College football preseason top 25

1. Alabama

All the stars are back. I don't see Alabama winning it all again, but they're the best team in the country to start. QB Greg McElroy has not lost a game as a starter since 8th grade! Plus the Crimson Tide has possibly the two best running backs in the SEC and WR A.J. Green is a true star. The defense will be the question this year.

2. Ohio State

Terrelle Pryor will determine how far the Buckeyes go but the front 7 on the other side of the ball will put him in the situation to win each week. Pryor's two leading receivers, DeVier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher, return after each vastly improved last season.

3. Florida

Lost their offensive and defensive stalwarts including possibly the best college football player ever. But my goodness that was a great recruiting class--11 all americans and 18 ESPNU top 150 recruits. John Brantley is no Tim Tebow, but who is? And Brantley needs to be John Brantley and nobody else. He's a legit player, and showed it last year late in blow-outs and filling in when Tebow was concussed.

4. Boise State

How does a team win a BCS bowl and then return 21 of 22 starters?! The goal this season is not to lose focus during their boring WAC schedule. But that only matters if they can beat Virginia Tech Sept. 6 on FedEx Field. Kellen Moore is my early favorite to win the Heisman. He is 16-1 as a starter and threw 39 TD's and only 3 INT's, and only has one game with multiple picks in his two-year career.

5. Texas

Garrett Gilbert won't have to face a defense like Alabama'a until Oct 16 @ Nebraska. That should give him time to warm up especially with home games against Rice and Wyoming to start the season. The Longhorns will presumably utilize the downhill running game more than last season, but if Gilbert can work well with all the playmakers at receiver, this offense will be dangerous yet again.

6. TCU

The most balanced team in the country returns 9 starters on offense and 6 on defense. Andy Dalton will have to play even better than last year (when he was the MWC Offensive POY) for TCU to finish the regular season undefeated again. The opening game against Oregon St. will test a defensive front that lost the MWC defensive POY, Jerry Hughes.

7. Nebraska

Nebraska has an incredible group of corners headlined by Prince Amukamara which will keep them in games in the always pass-happy Big 12. Also, they return 9 starters on offense.

8. North Carolina

The best defense in the country. There are 5 Tar Heel defenders on the preseason all-ACC team. And maybe T.J. Yates will play up to his potential finally. He threw 15 int's last season including 6 in UNC's four losses. The return of Zack Pianalto is huge for Yates and North Carolina's offense. Last year, after an ankle injury (and a season ending fibula fracture in 2008) UNC went 2-3 in his absence and won four straight when he returned.

9. Oklahoma

Despite Oklahoma's huge disappointment last season, Landry Jones played quite well. If you take out his 5 int game against Nebraska, Jones threw 26 td's and 9 picks. If their young defense steps up, OU can compete for a Big 12 crown again.

10.Iowa

Iowa lost four starters from the offensive line and they will count heavily on Ricky Stanzi. Remember Iowa was undefeated (10-0) when Stanzi was healthy. Adrian Clayborn was 3rd in the Big 10 and tenth in the nation last year with 11 sacks. This Iowa defense is sturdy against the run and pass.

11.Wisconsin

With Iowa and Ohio State at home plus no Penn State on the schedule, Wisconsin could win the Big 10. Big 10 offensive player of the year John Clay returns after rushing for over 1,500 yards and scoring 18 touchdowns. Does Wisconsin have another Heisman winning running back in its future?

12. Virginia Tech

Tyrod Taylor is now a senior with 28 starts under his belt, but only 2009 was a good season statistically for Taylor. Virginia Tech also bring back ACC rookie of the year tail back Ryan Williams and 2008 1,000-yard rusher Darren Evans (who missed 2009 with a knee injury) for an extremely potent rushing attack with Taylor who rushed for 1,500 yards and 18 touchdowns in three seasons at quarterback. However, VT loses an all-ACC kicker and punter, so how will Frank Beamer's great special teams turn out this year in close ACC games?

13. Miami

The schedule is pretty tough for Miami, but nothing like the 4-game gauntlet to start last year. Non-conference games @Ohio St. and @Pitt and only 2-3 "gimme" games (Florida A&M, Duke and Virginia). If Jacory Harris can be more consistent this year, he'll be back in the Heisman discussion. When Harris threw more picks than TD's, Miami was 0-3. Equal or more TD's than INT's-- 9-0.

14. Florida State

Christian Ponder and all 5 starting offensive linemen return and Jimbo Fisher has been waiting for this season for a long time. Even though FSU brings back all eleven starters on offense, only one was a all-ACC performer last season.

