We hear at the Gods feel that pre-season polls do more harm than good but as long as everyone else is doing them we might as well have some fun, right? Now that all of the underclassmen have declared for the draft we have a better idea of what teams should look like come September (is it really that far away?). Some of the big winners in terms of players staying includes Ohio State and Missouri while the big loser was certainly Oklahoma (3 All-Americans gone). There were also some teams that are so young (UGA and Florida) that players couldn't have left even if they wanted to. Not surprisingly, those teams start very high on this list. So, without further ado, here is the super-early-bird-special 2008 top 10.
#1. Georgia: 17 starters return from a team that finished #2 in 2007. 4 starters are back on the offensive line as well as Jr. QB Matt Stafford and Soph. RB Knowshon Moreno, Sr. FB Brannan Southerland and Sr. WR Mohamed Massaquoi. On defense the Bulldogs will feature one of the best secondaries in the nation and may have the fastest LB corps to boot. The main problem for UGA next year will be a brutal schedule which features road games against Arizona State, LSU, Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky and a "neutral" game in Jacksonville against Florida. This is added to their home schedule of Tennessee and Alabama as well. Good luck with that Dawg fans. Projected Finish: 11-1 (at best; the schedule is simply too tough).
#2 Florida: The Gators bring back Heisman winner Tim Tebow, stud WR Percy Harvin and stud TE Cornelius Ingram on an offense that was dynamite last season. Add USC transfer Emmanuel Moody at RB and the Gators could very well boast the best offense in the nation next year. On defense they bring back a ton of starters (albeit starters from a bad defense) who now have a season of experience under their belts. The D cannot possibly play as bad as they did last year which should help put the Gators back into the national title hunt. Just like any other year the Gators have a tough slate of games which includes LSU, UGA, Tennessee, Miami, Florida State and Arkansas. While their schedule is not as tough as UGA's it certainly has its share of difficulties. Projected Finish: 10-2 (defense lets them down twice)
#3 Missouri: This pains me greatly as I cannot stand the Tigers but their team is poised to make a run at a title next season. Sr. QB Chase Daniel will enter the season as a top Heisman candidate while stud Soph. WR/KR Jeremy Maclin should have another freakish year. Their schedule is nothing like Florida's or Georgia's next season but they do open up with Illinois (sans Mendenhall) and must travel to Texas (assumed loss). Aside from that they have a fairly easy road to hoe as they get Kansas on a neutral field and KSU, CU and Okla St. at home. They have only 4 total road games (way to go AD) which include Nebraska, Iowa State, Baylor and aforementioned Texas. If they finish anywhere worse than 10-2 someone should be shot. Projected Finish: 11-1 (loss to Texas...the only truly good team they will play)
#4 USC: The Trojans have to replace some solid SR leadership with LB Keith Rivers and OT Sam Baker graduating but they are certainly not devoid of young talent. Soph. RB Joe McKnight has been the latest to get the "next Reggie Bush" tag put on him and the young stable on WR's should be vastly improved by September. On defense the Trojans will bring back freak SS Taylor Mays, stud LB's Brian Cushing and Rey Maualuga but must replace star DE Lawrence Jackson and stud DT Sedrick Ellis. Once again USC proves that their balls are bigger than your balls by opening up at Virginia then hosting Ohio State before jumping into Pac 10 play immediately following that. I am not sold on Mark Sanchez as their QB but Mich Mustain could supplant him and run the Trojans' offense instead. Projected Finish: 11-1 (upset loss on the road in Pac 10 play)
#5 Ohio State: This may pain me even more than having Mizzou so high as this team has proven three years running that they cannot handle athletic teams. Their only "big" win in the last 3 years came against Texas when Colt McCoy was starting his 2nd game. However, they have the best RB in the nation as well as the best LB in the nation which is always a good thing. They managed to keep their stud LT and shutdown corner and should make another solid run for second place in 2008. They have the marquee non-conference game next season when they travel to Compton to take on USC (chalk that up to another loss) but aside from that their schedule shapes up for another 10-11 win season and the now annual embarrassment in a BCS title game. Projected Finish: 10-2 (upset loss to Michigan and hammered by USC)
#6 Oklahoma: The Sooners would have been in the top 3 had Reggie Smith, Malcolm Kelly and Curtis Lofton opted to stay for their senior seasons but alas, it wasn't meant to be. QB Sam Bradford needs to avoid the Sophomore slump that plagued Colt McCoy this season if he wants to repeat as Big 12 champions. Demarco Murray should be the feature back for the Sooners next season and he will have the pleasure of running behind one of the best o-lines in the nation. On defense they will sorely miss Smith and Lofton but Stoops always seems to reload there so until further notice you should expect the same. The Sooners do not have an easy schedule as they have non-conference games with Cincinnati, TCU and Washington as well as games against Kansas and Nebraska from the North. Add to this the brutal Big 12 South and OU would be lucky to get out of that division alive. Projected Finish: 10-2 (loss to Texas and Oklahoma State).
