I can't believe who's not in the TOP 25!! COMMENTARY: KIRK BOHLS It's never too early for a preseason top 25 Southern Cal tops the list Listen to this article or download audio file.Click-2-Listen Thursday, January 18, 2007 Since it's been well over a week since a college football game has been played and you've had all of the Rosie-Donald feud you can stand, we figured we'd comb over our research and provide one last fix before our favorite sport goes into hibernation. So in keeping with tradition, here is our fourth annual sneak-peek preseason Top 25 football list, give or take, with apologies for omitting Alabama and college football darling Boise State. Actually, we can say later that we lied and actually had intended to rank Nick Saban's bunch third, and we're hoping Ian Johnson is too busy planning his wedding to notice. You don't need a drum roll for our No. 1. It's so simple, a caveman could have come up with it. And no, we're not picking West Virginia or East Virginia or any other Virginia. Come August and probably next January, your top-ranked team should be Southern Cal. Hey, we warned you there was no suspense. Our Top 10 reads USC, Michigan, West Virginia, UCLA, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Texas, Florida, Wisconsin and LSU. Amazing, isn't it, that Pete Carroll chose not to leave a program that returns 36 of its top 44 players, has a veteran quarterback in place and welcomes back 10 defensive starters. Tough call there, Pete. Putting USC first after a pair of national championships, five consecutive top-four finishes and a 56-4 record the last five seasons is a stroke of, well, not genius but simply consciousness. Besides, the Trojans have what every national champion must to run the table or at least be the final team standing: Have a solid, if not sensational, quarterback. Play in-your-tonsils defense. The concept worked well for Florida's Gators earlier this month when four-year starter Chris Leak picked apart Ohio State with pinpoint passing and a defensive front that comes quicker than Monday morning splattered Buckeyes quarterback Troy Smith. If you check out the last nine BCS championship teams, you'll find brilliant quarterbacks like Texas' Vince Young or USC's Matt Leinart or experienced ones who made good, sound decisions like Ohio State's Craig Krenzel or Miami's Ken Dorsey. Of the top 30 rated quarterbacks in pass efficiency last season, 24 took their teams to bowl games and 15 won them, including eight games against similarly ranked passers. Simply put, good luck reaching the BCS title game or any big bowl game with a below-average player under center. Are you listening, Arkansas? Consequently, the elite teams bunched near the top of our Top 25 are well-stocked at the position. USC's John David Booty threw for 391 yards and four touchdowns in the Rose Bowl and outclassed Michigan's senior-to-be Chad Henne, who quarterbacks our No. 2-ranked team. Hey, Lloyd Carr — who's fast becoming the Marty Schottenheimer of college football — has got to get it right again one of these years. Besides, Michigan gets Ohio State at home and returns Mike Hart and Mario Manningham. That beating handed the Wolverines in the Rose Bowl will be prime motivation for offseason conditioning. A great quarterback is crucial as Arkansas reluctantly discovered during its three-game slide. Heck, some of our best teams have two. Patrick Cowan and Ben Olson shared the job at our surprise Top 10 projection UCLA, and Hunter Cantwell is more than ready to step in for Louisville's Brian Brohm again if necessary. Elsewhere in our Top 10, West Virginia's Pat White and Texas' Colt McCoy should be instrumental in recreating last year's magic. A couple of other teams have to break in replacements. Senior Tyler Donovan or Kansas State transfer Allan Evridge will try to fill in for John Stocco after his 29 career wins at Wisconsin, which at least has 16 starters back, including Heisman candidate P.J. Hill. If Sean Glennon doesn't shape up, incoming freshman Tyrod Taylor may inherit the job at Virginia Tech and benefit from a defense that has ranked No. 1 in total yardage each of the last two seasons. But teams must be stingy on that side of the ball to have a chance. Of the five BCS bowl winners this month, four ranked among the nation's Top 20 defenses, and all five ranked in the Top 20 in scoring defense. Of the top 10 scoring defenses, eight belonged to teams that won their bowl games while Virginia Tech barely lost and Ohio State fell to Florida. In short, you'd better have a top quarterback and a defense capable of stopping the same. It doesn't get any simpler than that. Kind of like USC at No. 1. Now back to your regular programming. kbohls@statesman.com KIRK BOHLS' PRE-SEASON TOP 25 1. Southern Cal 2. Michigan 3. West Virginia 4. UCLA 5. Virginia Tech 6. Louisville Offensively loaded Cardinals went 12-1 without running back Michael Bush, should do so again with quarterback Brian Brohm and rising star Steve Kragthorpe at helm. 7. Texas It would be nice to see what Colt McCoy could do with a running game, but shield your eyes when the opponent goes back to pass. Could get scary. 