2010 College Football Preseason Top 25
Sports Librarian’s Top 25 College Football Preseason for 2010
1. State of Ohio
The good: Nine starters are back on offense, one of them being Terrelle Pryor.
The bad: Penn State at home and Iowa on the road in consecutive weeks
The ugly: only two starters in defense
2. Oregon
The good: Masoli and James are back to lead a high-powered offense.
The bad: The defense gave up more than 34 points per game in the last five
The Ugly – Schedule has them @Tenn, @USC, @Cal, @Oregon State
3. Texas
The good: Curtis Brown, Aaron Williams and Chykie Brown in high school.
The Bad: Quarterback Garrett Gilbert hasn’t started college yet.
The ugly: With Jordan Shipley missing, nothing is certain at the receiver.
4. Alabama
The Good – Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson are back as running backs
The Bad: Offense is one-dimensional, as Greg McElroy plays it safe.
The Ugly: The defense took a hit when Kareem Jackson and Rolando McClain left early.
5. Penn State
The good: Dominant defense stifled LSU in bowl game; RB Evan Royster is back
The Bad: The weak Big Ten could have had something to do with the PSU record last year.
The ugly – @Alabama, @Iowa, @Ohio State; That’s three ats against the top 10 opponents
6. Nebraska
The Good: Did you watch the Cornhuskers defense destroy Arizona in their bowl game?
The bad: Ndamukong Suh ran out of eligibility
The Ugly – The Nebraska Offense; Texas exposed the Huskers offense, but it was bad all year
7. North Carolina
The Good – Three first-round picks starting on defense; many headlines go back on the offensive
The Bad: A lot of starters returned to a pretty bad offense.
The Ugly: difficult schedule, not much explosiveness on offense
8. TCU
The Good: TCU has earned respect as a power to deal with in college football.
The Bad: TCU lost to Boise State when it really could have put a stamp on the season.
The ugly: the schedule is again too weak even if they go undefeated
9. Iowa
The good: Ricky Stanzi and Adrian Clayborn will return this year
The Bad: The line either has holes in it, a weak Big Ten (outside of PSU and OSU) won’t help the schedule.
The Ugly: A lot had to go right for the Hawkeyes to end up where they did last year.
10. State of Boise
The Good: Boise State went undefeated and beat a capable TCU, also has the most starters coming back
The Bad: An early season game with Virginia Tech
The Ugly – The conference they play in will never give Boise State any respect.
11. Georgia
The good: Georgia looked good at season end, AJ Green and two young rbs are making a comeback
The Bad: Mark Richt has drafted too well to be as bad as last year.
The ugly one: it has to replace the initial qb and the middle of the defense.
12. USC
The good – Matt Barkley is back on qb; USC has a ton of 5 stars recruited to help the case
The bad – Pete Carroll left town
The ugly: the NCAA may be about to attack the Trojans
13. LSU
The good: the defense will be back at the top of the line.
The Bad: The offense shut down against all the good defenses, and even some of the bad ones.
The Ugly: Only Nine Headlines Combined Return; hard game against North Carolina early
14. Virginia Tech
The good: Ryan Williams could be the best running back in the nation; Tyrod Taylor is solid
The Bad: The game against Boise State is a dead end for the Hokies.
The ugly: they need to be able to generate more offense to return to the image of the national title.
15. Miami FL
The Good – Hurricanes are running a tight ship these days; Jacory Harris is his best qb in some time
The Bad: RB Cooper is likely out this season with a leg injury
The Ugly: With @Ohio State, @Pitt, and @Georgia Tech games, it’s hard to see better than a 3-loss season.
16. Oklahoma
The Good – The Sooners play a weak Big 12 right now
The Bad: Landry Jones didn’t look very good last year most of the time.
The Ugly – The OL has seen too many injuries and transfers; they will be the weak link again this year
17. State of Oregon
The good: Rodgers brothers are back in rb and wr
The bad: quarterback Sean Canfield has moved to the NFL
The Ugly: With a new qb and not many other threats outside of the Rodgers duo, the offense could suffer
18. Stanford
The good: Andrew Luck could be the number one pick in the NFL draft next year.
The Bad: Toby Gerhart won’t be back to hit opposing defenses this year.
The ugly: There is not enough speed on defense, which is why they give up too many points in most games.
19. Florida
The good: Gators draft well and have rb’s Demps, Rainey and Moody this year
The Bad: DE Carlos Dunlap, CB Joe Haden and FS Major Wright jumped to the NFL
The Ugly – Tim Tebow is gone and the replacement hasn’t seen much action at all
20. Arkansas
The good – Ryan Mallet will be in the Heisman race
The Bad: The Razorbacks have the worst pass defense in the conference.
The ugly: The schedule has too many teams that are simply better than Arkansas.
21. Georgia Tech
The Good: Paul Johnson never graduates, so the offense will remain strong.
The Bad: Demaryius Thomas, leaving early, removes the only deep threat the Yellow Jackets had.
The Ugly – Jonathan Dwyer was the man who really made the offense click
22. Utah
The Good: The Utes proved they weren’t a one-hit wonder
The Bad: Pittsburgh from the start is a tough challenge
The Ugly – TCU, the only really good team they ever played, absolutely worked the Utes
23. State of Florida
The Good – The Seminoles always recruit speed and athletes; QB Ponder is a Heisman candidate
The Bad: Noles haven’t been very good for a while, so the shine has faded.
The Ugly – Bobby Bowden is gone; The state of Florida was nothing before Bowden
24. West Virginia
The good: Noel Devine is back and he’s going to rack up lots of yards and touchdowns this year.
The bad: 2-3 on the road last year; LSU, UCONN and Pitt on the road this year
The ugly: there is no Pat White (not even a Jarret Brown) in qb to congratulate the great running back.
25. Houston
The good: Case Keenum, Tyrone Carrier, Charles Sims, Patrick Edwards, James Cleveland on offense
The Bad: Cougars seem to have a disappointing game or two every year (UTEP, Air Force)
The ugly: The league’s worst running defense (112 nationally) won’t get better this year.
I did not make it in
Pitt – Dion Lewis and not much else
Texas A&M – Jerrod Johnson and not much else
Auburn – Razzle dazzle can only take you so far
California – Tedford will find a way to present a good team