Every year in my magazine, I list my Top Non-AQ teams for that particular year and over the course of the last six seasons I have had great success!

In 2006, my top non-AQ team was Boise St and I PROJECTED THEM INTO A BCS BOWL and they went undefeated and got to the Fiesta Bowl where they beat Oklahoma. In 2007, I called for Hawaii to go 12-0 and grab a SUGAR BOWL BERTH and that is exactly what they did!

In 2008 my top non-AQ team was Utah and while they were NOT RANKED in the preseason and no one picked them to even win the MWC at the start of the year except me, they finished unbeaten and #2 in the country! In 2009 my Top non-AQ team was Boise St and when they beat TCU in the Fiesta Bowl they finished #4 and the top non-AQ team in the country. In 2010 it was FIVE in a row. EVERYONE had Boise St as their top non AQ team but I went against the grain and picked TCU and coach Patterson and company did not disappoint as they knocked off Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and finished #2 in the country, naturally the top rated non AQ team out there (Boise #9!)

My Top Non-AQ Teams for 2011 as Featured in my College Preview Magazine Published in May!

This past year I picked Boise St as my Top Non-AQ Team and the Broncos came within one missed 39-yard FG vs TCU away from yet another unbeaten season and a possible berth in the national title game as LSU and Boise would have been the only two remaining unbeaten teams. Keep in mind there was a lot of resentment against having an Alabama/LSU rematch and there probably would have been some support for Boise and the little guys to finally get their shot at the title. The Broncos were even shutout of a BCS game but would go on to finish 12-1 and #8 in the AP poll ranking ahead of every other Non-AQ team.  That means in the 6 years I have posted my Top non-AQ team 5 of them have gone to BCS bowls and ALL SIX have finished as the best non-AQ team!

Also listed in this past year’s magazine were 5 other Top Non-AQ teams and I am very pleased with their success as well. Each of the top 5 Non-AQ teams finished in the top 25 of either the final AP or Coaches poll and all SIX of them had double digit wins!

TCU was my #2 AQ team and the Horned Frogs despite returning the 2nd fewest amount of starters in the country won the MWC title finishing with 11 wins and indeed finished as the #2 Non-AQ team at #14 in the AP Poll. My #3 Non-AQ team was Southern Miss and the Golden Eagles would finish with their best season in school history with 12 wins and a #20 AP finish which included an upset over my #4 Non-AQ team Houston in the CUSA Championship Game. The Cougars also had a dream season finishing with 13 wins and a #18 finish in the AP poll. Also listed was BYU who won 10 games and finished #26 in the AP poll and #25 in the Coaches’ Poll while Ohio was my #6 Top Non-AQ team and the Bobcats finished with their first double digit win season since 1968!

This year I’m going for SEVEN IN A ROW! So make sure you buy my pre-season college football preview to see which Non-AQ team will top my chart with a great shot at grabbing a BCS Bowl next year!

I have gotten many requests to do a blog to explain how I compute each teams home field edge in the magazine. I have 27 different factors in my computer’s grade of a team. I then compare the computer’s analysis to my own and make the final decision.

While I mention that there are 27 factors in my home field computer ratings, there are actually nine individual factors that I use each year and I then combine the grades for the last three years giving half of the grade to last year, 30% to the numbers from two years ago and 20% to the computer rankings from three years ago.

Today I will go over the nine different areas that I use to rate home field edge. The first category is the stadium capacity. The largest stadium in the country last year was Penn St which held 107,282 and my computer gave them the maximum score of 6 for that category. My home field edges go from 0 to 6 in the magazine so they have the same scale in the computer. The smallest capacity is Idaho’s Kibbie Dome which seated just 16,000 and they received a 0 in that category. The rest of the capacities are done with a simple equation of Capacity-16,000 divided by 15,250. The reason I divide by 15,250 is that Penn St at 107,282-16,000 = 91,282 and 91,282 divided by 6 (0-6 scale) = 15,214 and I rounded up to get the 15,250. You can figure out what your favorite team is graded in this category by using this simple equation.

The second category is actual attendance reported by the school in 2010. Once again Michigan was at the top with 111,825 and this time the team at the bottom was Ball St which averaged just 8,947 fans per game last year. I used the same method as above to turn this data into a 0 to 6 rating where Michigan received a 6, Ball St a 0 and as an example Florida St with an attendance of 71,270 earned a 4.15 grade.

The third category is % of capacity. Let’s face it, a crowd of 45,000 in a 45,000 seat stadium is louder than a crowd of 45,000 in a half-full 90,000 seat stadium. The winner in this category last year was Alabama at 111% of capacity as they had an avg attendance of 101,821 with a listed capacity of 92,138. Oregon had a 110% capacity with an avg attendance of 59,398 with a stadium capacity of 54,000. There were 10 schools that had a larger average attendance than their listed capacity last year. At the bottom of this category was UAB which brought in an average of 18,360 fans to their 72,000 seat stadium which is just 26%. Five teams had an average attendance of less than 40% capacity and 9 had an average attendance of less than 50% of capacity.

The next category is last years straight up win/loss record for each team at home. There were 15 teams last year that finished with an undefeated record at home while there were 2 teams last year that were actually winless at home. Those 2 teams were Eastern Michigan and North Texas.

The fifth category is the last 3 years straight up records at home. Oklahoma, Boise St and TCU are all undefeated at home in that span while Alabama, Troy and Utah all have just one loss. At the bottom of the scale is Western Kentucky and North Texas who have won just 1 home games in the last 3 years. Once again this is on a 0-6 point basis.

The next category is the last 5 years records at home. Boise St and Oklahoma come in #1 here at a perfect 32-0 and 31-0 game at home respectively. TCU is next up with just 2 losses. North Texas and Eastern Michigan are at the bottom over 5 years with NT at 5-22 and EMU 5-19.

Sometimes teams compile great home records because they play a bunch of cupcakes. Sometimes teams compile a weak record because they play a large amount of ranked teams. The easiest way to determine if a team played above or below expectations is to look at their records against the Las Vegas spread. If a team was favored to win by 30 that means the opponent was weak and a 3 point win is unimpressive vs that caliber of opponent. I weigh each of the different factors and the actual home win record is given twice the weight of the ATS record. I used the records for last year, the last 3 years and the last 5 years. The best record over the last 5 years is CMU at 16-6 with Oklahoma #2 at 21-8 and TCU #3 at 20-8. At the bottom are Army at 6-18, and Fresno 7-20.