8. Florida Have some doubts about Tim Tebow on third-and-long and exit of four defensive standouts won't help, but Gators still have playmakers like Andre Caldwell, Percy Harvin and Derrick Harvey and Urban Meyer's flair. 9. Wisconsin P.J. Hill should push Razorback Darren McFadden for the Heisman Trophy, and new quarterback Tyler Donovan should benefit from four offensive line starters returning. 10. LSU Would be much higher if quarterback JaMarcus Russell hadn't left early for the NFL, but the Tigers can be comforted by home dates with Florida, Auburn and Arkansas. 11. Rutgers With Ray Rice and Greg Schiano sticking around, the Scarlet Knights are here to stay. 12. Ohio State Is Jim Tressel suiting up? Defense with linebacker James Laurinaitis and running back Beanie Wells behind a stout offensive line won't let the Buckeyes slip far. 13. Oklahoma Allen Patrick had four 100-yard games in relief of Adrian Peterson, but Bob Stoops has to find someone to throw to that cast of great receivers. 14. Auburn Brandon Cox has to improve drastically after 13 TDs and nine picks for a Tigers team that must travel to Georgia, Florida, LSU and Arkansas. 15. Tennessee An opening road game at vengeful California looms large, but quarterback Erik Ainge is back with seven other offensive regulars. 16. California Will miss Marshawn Lynch, but Nate Longshore-to-Desean Jackson is an electrifying connection. Justin Forsett has to be a running threat and the defense needs an upgrade. 17. Arkansas Can McFadden be the full-time quarterback? Can the single wing work in this century? It may have to as bad as the Hogs' passing attack is. 18. Nebraska Transfer Sam Keller moves under center after starting seven games at Arizona State, but Bill Callahan has to find some bigger cornerbacks against the pass and a pass rusher to replace Adam Carriker. 19. Texas Christian Nine defensive starters, including stud lineman Tommy Blake, are back, and the Frogs won't forget that Texas' Mack Brown left them out of his Top 25 poll in Week 2 next fall. 20. Texas A&M OK, Fran, it's do-or-die. A schedule that sends the Aggies to Miami, OU, Texas Tech and Nebraska won't help, nor will the absence of some go-to receivers, but Michael Goodson and Jorvorskie Lane are stars. 21. Kentucky Terrific quarterback Andre Woodson and wideout Keenan Burton are the latest Cinderellas in cleats on a team that lost just six mainstay seniors. 22. Texas Tech Coming off that jaw-dropping comeback to beat Minnesota in the bowl game, the Red Raiders are ready to take off under Graham Harrell. 23. Wake Forest Jim Grobe worked miracles with his conservative offense and got the Deacons in the Orange Bowl and liked it so much, they should stick around. 24. Boston College Ten defensive starters, including some great linebackers, are back along with quarterback Matt Ryan, but the secondary needs some work. 25. Penn State Senior Anthony Morelli will find blue-chip wide receiver Derrick Williams often but need to amp up the offense to offset the loss of five defensive starters. Joe Pa still in command.
AJ, If you are surprised that ND is not there, don't be. We lose an awful lot of experience and point production. While we ND fans are ever hopeful, we definitely are not a preseason candidate for the top 25.
The smart money is predicting us to start 0-8....seriously they are. :cry: :cry: Reason of course is the schedule is too tough, now of course if we start 6-2 or something like that they will revise and claim we play a weak schedule. :evil: :evil:
This will take care of itself for Alabama. We have to play 4 teams in this top 25 and Kentucky will take care of itself. Also it will be interesting to see if Wake Forest and Rutgers can hang in there.
With a new QB, TB, center, and 9 new starters on defense, I hope UF can have a top-10 season in 2007. Schedule helps a bit with Aub, UT and fsu in Gainesville. Looks like the toughest road trip will be to LSU and then USCe fro round three with the formerheadballcoachnowacock.
I would be ecstatic if ND finishes in the top 25 and goes to a non-BCS bowl. Except for the 9 fifth year seniors, the cupboard is practically bare for incoming juniors and seniors because of the two horrible recruiting years under TW. We will have some experience and leadership but overall we will be a very young team. I think that today there will be a public announcement of the new defensive coordinator and QB coach (Ron Powlus). We desperately need to do something about our defense before we can move to the next level. On a side note, I see where UCLA fired its O-coordinator. With their defense and a better offense next season, they will be a force. And we have to play them out there. :cry: