost the Cotton Bowl to LSU, 41-24.
Dennis Erickson started his time in Tempe in 2007 just how the Sun Devil faithful was hoping, with a 10-3 record, share of the Pac-10 title and Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors. Since then, erickson has gone 15-24. He'll keep his job because he's been around and Arizona State will give him more of a chance than most would an older coach in this era.
From the looks of how the pre-season polls are rating teams with almost a month before the first kick, 2011 will definetely prove to be another highlight-packed season in the college ranks.
My preseason Top 25:
1. Oklahoma
2. Oregon
3. Alabama
4. Virginia Tech
5. Notre Dame
6. Florida State
7. LSU
8. Boise State
9. Ohio State
10. Nebraska
11. Stanford
12. Texas A&M
13. Oklahoma State
14. Georgia
15. West Virginia
16. Arkansas
17. TCU
18. Florida
19. Michigan State
20. South Carolina
21. Michigan
22. Wisconsin
23. Miami (FL)
24. Texas
25. USC
Outside my Top 25 and looking in...
Missouri, Penn State, Auburn, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois, Northwestern, South Florida, Arizona, Arizona State, Mississippi State, Iowa.
There are a lot of talented players to watch this Fall as college football takes the stage. These players are not ranked in any particular order. Below are my Top 15 Quarterbacks, Running Backs and Wide Receivers...
Quarterbacks:
Andrew Luck/jr/Stanford
Kellen Moore/sr/Boise State
Landry Jones/jr/Oklahoma
Case Keenum/sr/Houston
Dayne Crist/sr/Notre Dame
Darron Thomas/jr/Oregon
Brandon Weeden/jr/Oklahoma State
Taylor Martinez/so/Nebraska
Jordan Jefferson/sr/LSU
Garrett Gilbert/jr/Texas
Denard Robinson/jr/Michigan
Jacory Harris/sr/Miami (FL)
Stephen Garcia/sr/South Carolina
Aaron Murray/so/Georgia
John Brantley/sr/Florida
Running Backs:
LaMichael James/jr/Oregon
Marcus Lattimore/so/South Carolina
Trent Richardson/jr/Alabama
Daniel Herron/sr/Ohio State
Ray Graham/jr/Pittsburgh
Silas Redd/so/Penn State
James White/so/Wisconsin
Edwin Baker/jr/Michigan State
Knile Davis/jr/Arkansas
Jeff Demps/sr/Florida
Tauren Poole/sr/Tennessee
Michael Dyer/so/Auburn
Vick Ballard/sr/Mississippi State
Cierre Wood/so/Notre Dame
Wide Receivers:
Michael Floyd/sr/Notre Dame
Ryan Broyles/sr/Oklahoma
Justin Blackmon/jr/Oklahoma State
Alshon Jeffery/jr/South Carolina
Demarlo Belcher/sr/Indiana
Juron Criner/sr/Arizona
Jeff Fuller/sr/Texas A&M
Mike Shanahan/jr/Pittsburgh
DeVier Posey/sr/Ohio State
Derek Moye/sr/Penn State
Roy Roundtree/jr/Michigan
Lance Lewis/sr/East Carolina
Patrick Edwards/sr/Houston
Jordan White/sr/Western Michigan
Conner Vernon/jr/Duke
Tight Ends (Top 8):
Tyler Eifert/jr/Notre Dame
Michael Egnew/sr/Missouri
Orson Charles/jr/Georgia
James Hanna/sr/Oklahoma
Drake Dunsmore/sr/Northwestern
Jordan Reed/so/Florida
Coby Fleenor/sr/Stanford
Jacob Pederson/so/Wisconsin
The Heisman trophy is going to be an interesting race all season long. I would probably guess that the list of 10 that are the front-running candidates are:
LaMichael James/RB/Oregon
Andrew Luck/QB/Stanford
Kellen Moore/QB/Boise State
Landry Jones/QB/Oklahoma
Trent Richardson/RB/Alabama
Michael Floyd/WR/Notre Dame
Justin Blackmon/WR/Oklahoma State
Ryan Broyles/WR/Oklahoma
Marcus Lattimore/RB/South Carolina
Case Keenum/QB/Houston
Look for more on the 2011 college football season as August progresses. Also, soon I'll be making my predictions and giving an Indiana High School football outlook before the regular season begins on August 19th.
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