I then factor in the 9 categories from the 2009 and 2008 seasons which gives me 27 categories for the computer to factor in and I have them appropriately weighted. I then look at the computer’s grade which had Oklahoma #1 with a 5.65 home edge. Ohio St #2 at 5.59 and Oregon #3 at 5.23. At the bottom the computer has Eastern Michigan #120 at 1.19, North Texas #119 at 1.36 and WKU #118 at 1.54.

The final category is my own personal grade. I have 12 TV’s in front of me and watch 12 games all day long on Saturday and watch every nighttime game on ESPN. I can hear the crowd noise at each stadium and I weigh in how many times I thought it was a factor in a game. I look at how good the team has been the last 5 years and what percentage of games they win at home and on the road in my personal evaluation.

After that evaluation, I gave three teams a 6-point home edge in this year’s magazine in Oklahoma, Boise St and Oregon. Virginia Tech and Ohio St hav a 5.75 grade while Florida, Penn St, TCU, Wisconsin and Alabama all earned 5.25 grades from me. At the bottom of the scale I gave a 1.5 point home edge to Eastern Michigan with WKU, New Mexico St and Tulane all earning 2s.

Here are all my 2011 Homefield edges for all 120 Teams.

Phil Steele’s 2011 Homefield Edges
(higher number the better)

Only 35 Days Until the First College Football Game!!!

Over the weekend I released my projected preseason AP Top 10 and I thought I would analyze another set of rankings for the upcoming season. A couple of weeks ago, several casinos released their odds for the 2011-12 BCS National Championship. While PhilSteele.com does not affiliate itself with gambling, I do think it is interesting to see how Vegas is examining the upcoming season.

Here are the Top 10 Favorites to win the title this upcoming year courtesy of Bodog.com.

1. Oklahoma             Odds: 7/2

If you checked out my projected AP Top 10 blog, you would have read that the Sooners are clearly the favorite going into next season and the odds certainly agree here. They return 15 starters on off/def including QB Jones, WR Broyles and LB Lewis. Their schedule sets up nicely with a bye before their road trip to Florida St (a team they dominated LY 47-17). In Big 12 play naturally there is the Red River Rivalry game vs Texas who is coming off a 5-7 season and the only other huge hurdle could be the season finale at Oklahoma St but the Sooners have won the Bedlam rivalry 8 straight times and have an overall mark of 82-16-7 vs their in-state rivals.

2. Alabama             Odds: 15/2

The Crimson Tide were my projected AP #2 team for 2011. Despite the losses of QB McElroy, RB Ingram and WR Jones and DT/DE Dareus, the Tide return 15 starters including 9 from a defense that figures to be among the best in the country. While they do have road trips to Penn St, Florida and Auburn none of those teams figure to be in the preseason top 10 so they have a great opportunity of being favored in every game this season.

3. Florida St             Odds: 10/1

The Noles return 16 starters, bring in one of the best frosh classes in the country and should be the ACC favorites. However, their schedule is not soft by any means as they host pre-season favorite Oklahoma and travel to Florida in non-conf play and have to play ACC Atlantic foes Clemson and Boston College on the road.

4. Boise St             Odds: 12/1

The Broncos return 14 starters including QB Moore. While they do move to the MWC and open the season vs Georgia in Atlanta, the Broncos get defending MWC champ TCU at home (where they have not lost a reg ssn gm since 2001) also get defending CUSA champ Tulsa at home and will probably be favored to win 11 of their 12 games.

4. LSU              Odds: 12/1

The Tigers return 15 starters from a team that surprised many going 11-2 last year. While they open the season with a huge showdown vs Oregon in Arlington, the Tigers will probably be favored to win the rest of the games with the exception of a road trip to Alabama later in the season. Road trips to Mississippi St and West Virginia in September will be tricky as well.

6. Oregon            Odds: 14/1

This year the Ducks return just 11 starters on off/def but get QB Thomas and Doak Walker winner RB James back from a offense that avg’d 47 ppg. UO does have a monster non-conf game vs LSU in the opener and have road trips to Arizona, Washington and Stanford but still will be the preseason favorite to win the Pac-10 for a third straight season.

7. Florida            Odds: 15/1

This one is a bit of a surprise since the Gators are coming off just an 8-5 season and have a new HC in Will Muschamp. UF does return 13 starters and have a lot of talent on hand thanks to some outstanding recruiting. However, rheir three-game stretch to start off October is as challenging as team will face during any stretch. (Bama, at LSU, at Auburn).

8. Nebraska      Odds: 18/1

It will be an interesting year for the Huskers as they move to the Big 10. They do return just 12 starters from last year’s team that again came up just short of the Big 12 title. One of the starters back is QB Martinez. As far as their schedule goes, the conference did them no favors with road games at Wisconsin, Penn St and Michigan along with home games vs Ohio St and Michigan.

9.  Penn St            Odds: 20/1

Another interesting pick here as the Nittany Lions are coming off just a 7-6 season. They do return 15 starters and their QB situation should be in much better shape this year. Home games vs Alabama and Iowa are their biggest tests before a 3 game stretch to close the season vs Nebraska, at Ohio St and at Wisconsin.

10. TCU            Odds: 20/1

The Horned Frogs are here naturally because of their great success over the past several seasons but they do return just 8 starters on off/def and lose their leader in QB Andy Dalton. Their schedule is not yet finalized as they are missing a couple of non-conf games but their biggest test looks to be a road game at Boise.

Here are some other odds:

We have already been working hard on the 2011 season and Today’s blog is the current list for Returning Starters for each team in 2011 broken down by offense, defense and special teams (kicker/punter). The * on the offense number denotes that the starting QB is returning. Below the list I broke down teams with the most/least returning starters.

I will be back later this week with all the Senior Bowl/Pro Bowl coverage you need to prepare you for this weekend’s games. On Monday I will expand on the Las Vegas odds to win the 2011 BCS National Championship and give you a breakdown of each of the 50 teams including key starters back/lost.

Returning Starters for 2011

As of right now new Vanderbilt HC James Franklin will be inheriting one of the most experienced teams in the country with a total of the 21 of the 24 players back for this season including all 11 starters on offense. They will be led on offense by all-purpose RB Warren Norman and on defense LB Chris Marve returns after posting 80 tkls a year ago.

