No need for too much explanation - here's how ETS sees No. 5-1 heading into this season with a little help from our friends at YouTube.
No. 5 - Florida
Maybe I'm just too much of a college football nerd, but I was salivating over Tim Tebow's size and talent back when he was just a high school senior playing for Nease in Florida. Of course, Tebow was still an Alabama commit at that point, but just over one year later, Tebow has a national championship ring and deity status in Gainesville. The offense should be just as solid, if not better, as long as Tebow makes smart decisions. Tebow was built for the Urban Meyer offense.
However, the Florida defense is what will cost them a shot at repeating. Losing guys like Brandon Siler, Jarvis Moss and Reggie Nelson will hurt the Gators defensively, and it just seems hard to fathom Florida getting out of the SEC untouched, not that a loss to Auburn last year hurt them at all.
Tebow was responsible for one of the greatest moments in college football last season: the jump pass where he successfully avoided college football's first double dribble.
No. 4 - LSU
In 2006, LSU was the Dallas Mavericks of college football - the team everyone knew was among the best but managed to find a way to lose. The Tigers were undoubtedly one of the most talented squads in the nation, boasting NFL first rounders JaMarcus Russell, LaRon Landry, Dwayne Bowe and Craig Davis.
This year would be a rebuilding year for any other team, but LSU is just too stacked at every position all the way down the depth chart. Matt Flynn has a very Matt Mauck-esque quality about him, and most football fans remember how that turned out in 2003.
Last year, losses to Auburn and Florida derailed any title hopes, SEC or beyond, but the BCS essentially gave LSU a free pass to the Sugar Bowl, playing Notre Dame in a game I now dub "Mulligan Bowl 2006."
No. 3 - Michigan
Many pundits have Michigan meeting USC for the 2007 BCS National Championship in a rematch of last year's Rose Bowl. Perhaps if USC defeats Michigan, the Wolverines should be forced to drop the "champions of the West" line from Hail to the Victors.
But in all seriousness, the trio of Henne-Hart-Manningham will light up a conference known for smashmouth defense. There are multiple questions about a defense that lost several players to the NFL Draft, a unit that had issues stopping the pass in several key games last season. The key to Michigan's season is its last two weeks, when the Wolverines travel to Madison to face Wisconsin and return home to try to exorcise their demons against Ohio State. Surviving that last stretch could send Michigan fans home singing, or blowing, the tune of Hail to the Victors.
No. 2- West Virginia
One of only two teams to average 200 yards passing and rushing last season, the Mountaineers return in 2007 looking to avenge a late season loss to Louisville that cost them a Big East title. But expectations are highly in Morgantown, and rightfully so.
Pat White and Steve Slaton are as electric of a duo as there is in college football. The two, working in Rich Rodriguez' spread offense (which, contrary to first thought, actually stresses the run) will flat out embarass Big East defenses en route to a national title game bid. And don't underestimate the morale boost the program got when Rodriguez turned down Alabama to stay at West Virginia.
This team is stacked and I'm penciling them in for the No. 2 spot in the country. They're a Big East team, but there ain't nothing wrong with that.
No. 1 - USC
Bet you didn't see that coming. Pete Carroll is the perfect college coach. John David Booty is a Heisman favorite. The RB corps has more high school All-Americans than most teams have on their entire roster.
But if there is one reason USC will win the national title this year, it's because of strength coach Chuck Berry. Not familiar? See the clip.
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