Preseason Top 25

1. USC (#1 Pac 10)--The Trojans kind of bug me because they always win and they always steal a recruit or two from BYU every year. But I must admit that Pete Carroll is a great coach (we'll just assume for the purposes of my rankings that he doesn't pay any of the players). Here is a funny tribute to Pete. And hopefully they don't steal this guy away from my cougars.

2. Georgia (#1 SEC)--Many think that they could go all the way, but without their winningest ever mascot, I don't know if this is possible. This tragedy will either motivate them or depress them. One other item: my favorite ever touchdown celebration. Here it is again.

3. Ohio State (#1 Big Ten)--It's interesting how losing in the national championship games in 2006 and 2007 creates panic for a team's fans. They could be back again this year. I hope so, because having a team in the national championship game is good for a team in my fantasy football conference.

4. LSU--The defending champions start out at #4. They have plenty of talent, including an LDS quarterback who might start. But I'm down on the Tigers because this is Gary Crowton's second year as a coach in the Bayou. He always makes a big splash in Year One before struggling to ever win again. Just watch...next year Crowton will be coaching for the Patriots.

5. Oklahoma (#1 Big XII)--I have the Sooners on my fantasy football conference, so I am hoping that they win a third consecutive Big XII title. Bob Stoops created one of the most interesting offseason stories of the year by booting a guy off the team for rapping.

6. West Virginia (#1 Big East)--I don't think departed head coach Rich Rodriguez (now with Michigan) will ever make this list (a hard list to crack, by the way).

7. Florida--I have a lot of respect for QB Tim Tebow, last year's Heisman Trophy winner. He was a missionary in the offseason (note: he is not LDS, but it is okay) and he stands up for what he believes.

8. Missouri--Here is one reason Missouri should be really good this year. Here's another.

9. Texas--Two years ago, Texas QB Colt McCoy came in as a freshman to replace departed hero Vince Young and surprised everyone with an incredible year. Last year he faltered a bit. He looks to rebound this year.

10. Auburn--They are one of the teams participating in the ever-growing trend of rotating two quarterbacks because they don't have the guts to name just one. Personally, I have never been a big fan of the two-quarterback system, but that darn Urban Meyer made it work one year at Florida and now everybody thinks it's the wave of the future.

11. Virginia Tech (#1 ACC)--This is projected to be an average year for the ACC, but the defending conference champs should be right in the mix of things. By the way, you ever wondered what a hokie is?

12. Tennessee--The Volunteers will be celebrating the ten-year anniversary of their last national championship.

13. Wisconsin--I think the Badgers will struggle this year. But the most important observation I've had is that I think the state of Wisconsin looks like a great big baby's sock.

14. Clemson--They will try to win the ACC with probably the best running back tandem in the country.

15. Texas Tech--It's weak enough to play one division I-AA team each year on the schedule, but it is now common and everybody schedules one in. But TWO I-AA teams? C'mon. And this is the second time in three years that the Red Raiders are scheduling like this. I guess Hawaii set the gold standard last year on how to get your way into a BCS game. I have a feeling that The Joe Rankings won't take fondly to the soft scheduling.

16. Arizona State--For some reason, I never really liked the Sun Devils. Maybe it was because of their devil mascot, or their colors, or the fact that they are proud of being a party school. I dunno. But when they hired this guy as their coach, they dropped past USC and UCLA to #9 on the list of my favorite Pac 10 schools (right now, nobody can go lower than the University of Arizona).

17. Oregon--I hope they do well, mostly because they are in my fantasy college football conference. I also like their crazy uniforms. There are 120 division 1-A teams out there, and it gets boring if everyone has either red, blue, orange, white, etc.

18. Kansas--They were quite the surprise last year, going undefeated until their last game of the regular season and winning a BCS bowl game. I love their massive coach, Mark Mangino, a mix of Rick Majerus and Andy Reid.

19. Penn State--What's a Penn State post without mentioning coach Joe Paterno? I respect Paterno because he is a good friend of Lavell Edwards and I am glad he was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

20. Boston College--I just noticed that Doug Flutie was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Reminds me of the second-greatest Hail Mary finish in college football history.

21. Utah (#1 MWC)--I really do think that the Utes are a tad underrated going into the season. I expect them to beat #22 Michigan in the Big House and only have one or two losses going into the Rivalry Game against BYU. My official season predictions will come later, but I think there will be some revenge from this game.

22. Michigan--You don't think I could resist, do you?

23. Cincinnati--It is difficult for me to put the defending Papajohns.com bowl champions so high, but as you can see above with #21, I have forced myself to be completely objective here. I don't know why I have always disliked Cincy. From Kenyon Martin to Bob Huggins to WKRP Cincinnati to the Bengals to Pete Rose...everything about that city has bothered me so far in life. And speaking of Papa John's, I'd be interested to know if anybody in the world has this on their computer desktop.

24. South Florida. They've been pretty impressive for a program that has only been around in Division 1-A since 1997. At one point last year they were #2 in the BCS rankings (I know, the BCS is faulty but this is still a good accomplishment). Here is a good argument that the Bulls are probably the second-best college team in Florida. I would agree.

25. Boise State (#1 WAC). One bad memory of Boise State. One good memory of Boise State. I don't know for sure how good they'll be this year, but they were impressive the last time I saw them in person.