Here we go again - the best sport in the world kicks off in just 10 days. Let the fun begin! Any thoughts on this coming season? Can anyone knock off the Gators? Who is the better QB of the McCoy-Bradford-Tebow trio? Will USC fall out of elite status? What's your Top 10?

Here's mine. Not much originality in the Top 5, but it's really hard to argue against these teams:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. USC
6. Penn State
7. LSU
8. California
9. Alabama
10. Oklahoma State

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Mason
Member, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA)
New York, NY

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." - Isaiah 1:18

I like the Cal pick!

Here are some of my thoughts: No, I don't think USC will fall. They will have a very good year; perhaps a national championship. Florida will lose in conference prior to the SEC title game. Notre Dame will stink (8 wins max). Ohio State doesn't belong in the top 10. Oregon and Oregon State will be good this year. As much as I hate to say it, Texas and Oklahoma will be the teams to beat. Man, that hurt to say. Go California!

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Jon Peters
Member, Reformation Fellowship (OPC) (Roseville, CA)
Folsom, CA

Jon, the more you say the phrase "Oklahoma will be the team to beat", it will get easier

Ok, seriously, If Florida stays healthy I don't see anyone beating them.

My top 5

1. Florida
2 (tie). Texas and Oklahoma (you can make a case for both at this spot).
4. The Ohio State University
5. University of Southern California.

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Chris Bryant
Attending Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA), McKinney, TX
Member of Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA), Tulsa, OK
M.A.R., WTS/Redeemer Seminary, Dallas, TX (in progress)

I will argue that Ole Miss (Mississippi) should rank 8th, ahead of LSU. Won 6 of their last seven. Beat #1 Florida 31-30, lost to #2 Alabama 24-20, then beat LSU 31-13 and then #7 Texas Tech 47-34 in the Cotton Bowl.

Today's AP

1. Florida (58) 0-0 1,498
2. Texas (2) 0-0 1,424
3. Oklahoma 0-0 1,370
4. USC 0-0 1,313
5. Alabama 0-0 1,156
6. Ohio State 0-0 1,113
7. Virginia Tech 0-0 1,054
8. Mississippi 0-0 1,047
9. Oklahoma State 0-0 989
9. Penn State 0-0 989
11. LSU 0-0 914

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Rogerant
Justified Sinner
Under Application to URCNA
Saskatchewan

[/QUOTE]

Ole Miss is the trendy pick, and they did have a great finish to last season. However, like Alabama, I have a feeling they won't sneak up on anyone this year. I think they will contend for the SEC West, but ultimately Alabama and LSU will be too strong for the Rebels.

Houston Nutt, crazy though he may be, is a good coach and will likely really improve the program there. It's basically a 3-way race to play Florida in the SEC championship.

Is there any reason my boys down in Huntington, WV are not on the list?




I mean besides the obvious?

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

No, just the obvious.

The name is Colt McCoy, but you will remember it much better after he wins the Heisman and leads Texas to a National Championship. (Can you guess who I root for).

Florida has a tough schedule (SEC) so no, i don't think them as National Champs is a given at all. Ohio St and USC play very early on (9/12) so that game alone will shake up the top 10. oh yeah, and as of today USC still hasn't settled on a starting QB so that can't bode well for them.

Marshall has a ridiculously soft schedule.

Here is a bonus pic for you. 1000 pts to first person who can tell me who is in the pic.

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Andrew S.
Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Abilene,TX

I've got only one letter for you:



They're just outside of the Top Ten. They have arguably the toughest schedule in the country, and no one is expecting them to win. The defense will be much tougher this year. They will beat Oklahoma State to begin the season (and thereby enter the top 10). They will beat Florida and make Tim Tebow cry (again).

You heard it here first.

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Tim Phillips
Pastor, Midlane Park Presbyterian Church (ARP)
Louisville, KY
Husband of Scottish Lass
My Blog: Gairney Bridge
My Facebook/My Avatar

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"Wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God Himself came into the midst of us." ~ John Calvin

GO DAWGS!!!

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Michael Turner
Christ Reformed Church | Independent [WCF]
Georgia

There's no reason Penn State shouldn't finish above Ohio State and in the top 5 at least.

-----Added 8/24/2009 at 07:02:45 EST-----

Oh, and I have my Penn State tickets for opening day!

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Adam - Pennsylvania - Baptist

http://www.myspace.com/aleavelle

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/p...5655012&ref=nf

Yeah, I knew it was McCoy...just a typo!

