2008 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW day 2

TOP 8 CONFERENCES

1. SEC-
Year in and year out this is always the best conference in football, and it has been proven the last two Januarys. With 3 teams ranked in my preseason top 10 the SEC doesn’t show any signs of weakening. The conference is deep again, and I can see as many as 9 teams possibly making a case to be ranked at some point this season. The rigorous schedule that each of these teams go through during the season prepares them to take on anyone when it is time to play for the National Championship.

2. BIG XII-
The Big XII surprised the nation last year when both Missouri and Kansas had breakout years in the Big XII North. This year Colorado and Nebraska should show up in the North to challenge as well. The South is Oklahoma’s to lose, but the Sooners will be challenge by rival Texas and the explosive offense of Texas Tech. The downfall in the Big XII is that their bottom end teams are going to be REALLY bad this season. For as good as OU, Missouri and Texas will be expect K-State, Baylor and Iowa State to that bad.

3. PAC-10-
The PAC-10 may not be as top heavy as the other two conferences or have the depth, but they do have USC and as long as they keep winning the PAC-10 will continue to be an elite conference. We have seen the likes of Cal and Oregon try to challenge the Trojans the past few years to no prevail. That theme should stay true this year as well. The big challengers should be Arizona State and Oregon this year, but look out for Oregon State to make a big jump and don’t be surprised to see Rick Neuheisel lead UCLA to some big wins this season either.

4. Big East-
When the co-Champions from last year are picked to finish second to last by the media at the conferences media day it says two things. 1) The conference must be pretty deep. And 2) There is no clear-cut favorite and the conference is completely up for grabs. Both are true for this seasons Big East. UCONN finished tied with WVU last year, yet were picked 7th by the media day this week. If WVU can hold everything together after a very crazy off-season, then they should be the front-runner and again a legit NC contender. If not I can see any of 5 teams challenging the Mountaineers for the conference bragging rights.

5. Big Ten-
PAGING ANY TEAM THAT WOULD LIKE TO SHOW UP AND CHALLENGE OHIO STATE THIS SEASON…The Ohio State University is once again the cream of the crop in the Big Ten. And once again nobody is sure what team, if any, will show up to compete with them. Illinois knocked them off last year in Columbus, so they seem to be the favorite to finish second with Penn State and Wisconsin there too. Expect Michigan to drop off big time for a year or two until RichRod can get his system in place. The big problem with the Big Ten this year is depth, after those top 4 teams nobody is a real threat.

6. Mountain West-
This years Cinderella BCS team very well may be BYU from the Mountain West this season. However it is not a one-team conference, TCU and Utah should both be very competitive as well. Each of these schools did a nice job in non-conference scheduling so that if any of these teams can run the table they will be legit BCS worthy teams (unlike Hawaii last year).

7. ACC-
Boy is this conference bad. Virginia Tech is the only team over the past 4-5 years that has been at all consistent. The Hokies have won 10 or more games each of the last 4 seasons, no other team has won at least 8 games in that span. The Hokies will once again be towards the top of the conference. This year’s flash in the pan team seems to be Clemson. They have all the talent to compete for the conference, but they always seem to get tripped up by a team they should handle easily (Georgia Tech last year, Maryland the year prior). If they can keep it together for 12 games, a VT-Clemson title game might be fun. As for the rest of the conference, well, at least they have basketball teams.

8. WAC-
Fresno State is putting it all on the line this year, with what might be the best team that Pat Hill has had in his 12 years leading the Bulldogs. The non-conference schedule is brutal and would quickly silence any critic if they get selected to the BCS. Throw in Boise State and a Nevada team with a gimmick offense and the WAC should be a fun conference to watch this season.

Tomorrow:
The Top 5 Non-Conference games of the season


ONLY 28 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE 1st SATURDAY OF THE SEASON!!!!