New Michigan HC Brady Hoke also inherits one of the more experienced teams in the country with the Wolverines returning 20 starters led by All-American candidate Robinson at QB. It will be interesting to see how the Wolverine players adapt to the new schemes on both sides of the ball.

Texas A&M seems to be a contender to be ranked in the pre-season top 10 next year and they return 19 starters including QB Tannehill who did a fantastic job being called on this year when Johnson was struggling. On defense the Aggies return 8 starters but do lose their leader in OLB Von Miller.

Despite losing RB Ingram, WR Jones and DE Dareus to the NFL draft early, the Crimson Tide still return 17 starters including 9 on what could be the best defense in the country next season led by FS Mark Barron.

On the opposite end is the defending national champion Auburn Tigers who return only 7 starters next year which is an incredible 3 fewer than any other team. Naturally the loss of Newton and Fairley will hurt and you have to think they will find it tough getting to double digit wins but Chizik has out-performed expectations to date.

Rose Bowl Champ TCU also will suffer heavy losses with just 10 starters back next season. Losing their leader on offense in Andy Dalton will hurt but Tank Carder returns on defense. While the Horned Frogs should still get to the 10 win mark, you have to think another 12-0 regular season will be out of their reach with the key losses.

Happy New Year!!!

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News and Notes

The Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech game had a lot of interesting storylines. First, VT had an extra week to prepare for the option and it didn’t really show as they allowed TD’s on GT’s first 2 drives. A crucial play happened late 1H. VT had been picked off in the EZ and then fmbl’d a punt at midfield and GT was about to take a 21-7 lead when Nesbitt on 3&gl from the 6 was int’d at the 1. On the play Nesbitt tried to make the tackle and suffered an arm inj which put him out the rest of the game and it was 14-7 at the half. GT’s Washington came into the game with 12 rush att on the season and 3 passes. He would hit 2-7-80 and rushed 11x for 45 yds. Nesbitt, who had 86 yds rushing on 6 att and before the inj, became the ACC’s all-time leading rusher at QB. GT was SOD on 4&2 at the VT45 and VT went 55/8pl for a TD to tie it then drove 63/11pl for a TD and the lead, 21-14. Washington led GT 80/9pl getting a TD with 2:34 left but VT ret’d the ensuing KO for a TD. GT got to the VT17 but was int’d in the EZ on 2&11.

In what may have been a preview for the CUSA Title game, UCF jumped out to a 20-10 lead vs Houston and their first 2 drives they were SOD at the UH15 on 4&3 and fmbl’d at the UH2. The D did get the latter one back as they got a 15 yd IR TD 4pl later. It was 23-10 at the half with UCF having a 338-224 yd edge. UH actually opened the 3Q with 73/5pl and 80/9pl drives for TD’s and took the lead 24-23 but UCF would go 76/12pl and 62/5pl for TD’s while UH settled for a 34 yd FG which made it 37-27 (10:43 4Q). UCF got an int at the UH36 and added a 27 yd FG but UH got a TD with 5:46 left, 40-33 (missed xp). UCF went on a 9pl drive but missed a 39 yd FG with 1:53 left which would have clinched it. UH converted on 4&10 out to its 46 but after dropping a FD pass on 4&10, they were SOD.

In the last two weeks on the Thurs and Fri games, amazingly three teams have fumbled the ball inside the opp’s 3 yd line with a chance to win the game. It happened to Florida St, W Virginia and last week W Michigan. In the WMU/CMU game, WM led 22-13 when CM got a TD with 12:45 left. WM got back up by 2 scores with an 18 yd TD run but it was called back on a hold. They would settle for a 46 yd FG due to pen and missed it. CM got a TD with 6:04 left but WM answered right back. Trailing 26-22, they had a 2nd & gl at the 3 but amazingly fmbl’d and CM rec’d at the 5.

Miami, Fl rolled up 504 yds despite not having their starting QB or RB thanks to their very talented reserves. Lamar Miller rushed for 125 yds and Stephen Morris hit 18-30-286. UM was int’d & ret’d 60 yds for a TD, settled for 33 and 31 yd FG’s but Maryland also settled for 27 and 23 yd FG’s. A key play happened in the 3Q when UM got a 55 yd FR TD which was wiped out by a face mask pen away from the play and MD got a 23 yd FG with 9:19 left to lead 20-18. UM got a 35 yd TD pass with :37 left and 2 pt conv but MD got to the UM30 and their pass to the EZ was just OOB and dropped on the final play.

Joe Paterno was going for his 400th win and things did not look good as Northwestern got a TD with :56 left 1H to take a 21-0 lead stunning the home crowd. Scores late in halves always produce momentum and PSU got one driving 90/9pl for a TD with :03 left to get back in it. PSU scored TD’s on their first 4 poss of the 3Q to roll to a 35-21 lead and NU dropped a TD pass in the EZ on 4&gl from the 9 with 8:11 left and Paterno was able to celebrate. PSU did have a 528-369 yd edge.

Navy set a Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium record for pts scored by a team (EC or a foe) by piling up 76. The game was actually competitive as it was tied at 21 when Navy got a TD with :14 left 1H. EC fmbl’d the ball 3x in 6pl to open the 3Q as the game was played in rain. Navy got a 38 yd FG and TD drives of 29 & 21 yds. Leading 48-28, Navy rec’d a fmbl and drove 49 yds for a TD and then EC was SOD at its 50 and Navy drove 7 plays for a TD. Navy rec’d an onside kick to drive 36 yds for a TD and EC was SOD at its own 48 and Navy drove 48 yds for a TD with 3:14 left for the final score. Navy’s 76 pts were the highest in program history surpassing the 74 they put up vs N Texas in 2007.

Nebraska was playing without QB Taylor Martinez as well as his backup Zac Lee. Cody Green was only allowed to pass 4x in the 1H. Iowa St led 10-7 at the half thanks to a Grant Mahoney 57 yd FG with the wind was at his back. NU got a 25 yd FG early 3Q then got a 29 yd IR TD to take the lead. After another int they went 56/11pl for a TD to apparently take control, 24-10 but ISU went 75/12pl for a TD and NU fmbl’d the KO and ISU got a TD to tie. In OT each team scored a TD. ISU faked an xp and had an open receiver in the EZ. If the holder led him, it would have been a 2 pt conversion but it was slightly behind him and the safety was able to int it and NU survived.