15. Oregon State

The Rodgers brothers have really sparked this offense the last two years. Jacquizz Rodgers scored 22 touchdowns last year and rushed for over 1,400 yards. Count on his continuing that success since three years starter Sean Canfield is now on the Saints' roster.

16. Georgia Tech

QB Josh Nesbitt returns with all four leading wing backs, but fullback Jonathan Dwyer moved on to the NFL. Paul Johnson's triple action attack brings back over 2,200 yards rushing and 30 rushing touchdowns, but loses WR Demaryius Thomas and his big play abilities on the outside. The Yellow Jackets first ACC game will be Sept 18 @North Carolina, so both sides will quickly discover just how good they are. I give the edge to the Tar Hell defense.

17. Cincinnati

The departure of Marty Gilyard will be tougher for the Bearcats to overcome than QB Tony Pike. Zach Collaros went 5-0 filling in for Pike last season, but Gilyard was the heart of soul of this team. Collaros will still have all-Big East WR Armon Binns and TE Ben Guidugli to throw to. The other obvious question mark is how new head coach Butch Jones will do in his first year after Brian Kelly took his talents to South Bend.

18. LSU

Even with all the talent that LSU always has, the Tigers only bring back one all-SEC performer, but he is a good one. CB Patrick Peterson was the #8 recruit in the ESPNU 150 and he has not disappointed. QB Jordan Jefferson is like a poor man's Terrelle Pryor, but he was very consistent last year. He'll need to continue to improve to survive non-conference games against North Carolina and West Virginia, plus games @FL, Auburn and Arkansas and Alabama and Tennessee coming to visit Baton Rouge.

19. Arkansas
Ryan Mallet is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and he has a pretty solid group of receivers to throw to including Greg Childs and Joe Adams. However, the Razorbacks had the worst pass defense in the SEC last year.

20. Oregon

The Ducks have the talent to go toe-to-toe with anybody, but this program has been in the news all summer for all the wrong reasons. Jeremiah Masoli was kicked off the team and may end up at Ole Miss. And Masoli was only one of six players arrested in a span of a little of a month, including star tail-back LaMichael James who rushed for a Pac 10 freshman record 1,546 yards last season. James will miss the opener, but watch for Oregon to get back on track later and still be in the Pac 10 title hunt.

21. West Virginia

The Mountaineer offense has great speed in the backfield and in the slot backs. Noel Devine is a serious Heisman candidate after accumulating over 3,800 yards and 24 touchdowns in his three seasons. Four starters from the o-line also return and nine from the defense, four of whom garnered all-Big East awards. The linebackers are especially talented. Expect West Virginia to contend in the steadily progressing Big East.

22. Utah

Everyone on the Mountain West will be looking to knock off the newest member of the recently minted Pac 12. Jordan Wynn was very effective last year as the starter the second half of the season, but the expectations are much higher for the team and his offense especially, which returns 8 starters.

23. Georgia

The Bulldogs have a combined 127 starts coming back on the offensive line. We need only look back to the 2008 Clemson team to see the immense importance of an experienced o-line to facilitate the weapons on offense. The main weapon is two-time all-SEC first teamer A.J. Green. Since Green arrived in Athens, the 'Dogs are undefeated when Green goes for 100 yards receiving. The biggest question is at quarterback. Redshirt freshman Aaron Murray looks to be the guy, and A.J. Green agrees completely: “From day one, I saw it in Aaron. He was preparing like he was the starter... he was going to have the best opportunity to compete, put us in the place to win a lot of games." (college-football.suite101.com)

24. Pitt

Pitt might have the most talent returning to the Big East, but has a tougher non-conference schedule with early games @Utah and vs. Miami (FL). Tailback Dion Lewis was the first player since Michael Vick to earn Big East freshman of the year and player of the year, and he was also a unanimous choice for all-Big East first team.

25. BYU

One of the best recruiting classes comes in this year and Jake Heaps should be the starter this fall. The Cougars have tons of depth at RB and WR and experience at OL. However, where tight ends are used so much in this offense, the departure of Andrew George and all-american Dennis Pitta will hurt. And while the secondary remains intact, the front 7 (with only Jordan Pendleton returning as a starter) will be tested early, especially week 2 in Colorado Springs against Air Force's option attack.

Also received consideration: Penn St, UConn, Auburn, Temple, Washington, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Stanford, Michigan.