Disappointments 1. Notre Dame I'm fully prepared to eat crow on this since I'm not about to doubt what Charlie Weis can do, but I wouldn't be shocked if this is an 8-4 team when all is said and done. The Sporting News has the Irish ranked number one, and almost everyone will have this team in the top five, but talent-wise, it belongs somewhere around 15th. The schedule is hardly as breezy as some are making it out to be. No way, no how, do the Irish go without at least two losses against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State in East Lansing, and at USC Purdue and UCLA won't be total pushovers. 2. Florida With the Gator nation screaming at me that this team is the real national-championship deal, I'm still scared off by a schedule that has road games at Tennessee, Auburn and Florida State along with the neutral site Georgia game and home dates with Alabama and LSU. Florida might be one of the five best teams in America and still lose four games. However, over the next five years, with the recruiting classes coming in, Urban Meyer will win at least one national title. 3. Penn State Please, Penn State fans, understand that I don't hate your program. Yes, I know you believe you're going to reload; I don't. Two years from now, yes, Penn State will be a superpower again, and the overall team speed is far better than it has been in years, but there are too many new faces on defense and quarterback Anthony Morelli, while fine, won't have the magical touch Michael Robinson had. At Notre Dame and at Ohio State might mean a 2-2 start, while road games at Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin won't be walks in the park. The Michigan game will be a toss-up.
8) re: Notre Dame "Talent-wise Notre Dame ranks somewhere around 15th." This team has three All-Americans on offense who're first-round NFL picks: Brady Quinn, Jeff Samadzija and Ryan Harris. As many as seven players from this offense, (which includes the leading Heisman candidate) will probably be drafted by the NFL in the first three rounds. There is depth at every position and at some positions, the former HS All-Americans are stacked in rows awaiting their turn. I'm unaware of any team in America that is as loaded on offense as Notre Dame. The defense returns All-American Tommy Zbikowski, who is also projected as a first-round pick, along with four others who're among 8 returning starters on that side of the ball. As many as four are projected to be drafted in the first three rounds while several other starters have been having a difficult time holding onto their jobs from the increased competition. A flood of talent is incoming from both an outstanding recruiting class and returning players who had been injured or in grade trouble. While anything could happen, I'm pretty confident every time I look at this roster. Charlie Weis and his staff improve the players they have and tirelessly recruit the best new talent they can get their hands on and while I've never heard anyone refer to the Irish schedule as "breezy", I just can't think of 15 opponents to be feared. In fact, I can't think of anyone... I think that if this ND team loses, it will simply be because they played a bad game. This seems to happen every year. Last year it was the Michigan State game and I think it would take a similar situation this year. It would have to be a team that could score a lot of points, because the Irish figure to score on everybody... re: Florida I agree with the assessment of the Gators. On paper, they're a Top 5 team, but the schedule has some traps in it, especially on the road. If anything trips them up, it will be the schedule... re: Penn State I also think Penn State is in trouble this year, especially on offense. But they always have a great defense and that should keep them in every game. I also agree that their road games with Notre Dame and Ohio State will determine where they wind up... .............JO'Co