Denard Robinson DNP after the 3Q of Michigan’s shoot out vs Illinois. It was the highest scoring game in the history of UM football but they needed 3OT’s to get to 67-65. It was 31-31 at half, also the highest total in UM history. UM finished with a 676-561 yd edge. After each team scored a TD in all 3OT, UM converted on their 2 pt conv and UI was sk’d for an 11 yd loss.

New Mexico St had a 346-296 yd edge vs Utah St and 22-17 FD edge. USt benefited from 84 and 68 yd KR’s by Williams which set up 10 and 12 yd TD drives. USt did lead 24-20 when NMSt was SOD on 4&3 at their 27. USt knelt 3x losing 6 yds and on the final pay of the game, ran out of the back of the EZ eating up the final :08 for a safety and a 27-22 final.

An interesting factor in last week’s Arkansas/South Carolina game is that the game had zero baring on SC’s chances at a BCS bowl or SEC Championship. Win or lose, what SC did the next week vs Florida would determine their post-season destinations. SC was competitive early but left some key pts off the board in the 1H. Mid-2Q trailing 10-7 they had a FD at the Arkansas 6 but had a 29 yd FG that bounced off the upright. At the end of the half with :13 left SC got a 3 yd TD pass to make it 24-14 but a questionable offensive pass interfer call took the pts off the board and they settled for a 29 yd FG. With RB Lattimore banged up and the big game on deck, Spurrier decided to sit him most of the 2H. Trailing 41-10 SC brought in backup QB Shaw as Garcia was pulled and he led SC down to the Ark11 but took a late hit OOB and 3rd string QB Strickland would lose 1 yd and they settled for a 31 yd FG. The stadium was half empty by the end of the game but once again it meant much more to Ark than it did to SC.

There were plenty of interesting things to come out of the Kansas St/Texas game. UT finished with 23-13 FD and 412-270 yd edges. Collin Klein was a surprise QB starter for KSU and ran for 127 yds while hitting 2-4-9 yds. UT starting QB Garrett Gilbert threw 5 int’s and UT was also stopped on a fake punt and fake FG in the game. KSU would have scoring “drives” of -1, 9 and 14 yds. UT was also int’d in the EZ from the 11. KSU’s final scoring drive summed up the day for UT as on 3&4 a pers foul gave KSU a FD. KSU punted 4pl later and roughing the P gave them a FD and they got a TD 2pl later. UT blk’d the xp but KSU picked it up and ran it in for 2 to lead 39-0 before UT scored a TD with 12:55 left then went on a 70/16pl drive for a TD with :31 left.

Air Force won its first Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy in 8 years. It was the 17th time they’ve won the Award and Navy had won the last 7. AF won for the 7th straight time in Michie Stadium. Army came in as the only team in the country which had not thrown an int but trailing 14-13, Steelman threw one in the final minute of the half which was ret’d 32 yds to the Army23 and AF got a 2 yd TD run with :13 left in the half for a 21-13 lead. Later, with the game at 28-16, AF got a 53 yd FR TD. AF only outrushed Army 277-244 and Army actually had a 19-18 FD edge.

Minnesota played a decent game vs Michigan St as they were only outFD’d 16-14 and outgained 320-267. UM missed a 32 yd FG and was SOD on 4&1 at the MSU41 early 2Q. MSU twice in the 1H went for it on 4th & gl. The first got them a 1 yd TD run with 6:03 left in the half, the 2nd with no time left resulted in a Baker 2 yd TD run and the daring calls made it 21-0 at half instead of just 13-0. UM got to the MSU12 and was int’d in the EZ and at the end of the game, UM was SOD on 4&1 at the MSU25.

For the 2nd straight year Indiana almost upset Iowa. The story of the game was each team driving the length of the field and consistently settling for FG’s. Iowa had a 66/10pl drive for a 23 yd FG, Indy went 59/8pl for a 37 yd FG, Iowa had drives of 11 and 12 plays result in a short 27 yd FG and a missed 22 yd FG. Indiana went on 8 & 12 pl drives for 38 and 28 yd FG’s and was also int’d at the Iowa18 in a 6-6 1H. Indy broke through with a TD late 3Q, 13-9 but punted at the Iowa42 on 4&3 with 3:46 left up 13-12 and Iowa got a 52 yd TD pass with 2:50 left. Indy got to the Iowa18. On 4&10 they had an open rec in the EZ but he dropped the TD pass and Indy just missed the upset.

Clemson fmbl’d 5x losing 2, threw an int, had a TD called back on holding and missed 2 short FG’s. NCSt had a 30 yd FG blk’d and was int’d in the EZ. CU got a TD with 6:18 left for the 14-13 lead and NC was SOD on 4&10 at its own 26 with 1:50 left.

Florida started out slow as it was 44? at their 11:21 am CT start vs Vanderbilt but the Gators would heat up and had 480-109 yd and 24-7 FD edges. There were actually 3 blk’d punts, 2 ret’d for TD’s and another set up a 3 yd TD “drive”. UF blk’d 2 of the punts and earned 14 pts while VU earned 7 off of it. It is also possible that UF Jordan Reed won the starting QB job as he hit 11-19-120 and QB’d almost the entire 2H. UF led 41-0 at half and cruised.

Louisville was without starting QB Froman and RB Powell but Justin Burke hit 13-25-143 yds and Jeremy Wright and Victor Anderson combined to rush 29x for 143 yds. Surprisingly UL was able to knock off Syracuse on the road. SU had a 194-106 yd edge at half and led 17-14. UL went on 60/10pl and 90/12pl drives for TD’s to open the 3Q to take a 28-20 lead. Their last drive started with 5:01 left and went 9pl running out the clock.

Purdue gave QB Sean Robinson his first start and he hit 19-38-141 yds and rushed 12x for 31 yds but his 3 int’s were the key to UW getting the win. PU actually led 10-6 at the half with a 173-126 yd edge. PU’s O-line was controlling UW’s D-line on a late drive. The key to UW’s 3 TD win was three 2H int’s. PU’s 3rd pass of the 2H was int’d and ret’d 14 yds to the 18. Five plays later UW had a TD. UW led just 20-13 when with 9:27 left they got an IR 26 yds to the 14. Two plays later PU was int’d and ret 36 yds for a TD and UW stunningly led by 21. PU was SOD on the UW25 with 5:50 left and UW got 3 FD’s running out the clock.

