I think 2009 will be the return of the powerhouse teams.

OSU, Texas, USC, Georgia, OU, Florida will all have key players as upperclassmen as well as some impressive recruiting classes coming in. Add in a team like LSU, Bama, or even a - dare i say - Notre Dame and it could really shape up to be an amazing football season.

And while i think these teams have the best shot of the BCS conference teams to go undefeated I did say that I don’t think anyone outside of BYU will run the table. That said, I consider OU and Missou and the top chances to go undefeated because (1) they are the top 2 teams in their conference, (2) they don’t play each other, (3) They really have one or two key games on their schedule and they will be favored to win them.

OU plays Texas in Dallas, has kansas and tech at home, and goes on the road vs Okie State. Yeah its tough, but compared to the schedules of the other teams in the top 5 or 10 who play SEC teams or other Top 10 teams I would take the OU schedule or the Mizzou schedule.

Mizzou gets Illinois at home, goes to Texas, and gets Kansas at home.

Texas is the team that can foil both of these undefeated bids. If we’re healthy and get some quick results from Muschamp’s defense I’m optiimistic we could at least get a split.

not comparing schedules, just the idea of a non-BCS school running the table in fairly convincing fashion. BYU beat UCLA on the road last year if I remember correct and UCLA had a coaching change this off season. Washingon however is up and coming and could be a bit of challenge but I don’t think they have the defense to slow these guys down. The conference schedule is not much of a challenge and while I was exaggerating a bit it is safe to say they will not face a top 25 team or top 50 team until their bowl game. This is a good team and if they make it to a BCS bowl will at least deserve it more than Hawaii did.

and I can see Texas having a great year, but at the same time, when there are growing pains, and there WILL be growing pains, don’t become just another angry belligerent fan. We still have to be realistic.

This team has all the potential to be dominant in ‘09. But we really need to be realistic in ‘08 – I just don’t see it with this team and this schedule.

USC played ugly on offense last year, squeaking by Washington, losing to Stanford, Oregon, sluggish against Idaho…and so on. Sanchez looks pretty average from what I’ve seen. His good game was against Notre Dame…that doesn’t say much. The receivers at SC have been busts thus far, and the trojans are rebuilding their offensive line. Joe Mcknight might not even be eligible. The offense is gonna be pretty plain.

Contrast that with Ohio States offense:
Boeckman is a proven quarterback who can make enough plays to win a game. Chris Wells is a complete all-everything runningback, and they have some good-not-great receivers too. If tyrelle pryor actually sees playing time, thats a whole different ballgame.

The difference is Ohio St has their offense put together, they know what they’re gonna do with the ball. SC however is just a bunch of scattered 5star puzzle pieces hopelessly jumbled at this point.

The defenses are a wash, maybe a little edge goes to USC. In LA, that plays a role too, but when the game comes around, OSU will definitely be the favorite.

lost A LOT of players in the draft

They will play ou this year…and WIN!

We haven’t had nearly the amount of early exits as other upper echelon teams. We very well may going forward, though. More and more players for traditional powerhouses are too enthusiastic about their own abilities, and they don’t understand the difference between high-level college football and professional football until they actually get there. They assume 2 or 3 years at USC or Texas or the like automatically gives them the necessary mental and physical tools to compete immediately with NFL veterans and then act like the world has gone mad when they fall to the 3rd round.

You’d like to think that after enough top early exits fall apart in the NFL, these guys will wake up and realize they need as much college preparation as they can get. But as long as the NFL keeps throwing the kind of money they throw at rookies and as long as the BCS keeps rewarding teams for playing lousy competition, all of these players will continue to believe they don’t need 4 years of college.

Perusing Rivals’ position power rankings there aren’t a lot of names that really stand out.

QB: Tebow, Daniel, Harrell, Stafford
RB: Beanie Wells, N. Moreno, Ian Johnson
WR: Crabtree, Harvin, Maclin
DL: Selvie and Hardy
LB: Laurinitas and Maualuga, Cushing and Spikes
DB: Malcolm Jenkis, Vonta Davis, Victor Harris

When you really start to wonder about which of these guys will translate into NFL talent the list gets even less formidable. Obviously, there is talent in college football—the point is that 2006 and 2007 saw a lot of big time talent make its way into the draft and while this is great for NFL fans it does leave a void in college football. I think it will take the 2008 season for some of these guys, and some of the top teams to really shake themselves free of the parity and establish themselves as the elite.