#7 Texas: The Longhorns had back-to-back "disappointing" seasons according to fans but that should change next season. The biggest off season hire of any team, head coach or otherwise, may very well be the hiring of Will Muschamp as the new DC. Muschamp is one of the best DC's in the nation and an excellent recruiter which should make what was a listless defense downright scary in the coming years. Texas loses Jamaal Charles to the draft but should be able to reload as there are always RB's at Texas. McCoy should have a better grasp on the offense and if he can cut down on the interceptions Texas should be able to win the Big 12 next season. Their schedule shapes up nicely as they get Arkansas in a transition year and play 3 cream puffs to round out their OCC. Aside from the showdown with Oklahoma the game with Missouri will make or break their year. If they can beat Mizzou (and I think they will) they could be looking at a BCS birth. Projected Finish: 11-1 (upset loss to Texas Tech).
#8 LSU: The Tigers lose 7 starters from a defense that led them to the 2007 BCS title. Gone are Glen Dorsey, Craig Steltz and Chevis Jackson as well as stud LB Ali Highsmith. LSU has been recruiting very well which should help soften those losses but losing DC Bo Pelini is also a huge loss. On offense they Tigers lose starting QB Matt Flynn, workhorse RB Jacob Hester and star WR Early Doucet. They do have a more talented (albeit not as intelligent) QB in Ryan Perriloux returning as well as a slew of capable RB's. Now, just like Georgia and Florida, LSU will have to run the gauntlet that is the SEC if they want to repeat as National Champions which includes games @Florida, @South Carolina, @Auburn and @Arkansas as well as home games against Georgia and Alabama. Projected Finish: 9-3 (losses to UGA, Florida and Alabama).
#9 Texas Tech: The Red Raiders bring back star QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree as well as all 5 starting offensive lineman. Add to that the fact that 9 starters return on defense (even though they sucked on D last year...hey, you would think they have to get a little better, right?) and you have a potential top 10 team. Once again Texas Tech plays one of the most pathetic non-conference slates in all of college football. This should be 2008's version of Kansas as they tee it up with SMU, Nevada and Umass (they have a football team?). They open up with Tulsa which should shatter records for most offense as well as becoming the longest non-overtime game in NCAA history. They must travel to Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M but they do get to host Texas and Oklahoma State (we can only hope for another Gundy melt down after that one). Projected Finish: 10-2 (losses to Oklahoma and Kansas).
#10 Kansas: The Jayhawks preyed on one of the softest schedules in history last season in getting them to their first BCS bowl games. Next season won't be the same. While they bring back 9 starters on defense and 7 on offense the schedule gets much more difficult with road trips to South Florida, Oklahoma and Nebraska as well as home games against Texas Tech and Texas. While I do think this should be another solid team last year they played 2 good teams all year and went 1-1. Not so for 2008 as they will feel what it is like to be the hunted. Projected Finish: 9-3 (losses to Texas, Oklahoma and South Florida).
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