BYU’s domination of UNLV was even more than the final score of 55-7. The game was 55-0 when BYU went for it on 4&8 and simply ran the ball into the middle of the line for no gain with 3:16 left. UNLV at this point had just 74 yards offense and gained 70 yds on their final 11 plays and on the last play of the game, got a 24 yd TD pass to avoid the shutout.

It may have been the true start of the Turner Gill era and the end of the Dan Hawkins era. What looked like a glorious game for Hawkins and Colorado had them ahead 45-17 in the 4Q over Kansas. The 4Q was a nightmare. It was the greatest comeback in KU history and also the first time in KU history they scored 35 pts in a single quarter. KU snapped an 11 game conf losing streak. Trailing 45-17 KU converted on 4&1 for a FD and got a 13 yd TD on the next play. They then rec’d an onside kick and drove 59 yds for a TD. CU fmbl’d and KU ret’d it 28 yds for a TD with 7:12 left. The Jayhawks got an int and drove 47/5pl for a TD to stunningly tie it. CU punted with 2:49 left and KU went 63/5pl with a 28 yd TD run for the lead. CU had a chance to tie and in fact had a 1st & gl at the 7 but their final 2 passes fell incomplete.

Tulsa was coming off their upset of Notre Dame and still dominated Rice despite giving up a 50 yd TD pass on Rice’s 2nd offensive play of the game and a 55 yd TD pass on the 5th play of the 3Q. At half TU led 41-7 and had a 440-193 yd edge. Rice trailed 57-13 when they scored TD’s on B2B drives to pull within 57-27 with 10:56 left. TU brought in backup QB Shavodrick Beaver and they went 80/16pl eating up 9:52 scoring a 1 yd TD with 1:04 left for the 64-27 final.

It was an exciting home crowd with ESPN GameDay on hand as TCU came into Utah as some fans camped out 30 hrs in advance but the game was dominated by TCU. At the half TCU had 23-5 and 328-72 yd edges. TCU led 40-0 when Utah was given a TD late. Asiata’s knee was down at the 3 but he was given the TD and it was not reviewed and that was just TCU’s 3rd conf TD allowed all year. TCU finished with a 558-199 yd edge.

Boise St made a strong statement for their BCS contention by wiping out red-hot Hawaii. BSU had a 30-11 FD edge and a school record 737 yds while holding a potent UH offense to just 196. It was just 21-0 at the half and BSU scored TD’s on their first two 3Q poss. BSU pulled QB Moore with 13:16 left in the 4Q.

Oregon was playing their first game as #1 in the BCS and was taking on a Washington team without QB Jake Locker. Surprisingly the Huskies stayed with UO throughout much of the game. UW was within 18-13 with 13:11 left in the 3Q and 25-16 with 6:14 left in the 3Q. The Ducks went 76/9pl and 54/5pl for TD’s then after a 69 yd PR went 16/5pl for a TD to lead 46-16. UO then went 90/11pl getting a 30 yd TD run with 4:34 left to lead 53-16. UW did ret the KO to the UO41 but punted on 4&19.

News and Notes

The AP’s #1 team in the country had fallen for 2 straight weeks but Oregon faced UCLA at home so there was no such pressure. Their quick strike offense dominated UCLA, which was playing without starting QB Prince. UCLA’s first 2 drives were solid but one resulted in an int at the 10 and the other was a 25 yd FG. Each drive was time consuming and Oregon basically used 2:00 drives all game and scored TD’s on their first 4 poss which included a 4&6, 25 yd pass to the 16. The Ducks led 32-3 at the half with a 357-136 yd edge. UO did get a 6/1pl TD drive after recovering a fumble and later a 2/1pl drive after recovering another fumble with 4:46 left. UCLA scored a TD with 1:53 left for the final 60-13 margin.

Cincinnati’s defense has 8 soph starters, the youngest D in the BCS. The BJ Daniels-led USF offense hadn’t scored a TD in the last 2 games and while UC had 29-13 FD and 590-378 yd edges, USF had a couple of big plays incl a 70 yd TD pass and led by 2 scores for most of the 2H. UC QB Collaros was inj’d and Chazz Anderson came in for UC’s final drive. USF led 24-16 when UC was SOD at the USF30 and on the next play USF got a 70 yd TD pass to lead 31-16. They also led 38-23. UC got a TD with 5:28 left and USF conservatively ran it 3x and punted. UC with Anderson in at QB got to the USF16 needing a TD and 2 pt for the tie but on 4&5 under heavy pressure, he threw incomplete.

The situation greatly favored Ohio St last week. They were off a loss, were no longer playing with pressure of an unbeaten season so they could unleash the offense and were playing with legitimate revenge after losing only one B10 game the previous year and that was an upset loss to Purdue. As you would expect, the Buckeyes dominated. At the half they led 42-0 scoring TD’s on 6 of their 8 poss as they punted once and were int’d at the PU16. OSU had a 415-47 yd edge. OSU went through the motions in the 2H with backup QB’s Joe Bauserman and Kenny Guiton in but still added a TD on a 67/10pl drive with 7:24 left.

Rutgers’ top WR Mohamed Sanu, who was also the team’s leading rusher and operates the team out of the Wildcat offense, only had 1 rush att due to inj. Chas Dodd, in his first true road start hit 8-19-62 with an int and Dion Lewis got on track with 130 yards rushing and 7.6 ypc. Of course RU was playing with a heavy heart for DL Eric LeGrand and I am hopeful that he is able to make a full recovery after his injury vs Army. Pitt had 24-12 FD and 513-203 yd edges. At the half it was 247-93 but RU blocked a punt for a TD to set up the tie. Pitt scored 3 TD’s and 2 FG’s on their first 5 poss of the 2H to lead 41-14 and RU got a garbage TD with 1:30 left.

Ohio only had a 371-343 yd edge vs Miami but had a 6-2 TO edge. MU jumped out to a 7-0 lead but in the 1H would miss FG’s of 45 and 25 yards and OU led 13-7 despite MU having a 183-177 yd edge. MU fumbled early 3Q setting up a 48/1pl TD by OU. Trailing 27-13 MU was int’d at the OU40 then int’d at their own 25. The 2nd set up OU for a 25/5pl TD drive with 3:10 left. MU was SOD at the MU32.

Indiana actually had 21-14 FD and 388-289 yd edges. At the half IN had a 227-164 yd edge but a fumble at their own 23 set Illinois up for a 2pl TD and Indy was also int’d and ret’d 68 yards for a TD and after a 63/12pl drive settled for a 19 yd FG and trailed 27-10 at the half. Ill blk’d 2 Indy punts to open the 3Q and while they fumbled after the first, they blk’d the 2nd for a safety to lead 29-10. IL closed the scoring with a 66 yd IR TD with :44 left.