Starting #1 can be more of a curse than a help.

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JWithnell
Member Bethel OPC
Virginia
http://learningyesican.blogspot.com/

Ain't that the truth. I shall point no further than to last year and the capital G.

Early losses, especially to teams that have a good year, are mcuh easier to come back from than a later loss.

Too easy. How did you meet Colt? I know he used to live down the road from you in his Jim Ned days. (I am an old McMurry guy myself)

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Richard H. King
Providence PCA
Lubbock, Texas
You know what my main problem is? I start things but rarely finish anyth...

Absolutely, starting too high at all can be a curse, it's best to start out around 15 or so that way one loss doesn't KILL you. Honestly though, polls shouldn't come out until at least October.

The biggest (ok, only) question about Marshall is figuring out the weakest team that they play. I have SMU edging out Tulane, although there may be at least 3 other contenders. Why don't they challenge themselves, and add some top tier Texas high school teams.

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Edward
Deacon
PCA
Texas

I think Ohio State has those teams all locked up.

Texas High School Football is overrated. My boys in Western PA could show them a thing or two.

But besides that the Thundering Herd already plays UTEP and SMU.

-----Added 8/24/2009 at 10:25:51 EST-----

Careful there UGA. Tennessee Tech is a real powerhouse.

Yeah, well, if we played THREE Tennessee Techs every season, then you might have a point.

Oh, wait, I stand corrected. We also play Vandy and UT. This might be a battle for the best school in Tennessee.

I root for two teams: Penn State and whoever is playing Notre Dame.

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Curt Lovelace
Pastor, Covenant Baptist Church (CBA)
Acton, Maine
Director, Lifework Forum
Sermons at SermonAudio.com/CBCActon
Blogging at Coffee with Curt

to that.

okay, you are forgiven.

-----Added 8/24/2009 at 11:03:02 EST-----

Richard gets the 1000 pts!
You are absolutely correct. In June he went to Jim Ned to speak at a small fundraiser banquet. I of course had to go and the rest was history. He was extremely generous signing everything and posing for pics with everybody (about 150 total in attendance).

Let's just say this is my favorite Notre Dame game of all time.

Seems somewhat similar to my favorite Georgia game of all time...

Yes, this is what I think about your Pitt Kitts:



Wow, how the game has changed. There was this quote from the video: "Cavanaugh shredded the Georgia defense for nearly 200 yards." Of course, when Tony Dorsett runs for more than 200 yards, you probably don't need to pass for much.

I remember watching that game with my Dad. He said Matt Robinson (QB for UGA) was the only guy who showed up to play!

Tony Dorsett is just one of many examples of why Western PA produces the best football players in the country. No other area can boast of the QB talent especially that the WPIAL has brought forth to this nation.

Matthew Stafford aside (whose future remains to be seen), Georgia has not always produced great pro quarterbacks, at least in the Vince Dooley and post-Dooley era (Fran Tarkington, of course, was one of the greatest pro QBs of all time, but that was a long time ago). An example in in the 1981 Sugar Bowl video above. If you watch the whole thing, you will hear near the end an announcer say "And Georgia finally completes a pass." That was Buck Belue, Georgia's QB, finally making a connection. He graduated from Georgia, tried his hand at baseball, played some football in the USFL, and is now a sportscaster in Atlanta. Early in that game he threw a long pass that should have been a long gainer, but the receiver dropped the ball. Thereafter, Georgia did not complete a pass until the late 3rd or early 4th quarter (and I think they only completed 1 or 2)! Vince Dooley, one of the most conservative play-calling coaches ever, was content to just keep handing the ball off to Herschel Walker and trust his defense and special teams to hold the other team in check. And when you've got one of the greatest RBs in history in your backfield, can you blame him?

BTW, western PA might be famous for producing QBs, but Hershel was born in south-central GA, about 30 miles from where I grew up. When I was in the 7th grade, I watched his high school team destroy our high school something like 49-0 in the first round of the playoffs. One of my classmates' brother was QB for our hs school team. The schools were so small that many of the players had to play both offense and defense; hence Hershel also played LB for the other team. Hershel intercepted at least two passes in that game, one of which he returned for a TD. My friend said his brother always bragged that he threw a TD pass to Hershel.

I predict a two time Heisman winner this year. His name Sam Bradford! However, he will have to keep his hair trimmed this year.

