As has become custom and surely soon to be emulated the country over, this list will be slowly released 5 -6 teams at a time until the #1 team is revealed. If you don't like any part of it, feel free to use your Google function and read one of the other 1200 top 25 lists out there.
#25 – Auburn – The Tigers are hell bent on reminding the nation that there is football in Alabama not played in Tuscaloosa. With Clemson as the only non-conference game of significance War Eagle will have to run the usual SEC gauntlet but will enjoy a 2 week break before trying to finish what they started last year; that being a beat down of the Crimson Tide. Watch out for Arky State in week one, rumor has it they play a little above their heads opening weekend at large Land Grant D-1 schools.
#24 – Texas A&M – Speaking of Arky State and land grant universities, that all sounds real familiar here. The Aggies should have ended with a better than 6-7 record last year. Loses at Colorado and a gift wrapping to Oklahoma State were inexcusable, but the country a$$ whipping in Manhattan was the peak of the bad. A&M either won handedly or bent over and took it quickly and often. Outside of the Thanksgiving night Jerrod Johnson coming out party, where he was clearly the best QB on the field, Texas A&M was either on the giving side or receiving side of very lopsided affairs. This is good and bad, good because when giving your offense can put up gaudy numbers, bad because when receiving your defense can give up gaudy numbers. Aggie fan knows this well. A switch to the 3-4 defensive scheme hopes to stir the echoes of the great Wrecking Crew Defenses of old. But something tells me John Roper, Aaron Wallace, Quentin Coryatt, Patrick Bates, Sam Adams, Kevin Smith, Aaron Glenn, William Thomas, Marcus Buckley, Keith Mitchell, Brandon Mitchell, Dat Nguyen etc aren’t walking through those doors anytime soon. Christine Michael is one of the best 4 RB’s in the conference, Jeff Fuller is one of the top 5 WR's in the country and will compliment the Aggies deepest and most talented wide receivering corp they've ever had in College Station, scoring wont be an issue, keeping the others from doing so might be.
#23 – West Virginia – Rich Rod who? One can think that Mountaineer fans are okay with losing this loser all the sudden. Although they are still having to deal with some of his past shenanigans, West Virginia will field the most experienced team in the Big East. Notables like speedster Noel Devine and a tough stingy defense that returns 9 starters will help ease the pressure on Sophomore QB Geno Smith. Smith played sparingly last year but missed the spring with a broken foot. Sources say he has the talent, but didn’t we all at one point? A huge late September trip to Baton Rouge could tell us a lot about this team all while providing third class entertainment, swamp trash v. hillbillies. Ultimate question, can they challenge Pitt for Big East supremacy? Don’t overlook back to back games at UConn and two weeks later Cincy at home.
#22 – Utah – The Utes have seemed to surpass their in-state missionary bound brethren to the tune of a PAC-10 invite, only to have BYU responsd by declaring their football independence. Regardless Utah has their eyes focused on the Horned Frogs of TCU and will get a crack at them in Nov. The Utah offense, especially the RB tandem will be leaned on heavily to carry the team due to the need of replenishment on the defense which was picked apart in the last NFL draft. First game against Pitt will tell a lot, but won’t break their season either way. Enjoy the BCS buster title while you got it, because when you start heading west for every game in the PAC-10, the Poinsettia Bowl might become more of a regular reality.
#21 – South Carolina – It’s hard to believe that quarterback guru Steve Spurrier hasn’t had a good one in 5 years at South Carolina. That’s what will need to change for the Gamecocks to rise up and challenge in the SEC East. Stephen Garcia, QB, can look like Ryan Mallet at times and just as quickly turn into Ryan Leaf (NFL Ryan Leaf). Consistency is a must and Spurrier will demand it out of the multi-year starter. An early Labor Day test against Southern Mississippi should be a good litmus test for what Cock fans can expect as they prepare for the rigors of the SEC schedule. The defense should be salty again, even with having to replace NFL bound Eric Norwood and prized recruit Marcus Lattimore should provide a good shot in the arm at the RB position. Here’s hoping they shake up the SEC hierarchy, it’s always fun having a Cock(y) ole ball coach pacing the sidelines. Plus it’s good on the visors to not meet the turf so often.