Penn St was off a loss and off a bye which helped their LB corps get healthier. Minnesota was playing their first game under interim HC Horton and with President Obama scheduled to make an on campus appearance, the home attendance was announced at 48,479. It was smallest crowd in 12 games at TCF Bank Stadium and even appeared smaller than that. PSU QB Rob Bolden who came in with a 2-6 ratio the previous 5, at one point hit 9 straight passes but was inj’d in the 2Q. They bypassed backup Kevin Newsome (flu) for 3rd string Matthew McGloin. McGloin’s first pass was a 42 yd TD which made it 21-7. McGloin had an uneven game hitting 6-13-76 and was int’d on the next drive. PSU led 31-14 but UM got a TD with 5:01 left to pull within 12. PSU missed a 37 yd FG and UM did get to the PSU39 where they were SOD on 4&7.

It was the Irish’s most lopsided loss vs Navy since 1963. It was a Navy home game in an NFL Stadium but ND had a healthy amount of the crowd. ND was playing without their top 2 WR’s, Theo Riddick and Michael Floyd and also one game earlier TE Kyle Rudolph was ruled OFY with inj. Two crucial int’s and an SOD changed the game. ND on their opening poss had a 4&gl at the 1 but were SOD. Trailing 14-10 they were int’d at their 30 with 1:59 left in the half setting up a Navy 5pl drive with the TD coming with :14 left in the half to lead 21-10. ND was also int’d at the Navy 27 and the Mids went 73/10pl for a TD to lead 35-10. ND was SOD at the Navy29 in the 3Q and Dayne Crist was replaced by Tommy Rees and Rees led a 76/10pl TD drive with 6:12 left. Navy went 37/10pl ending the game at the ND35 and beat the Irish for the 3rd time in 4 years having lost the previous 43.

Syracuse RB Delone Carter left the game in the 2Q with injury but backup Antwon Bailey rushed for 94 yds on 19 carries. WV finished with a 286-246 yd edge. WV jumped to leads of 7-3 and 14-10 and then rec’d a fumbled KO and had a 1st&gl at the SU8 but was int’d at the goal line. Geno Smith came in with a 17-3 ratio completing 68% but hit just 20-37-178 yd with 3 int and 5 sks. He was int’d on the 3rd play setting up an SU 28 yd FG. His 2nd int cost WV a chance to score and set up SU for a 19 yd FG. Smith was int’d a 3rd time in the 1H and ret’d 48 yds to the WV12 setting up a 22 yd FG. At the half WV had a 185-178 yd edge but trailed 19-14. The 2H was mostly punts and WV’s got to the SU20 with plenty of time but Smith took a sack on 2nd & 10 and on 4&22 was sk’d again.

Iowa St came in having allowed 52 and 68 points the previous 2 weeks. Texas lost their 2nd game as a big fav this year. After the game HC Paul Rhoads called their first ever win over Texas “historic” and ISU players were jubilant.

In the 1H Marshall had a 186-167 yd edge and was tied at 10. MU had the ball but were int’d at the EC46 with 3:30 left in the half. EC went 65/7pl for a TD then after another int with :36 left added a 40 yd FG to lead 20-10. EC got a TD and FG to open the 3Q and MU was SOD at the EC11. EC went 89/9pl for a TD to put it away, 37-10.

There were some key plays in Iowa’s loss to Wisconsin. Iowa had a great situational edge in the fact that UW was off their upset of Ohio St and they were at home. In the 1H Iowa had an xp blk’d and on a 30 yd FG att with 3:13 left in the half, they bobbled the snap and didn’t get the kick off. UI led 13-10. The Hawkeyes led 27-24 when they got an int at the UW26 and had a chance to put the game away but settled for a 40 yd FG. UW’s P ran up the middle and got a 17 yd run to the 43 as UI peeled back to cover the punt. UW later converted on 4&4 and got a TD with 1:06 left. The final crucial mistake came when UI got a FD at the UW39 with :12 left. The officials stopped the clock to move the chains, UI lined up at the LOS and all they had to do was spike the ball to save their last time-out. Instead, they called their final time-out needing a FG to win. A short pass for a 4 yd gain was tkl’d inbounds and without the time-out the clock ran out.

Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez set a frosh record with 329 yards passing and threw a career high 5 TD’s. This came after not having thrown more than 150 yards in his first 6 starts. OSU’s Kendall Hunter rushed for 201 yards. Justin Blackmon had 157 yards in rec. In the 1H Oklahoma St actually had a 344-255 yd edge and led 27-24 when Nebraska got a TD with :55 left in the half. The 2H was controlled by NU.

Boston College lost 3 defensive starters to inj vs Maryland. TO’s also hurt them in the 1H. MD got drives of 38 and 22 yds for TD’s following TO’s as Antwine Perez had 2 int and a FR and led 21-7 at the half with a 117-110 yd edge. MD led 24-7 after 3Q’s. BC got 2 TD’s to pull within 24-21. On their final 2 drives they dropped a slant pass on 4&3 at the MD31 and after MD went for it on 4&1 at the BC35 with 1:50 left, BC was spotted inches short on 4&1 with 1:13 left. MD took a knee twice.

Clemson had their 3rd crack at the Georgia Tech’s option in 2 years and held GT to 242 rush yds, their lowest rush total of the season and about 100 below their season avg. CU controlled matters early as on their first 4 poss they got 2 TD’s and settled for a 2 short FG’s and missed one and led 17-0. CU led 24-6 when GT converted on 4&2 then on 4&6 got a 9 yd TD pass to make it 24-13. GT missed a FG with 11:04 left and CU went on a 7:36 drive of 64/15pl and settled for a 22 yd FG with 3:28 left to make it 27-13 and GT threw a desperation pass on its next play that was int’d.

Colorado QB Tyler Hansen hit 9-10 passes for 62 yds but left with inj. Cody Hawkins still had CU in good shape hitting frosh Paul Richardson with 3 & 60 yd TD passes. Richardson became the first frosh in school history to have 2 TD’s rec in the same game. CU led 24-14 but missed a 35 yd FG with 12:49 left and Texas Tech took its first lead of the game with a 36 yd FG with 2:08 left in their 27-24 win.

