It's that time of year already. Websites and bloggers alike are already suffering from college football withdrawal a mere four days after the confetti fell in Glendale. How do you help ease that withdrawal? You make a preseason top 25, duh.
I will do this in 5 installments, starting with the preseason top 5. After I round out the top 25, I will go into the top games to watch, the top storylines to watch, and reveal my sleeper teams as well as my over-hyped teams for 2011.
Two of the prominent preseason polls that have been released have a difference in their preseason top team. ESPN lists Oklahoma as their preseason number one, while CBS lists LSU as theirs. My preseason top 5 goes a little something like this:
1) Alabama: I am going to disagree with both of the expert polls and put Alabama as my team to beat in 2011. Many people might disagree with me because of the early departure of their all-everything back, Mark Ingram. I think backup Trent Richardson, who could have started at 98% of college football programs, will help Bama not miss a beat in the run game. With efficient QB Greg McElroy gone, it will be a two-way battle between Phillip Sims and A.J. McCarron to be the next signal-caller. The key for Alabama is returning 4/5 starters on their O-line, which will open holes for Richardson and give the next QB time to find open receivers. They return a healthy Dont'a Hightower and Mark Barron on a defense that will be fast, deep, and talented. Their schedule isn't too daunting. They do make an early trip to Happy Valley in front of an energized crowd, but I think Penn State lacks the offensive playmakers to beat Alabama. In the SEC, they get Arkansas and LSU in Tuscaloosa but must go to Auburn. Right now that might sound tough, but this Alabama team will be out for revenge against Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Plus, you know the old saying "you don't know what you have until it's gone?" I think that was written with Auburn football in mind. They are in for a rude awakening when they try to live life without Cam Newton combined with a mediocre defense. I also think Alabama will be out to prove that 9-3 seasons are not the norm. They have offseason momentum after steamrolling Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl, and will be hungry to return to the BCS. Roll Tide.
2) Oklahoma: I was pretty high on Oklahoma going into 2011, but they struggled a bit early, yet they still went on to win the Big XII. It's hard to judge Oklahoma on their performance against a not-very-good UConn team in the Fiesta Bowl, but Oklahoma took care of business in a convincing fashion. They return their talented QB, Landry Jones, as well as the nation's top receiver, Ryan Broyles to lead the offense. They also return Travis Lewis at LB, who is without a doubt their defensive leader. This team returns a lot of experience on both sides of the ball. The reason I do not have them at number one is because they must make difficult road trips to Florida State and Oklahoma State, who both figure to have big seasons in 2011. Oklahoma loses one of those two but wins the other 11 games and repeats as Big XII Champions.
3) Boise State: If you aren't sick of it already, you will be after 2011. There will be plenty more talk about how Boise deserves to be in the title game, but once again, they will not get a chance in 2011. That does not mean, however, that they won't be very good. They have some big holes to fill on defense, but Boise is to the point where they just reload every year. They lost first round pick Kyle Wilson after 2009, yet the defense was still dominant in 2010. Expect more of the same in 2011. They do return Heisman candidate Kellen Moore at QB as well as RB Doug Martin. They open up the season against a Georgia team that will miss A.J. Green and will be beginning its Mark Richt farewell tour. His seat is on fire down in Athens. Boise will win another opening-weekend test after beating Virginia Tech last season, and will return to the BCS.
4) Oregon: Oregon has a lot of talent to replace on defense, which is why they make the bottom half of my top 5, but their offense should once again be explosive. Three starters return on the offensive line along with QB Darron Thomas and RB LaMichael James. Oregon must play LSU early in the season in a game that figures to be one of the best matchups in college football all season long. They also must go to Stanford, who will be a good again despite the loss of Jim Harbaugh. Nonetheless, Oregon will win the Pac 10, but they will not return to the title game. I guess a third straight BCS game in the Rose Bowl is a nice consolation prize.
5) LSU: To those at CBS, it may come as a surprise that I have LSU this low in my top 5. Don't get me wrong, there is talent aplenty in Baton Rouge, but Les Miles all but committed to making staff changes, which will make for an adjustment period LSU. The main reason I have LSU ranked lower is because of their brutal schedule, which might be the toughest in college football. They will play Oregon early and must go on the road to play Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi State. That doesn't even include a trip to West Virginia and dates with Auburn, Florida, and Arkansas at home. It's no joke...life in the SEC is not easy.
Stay tuned for the rest of my top 25.
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