#20 – Georgia – It’s hard to imagine a guy with a 77% winning percentage over 9 years could be even remotely close to the hot seat. But it’s also hard to think while Mark Richt was accumulating wins his conference foes would have 5 combined BCS National Championships. It is what it is. UGA is replacing the quarterback, but has two quality options, including highly touted incoming freshmen Aaron Murray in the mix. They will also trot out AJ Green, WR, arguably one of the top 5 WR’s in the country, even in the run first minded SEC. One game to keep an eye on is a non-conference trip to Colorado in early October. Georgia is a superior team, but they would be neither the first nor the last team with more talent to go up in the altitude at Boulder and come away with a head scratching loss. Some off the field issues are going to cloud the next few weeks, regardless Coach Richt needs to continue to win and get the best of Florida at that cocktail get together this year. At least the AD at the beginning of the summer took some of the heat off, to the tune that here at the end of the summer he is no longer AD. Cross-hairs back on Richt.
#19 – Georgia Tech – The smarter more urban cousin of the #20 ranked Georgia team lands at the 19 spot. The rambling wreck from Georgia Tech will continue to run the double-slot option and with an experienced and savvy guy like QB Josh Nesbitt at the helm, the immediate future looks bright. The defending ACC champions and BCS Orange bowl runner-ups (nice way of saying loser) will have to find a way to replace RB Jonathan Dwyer who was drafted last year. For the option to work efficiently it is imperative to have no fewer than two threats, Nesbitt has already been proven as one, so finding a second to compliment him is a must. Now the other side of the ball is a toss-up. In is former NFL and most recently UVA head man, Al Groh as the defensive coordinator. Groh will implement the 3-4 defensive scheme and with some crafty work could have the Jackets contending for the ACC and BCS bowl game again this season.
#18 – LSU – The bayou Bengals are a real question mark this year. Yes they have the talent, yes they have the conference, yes they have the out of conference schedule, yes they have the home field advantage, yes they have the tradition, but unfortunately for them yes they still have Les Miles. There might not be a warmer seat in the country than the one that Lil Les finds himself perched on and it’s only getting warmer. The tiger faithful are split, half love him and half hate him. Both for good reason, he did bring home a national championship, don’t mind the constant second guessing; from who’s players they were to a 2 loss team playing for the BCS championship. He also has repeatedly puts his players in bad situations, see Ole Miss last year, and has had some odd if not completely confusing things to say over the past 4-5 years. The play of QB Jordan Jefferson was great at times, but down right Jarrett Lee like at times as well. They will field a very talented group of WR’s and defensive secondary, but is that enough to overcome the dreaded Les-factor? An early season date with North Carolina and then a home affair with West Virginia could give the tigers the confidence they need to face and challenge for the talented SEC West.
#17 – North Carolina – Butch Davis was supposed to turn a basketball crazed school into a semi-interested football school. He was having some success, recruiting well and winning more games, then what seems to be half of the team decided rules didn’t apply to them and we all await word from the NCAA as to what the punishment is going to be. Things along tobacco road are very much up in the air as of print time. A tough but momentum building first game against LSU could or could not have done wonders, depending on who plays, for this team. Red-shirt freshmen QB, Ryan Renner should take the reins either from day one or at some point early in the year and could provide that spark to get over the hump. The defense is stout, but depending on what the NCAA has to say, this unit could be decimated for some huge games (LSU, Georgia Tech and Rutgers). All things being the same the Tar Heels are a top 20 team, so that’s were they will stay.
#16 – Pittsburgh - They have seen the promise land, just haven’t been able to physically get there. The Panthers had the Big East title in their paws the past few years late into the season only to have it ripped away from lesser, on paper, opponents. Can Wannstedt get this fixed? They have recruited well and field an experienced group starting with record book re-writing RB Dion Lewis, he had close to 1,800 yards last season. Expect Big East foes to pay a bit more attention to him this year. If other teams do in fact commit too much to stop the run, the Panthers can make them pay with their deep and talented WR’s. Starting with All-Conference wide-out Jonathan Baldwin, he along with a fellow 6’5” wide receiver Mike Shanahan should be a formidable duo. The defense should not miss a step even with the departure of both DE’s. The unit led the nation in sacks last year and looks to build on experience.
#15 – Arkansas – It has been a long time since the Hogs have entered a fall sport season with so much hype, hope and wooo piiiiigg soooiiiee hysteria. It could all be for good reason or it could all be for not. A lot of this lies squarely on the cannon that sits in place of a right arm on QB Ryan Mallett. The super sized signal caller can and will whip the ball all over the field and the scary thing for opponents is that his WR’s are the best they’ve been in his tenure. Couple this with Bobby “packed and out of town” Petrino’s offensive wizardry and even Arky fans can do this math. Pig fans and players will know soon enough with early season conference tests against Georgia and Alabama, followed up with an old Southwest Conference showdown against Texas A&M at Jerry’s little do-hicky over in Arlington whether the hype and hysteria was worth crawling out of the trailer for. All the offense in the world though can’t win them all in the SEC; the Hogs D will need to step-up and try to pull their weight for the title hoping hogs to have a chance.
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