Cam Newton is the clear-cut favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and had a big game vs LSU’s excellent D. Auburn had a 526-243 yd edge. LSU was int’d at the AU14 but AU missed a 39 yd FG with 2:45 left 1H and LSU on 3&gl got a 2 yd Jefferson TD run to tie it at 10. Newton may have won the Heisman on a spectacular 49 yd TD run to make it 17-10 but LSU had a RB pass from Spencer Ware to Rueben Randle go 39 yds for a TD with 12:16 left to tie it. Three times LSU’s punter pinned AU at the 1. AU had the ball at their own 30 and with LSU’s D keying on Newton, Onterio McCalebb took off 70 yds down the sideline for a TD with 5:05 left.

Arkansas’s Ryan Mallett hit 13-24-196 and the game vs Mississippi was delayed by weather twice. Mallett DNR after the 2nd delay. Arkansas had some big plays as they were outFD’d 21-16. Joe Adams got a 97 yd PR TD, the longest in school history, topping the record set by Ken Hatfield who had a 95 yd PR TD vs Tulsa in 1963. Arkansas did lead 24-3 early 3Q but Mississippi battled back to 24-17. On 2nd & 10, Davis got a 71 yd TD run to make it 31-17. UM got a TD with 9:04 left and UA answered with a TD with 7:15 left, 38-24. UM went 75/7pl but on 3&gl from the 3 fumbled. UA punted with 1:06 left and UM got to the UA27 but their final pass was incomplete.

UAB had a 24-18 FD edge vs Miss St but there were 6 key plays which cost them the game. The game was tied at 10 at the half but UAB had a 207-103 yd edge. The first key play happened when UAB had a 1st & gl at the 3 but settled for an 18 yd FG. UAB fumbled the punt at their own 35 setting up an MSU TD early 2Q. MSU was pinned at its 1 when they got a 55 yd punt and illegal blk which changed the field position with UAB taking over at their 26 mid-2Q. In the 3Q UAB trailed 20-17 when they were SOD at the MSU31. UAB got a TD with 10:16 left, 24-23. There was a pers foul on the KO so MSU started at the UAB42. The next key play happened when MSU on 4&4 got a 6 yd run for a FD which set up their go-ahead 39 yd FG with 6:53 left. MSU was trying to run the clock taking over with 5:31 left at their own 29 when another key play happened, a 51 yd run by Perkins on 2nd & 14. That set up a 28 yd FG with 1:48 left. UAB still had a shot but fumbled the KO at their own 33 and on 3&2 MSU got a 10 yd QB run to escape with a 29-24 win.

The situation was great for Northwestern LW but they blew some opportunities. NU controlled the game leading 17-0 but MSU took over with 6:07 left in the half and got a TD with 2:49 left to get back in it, 17-7. In the 3Q MSU had the wind at their back and after NU’s 32 yd punt, MSU drove 48/3pl for a TD. NU drove 80/15pl for a TD to lead 24-14 after 3Q’s. MSU on 4&6 took a delay pen and on 4&11 with Fitzgerald calling for a punt safe, MSU faked it. Their P’s pass was covered by NU’s starting CB but he turned to the sidelines as he normally does on punt safes to avoid being hit in the back by the punt. The receiver hauled in a 21 yd pass to the 15 and the Spartans got a TD on the next play. MSU took over with 7:18 left after an NU punt. On 3&4 they gained 14 yds and on 4&1 got an 8 yd pass. The TD came on a tipped pass which was hauled in by Cunningham for a 28-27 lead with 2:00 left. A crucial pers foul on NU made it 1st & 25 so on 4&12 they fired incomplete from their 31. On 3&15 with a FD basically ending the game got a 25 yd TD run by Baker with 1:07.

Idaho dominated New Mexico St in the 1H. They scored on 5 of their first 6 poss and led 31-0, the last score coming with :48 left in the half. NMSt got a 17 yd TD pass with :07 left to make it 31-7 at the half. NMS did miss a 43 yd FG in the 3Q and with 7:30 left in the game, trailing by 27, were stopped on 4&gl at the 1. NMS fumbled a punt at their 25 and Idaho got a 47 yd FG for a 37-7 lead and NMS punted with just 1:10 left but Idaho fumbled the punt at their 28 and on 3&10 NMS got a 28 yd TD pass with :19 left.

South Carolina had 25-11 FD and 484-250 yd edges vs Vanderbilt but actually trailed 7-0 when they took over with 1:03 left 1H. They went 59/7pl and got a TD on a 15 yd pass with :12 left to tie it at 7. In the 3Q SC went 93/12pl to lead 14-7 then went 56/9pl and had a 26 yd FG blk’d. It was still a one score game when SC took over with 7:34 left at their 28 and on 2nd & 10 they got a 72 yd TD pass to Jeffery, 21-7. VU opted to punt on 4&6 from its own 20 with 5:34 left and its last drive was SOD at the SC48 with 1:25 left after a 5 yd run on 4&10.

MISLEADING FINALS – Florida Atlantic got an 80 yd TD pass to Jean to make it 13-9 and then had a TD in the EZ overturned and settled for a 36 yd FG to lead 16-9 in the 4Q vs Arkansas St. ASU did drive 69/6pl for a TD but then with the score tied at 16, Ark St got a 37 yd IR TD, ret’d a fumble to the 1 setting up a TD and after an int drove 34/4pl for a TD. Their 3 TD’s came with a total of 39 yards offense making their 21 pt win very misleading.

It was misleading that BYU and Wyoming put up 45 points. BYU only had a 293-173 yd edge. In the 1H WY had 3 plays that gained positive yards and in fact had -18 yds offense in the 1H. Despite their woeful offensive performance, WY had 10 pts as they got a 55 yd IR TD and after recovering a fumble at the BYU20, lost 7 yards and got a 44 yd FG and only trailed 16-10. WY’s P twice used a rugby punts, but hit a WY players in the back and BYU recovered them on the WY33 and WY24, the first setting up a TD. BYU finished with a 20-13 FD edge but didn’t have the game clinched until late as WY on 4&10 at the BYU25 had a pass batted in the air and caught by an OL for a 6 yd loss.

Welcome to my Sunday Blog. During the offseason I had just one weekend blog but each week during the season I will take a look at the Top 25 performances from the just completed week with a little analysis as well as a quick review of the past weekend. On Monday I will give you my News & Notes where I delve deeper into every game that was played this past weekend, breaking down individual drives and giving you misleading finals and other interesting tidbits.