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J. David Kear
Sunday School Teacher
First Presbyterian Church
Villa Rica, Georgia

Are SEC teams still scheduling community colleges for their Out of Conference games so that they can get two teams to the BCS again? :P.
If I remember correctly, Florida is returning all their starters on defense, plus they have that heisman guy in Tim Tebow, so I wouldn't be surprised if they went undefeated this year, even with their tough schedule.
This may be the year USC does not finish on top of the PAC-10, though I doubt it. Cal and Oregon should be pretty good this year; and my OSU Beavers always seem to surprise.

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Brian Vandenburg
Member of Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Vancouver, WA
"The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God."-Westminster Confession of Faith

It's worst that that. Georgia is scheduling teams from the PAC10, Big 12 and ACC. LSU is at Washington, Auburn plays WV, Bama opens at Va Tech.

Don't judge all of them by Florida's wimpy schedule. (Charleston Southern? Troy, Florida International, Vandy, Tennessee) LSU and possibly Georgia are their only decent opponents.

Yep. Georgia is playing Tennessee Tech, but the other three out-of-conference opponents are Oklahoma State (ranked 10th or 11th), Georgia Tech (top 20), and Arizona State. The latter has fallen in the last year or so, but they were highly ranked when this series was originally scheduled.

A few thoughts through 2 weeks of the season:

1. Parity is better than ever in college football. Florida has cruised through two cupcakes and Penn State has dominated their first two opponents, but everyone else has struggled in at least one of their games, including Alabama struggling through 3 quarters with Florida International and Texas losing to Wyoming until right before the half. Not to mention BYU beating Oklahoma and Houston beating Oklahoma State.

2. The SEC is probably the best conference, but there's no way they deserve to have 4 teams in the Top 10. Florida and Alabama I can agree with, but LSU and Ole Miss? LSU struggled against Washington in the opener and was out-gained by 150 yards, then followed that up by a very lackluster win over Vandy. Ole Miss didn't look impressive at all against Memphis, especially on offense. Maybe those teams are Top 20, but not Top 10.

3. There have been some really good, exciting games so far: Miami-FSU, USC-Ohio State, Georgia-South Carolina, Georgia Tech-Clemson, Oregon-Purdue, Michigan-Notre Dame, BYU-Oklahoma were all thrillers. I hope this continues for the rest of the season!

4. USC will lose 1-2 games this year and play in the Rose Bowl again. This is not the same Trojan team we're used to seeing, even with the win on Saturday.

5. The ACC is a horrible conference. No need to elaborate on this one.

Great points Mason. I especially agree about Ole Miss.

The rankings in college football are a joke. Oklahoma State got beat by Houston, and it was NOT a fluke. They just got outplayed. So why is Oklahoma State ranked ahead of Houston??? Why is Oklahoma State even in the top 15? Simple...because they were ranked in the Top 5 the previous week. That alone proves the rankings are primarily based on other rankings, not what is actually done on the field.

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Daniel
PCA
Memphis, TN

Great points Mason and Daniel! I completely agree.

I don't think that USC will lose two games and still go to the Rose Bowl. If USC did lose two games, Cal would likely be one of them. I don't see Cal defeating USC and still losing two games. Not going to happen. The more likely scenerio is that USC loses one game (to Cal) and runs the table otherwise and ends up either in the championship or the Rose Bowl.

Matt Barkley will gain confidence as he continues to play this season. USC will get better and better.

Now, to all of you SEC fans: Tenn lost to UCLA? Really? Ouch. The LSU/Washington game also shows that the SEC is overrated.

[/quote]

Now, to all of you SEC fans: Tenn lost to UCLA? Really? Ouch. The LSU/Washington game also shows that the SEC is overrated.[/QUOTE]

A few questions for you:

What is the SEC rated? Where do you think they should be rated? Are you aware that UT hired a former Pac 10 assistant coach? Are you aware that LSU beat WA? What do 3 straight national championships and 4/9 of national championships this decade prove about the SEC?

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Jared
Unofficially Baptist
Olive Branch, MS

No rankings should be released until mid October, at least!

What a season so far!!

Last week featured more great games, including Michigan State-Notre Dame, Auburn-West Virginia, USC-Washington, Georgia-Arkansas, and a reasonably good Texas-Texas Tech rematch. It seems like every week there are 4-5 excellent games.

Right now the race for the MNC is wide open. Florida looks good but beatable, Texas has a suspect defense, Alabama has a good rush defense but hasn't faced a good passing attack yet (their weakness last year), Penn State is good but untested, Ole Miss is just way overrated.

I could see anyone in the Top 10 winning it. Really exciting season to date...