As far as my game grades go after the 2008 season was completed I devised a power ratings system, which lets me analyze at what level each team played during an individual game. This “game grade” takes into account the yards rushing, yards passing, points scored, rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed and factors them in against the opponent played and even factors in the site the game was played at.

With all these factors taken into consideration you will see teams that lost the game having a better individual game grade than teams that beat them simply because the team they played was superior and much less was expected of them.

Top 25 Performances of the Week So Far

1. Despite breaking in a new QB and last year’s top RB LaMichael James being suspended for the game, the Ducks easily had the top performance of the week rolling up a 751-119 yd advantage and scoring 72 points against an overmatched New Mexico team.

2. Arizona used last year’s Holiday Bowl defeat as motivation all offseason and roared to a great start with a 518-183 yd edge over a Toledo team that beat Colorado in the same spot a year ago.

3. TCU only won by 9 over Oregon St but dominated the stat sheet with 454-270 yd edge over Oregon St. A couple of TO’s by the Frogs cost them a chance to win the game by a much larger margin.

4. Ohio St started their quest to make it to a 4th national title game in the last 9 years with a dominating win over Marshall. The Bucks were balanced offensively with 280 yards rushing and 249 yds passing and the defense limited the Herd to just 199 yds.

5. Miss St used two different QB’s effectively in their 49-7 trouncing of Memphis and gained 569 yards. The Bulldog D was so dominant that it did not even give up a 3rd down conversion until late in the 4th quarter.

6. California had a 331-32 yd edge at the half and cruised from their in their 52-3 win over FCS UC Davis.

7. No Ingram, no Dareus, no problem for the defending national champs as the Crimson Tide rolled San Jose St 48-3 and had a 578-176 yd edge.

8. Despite playing without their leading receiver and rusher from a year ago Utah St was still able to gain 437 yds against the Sooners and nearly pulled off the monumental upset in the 31-24 loss.

9. Georgia was playing without All-American WR AJ Green but still rolled up 55 points and limited Louisiana to just 128 total yards.

10. North Carolina HC Butch Davis did an outstanding job getting his depleted Tar Heels ready for a big game against LSU as North Carolina had a 433-333 yd edge and nearly pulled out a big comeback win in the 2nd half.

Over the weekend the preseason AP Top 25 was released with defending national champ Alabama clearly ranked #1. Every year I am particularly intrigued by who is placed in the preseason AP Top 10 as I try to predict what those teams will be shortly after the previous season is completed.

Most AP voters usually look at a couple of criteria when they evaluate a team for the upcoming season. First they look at the number of returning starters that the team has coming back particularly at the offensive skill positions. A team that returns its starting QB and a combination of its RB and WRs is often times more highly thought of than a team that loses its starting QB but returns its entire offensive line. Similarly a team that returns most of its starters on offense but loses a lot of its defensive playmakers usually is more highly thought of than a team that returns a majority of its defensive starters but loses its skill position players on offense.

Another factor that is heavily weighted is the performance of the team in the bowl game, which undoubtedly is the lasting image of that team in the offseason. A team coming off a huge bowl win usually is more highly thought of than a team that is coming off a bowl loss regardless of what their schedule looks like for the upcoming season.
Using these criteria and a few more, I project the preseason AP Top 10 every year at the conclusion of the previous season, which in most cases is nearly 7 months in advance. Now as you all know, a lot can happen from January to August and for further proof on that check on my players lost list, which is all the changes that have been made for each team since my magazine was published in May.

Last year my projected Top 10 for the AP Poll was #1 Florida, #2 Texas, #3 USC, #4 Oklahoma, #5 Alabama, #6 Virginia Tech, #7 LSU, #8 Oklahoma St, #9 Ohio St and #10 Mississippi. The actual AP Top 10 was #1 Florida, #2 Texas, #3 Oklahoma, #4 USC, #5 Alabama, #6 Ohio St, #7 Virginia Tech, #8 Mississippi and#9 was a tie between Oklahoma St/Penn St.

I nailed nine of the ten teams that appeared in the Preseason Top 10 with the only exception being LSU/Penn St and I may have had something to do with that. It’s interesting to note that of the main preseason magazines, only two had Penn St ranked in the Top 10 and I had them my #1 surprise team and ranked #5. Most had Penn St out of the Top 10. Perhaps since I had them rated so high in my magazine, it influenced a few voters across the country, bumping them into the Top 10.

This year way back in my February 2nd Blog, I projected the preseason AP Top 10 would be #1 Alabama, #2 Ohio St, #3 Boise St, #4 Oregon, #5 Texas, #6 TCU, #7 Iowa, #8 Florida, #9 Nebraska and #10 Virginia Tech.

The actual AP Top 10 which came out over the weekend was #1 Alabama, #2 Ohio St, #3 Boise St, #4 Florida, #5 Texas, #6 TCU, #7 Oklahoma, #8 Nebraska, #9 Iowa and #10 Virginia Tech.

For the second year in a row I nailed nine of the ten teams that appeared in the Preseason Top 10 with the only exception being Oregon/Oklahoma, which I can defend easily.

First, at the time I wrote my projection back in early February Duck QB Jeremiah Masoli was not yet suspended. With Masoli still in the fold at that point Oregon had 17 returning starters including RB LaMichael James and Masoli in the backfield. The Ducks clearly would have been a preseason Top 10 team and probably Top 5 had Masoli not been kicked off the team. Even without Masoli Oregon was still rated #11 in the preseason poll.

The team that I did not have in my projected AP Top 10 was Oklahoma (#7) and if you have purchased my magazine or listed to one of my radio shows across the country you know I think very highly of the Sooners this year as I have them ranked #1. Like Penn St last year perhaps since I had them rated so high in my magazine, it influenced a few voters across the country, bumping them into the Top 10 despite the Sooners having five losses last year and the fact that they did not even finish in the final AP Top 25.

I also am pleased that six of the 10 teams are ranked in the exact position that I projected way back in February including the top 3 in Alabama, Ohio St and Boise St. I also had Texas, TCU and Virginia Tech ranked in their exact positions in the poll.

So there you have it, next year when you see my preseason AP Top 10 projection in late January or early February go ahead and compare it to the first AP poll that will come out several months later and I know you’ll find that probably 9 or maybe even all 10 will be in the Preseason AP Top 10.

Only 10 Days Until the First College Football Game!