If you take an average of Lindyh’s and Steele’s you would get close to SI’s ranking.The truth is Texas sells magazines and that’s why we get the raqtings and the covers.It’s a conumdrum the newspaper media says we will have a down year and the magazines say we’er in the MNC hunt.Who’s right?

There are so many “ifs and buts” for this years team we won’t know how they stack up untill Oct.

Moreno is a solid halfback, not a McFadden-like force. Stafford has a world of talent, obviously, but he’s done so little with it, and his receivers have been perennial underachievers (see: Massaquoi, M.). The defense has some great players, but it’s not like they didn’t lose some key studs from last season. Overall, the team hasn’t show it can consistently move the ball, and the defense is great, but not so great that it can win the championship despite the offense. This team has some tools in place to win, but they’ve shown us less than a lot of other teams that return much stronger rosters. There’s no one team that stands out this pre-season, but I think there’s a price point at which there’s a dropoff. After the first 8-9 teams, anyone else has to be kind of a darkhorse. As such, here are the ones I would expect to be in contention, and the ones from which I think the team that answers its questions the best will end up winning the championship:

1. Ohio State. Wells, Robo, Boeckmann, Laurinaitis, Jenkins, etc. make an awesome returning core, and losses of Barton at RT and Gholston at end leave two spots where they might have performance dropoffs. If weak anywhere, it’d be at TE and the safety spots, although they do return both their starting safeties, who are great at moving up in the box against the run (in my opinion, anyway).

2. Mizzou. Yeah, they lost Temple, but he wasn’t a major difference-maker for much of the year anyway, and they have some talent ready to take his place. Mizzou didn’t really figure out how to use Maclin to his full potential until almost halfway from the season, so it’s going to be sick watching him keep defenses (and special teams) on their toes the entire season this time. They lost Rucker, but big deal…Coffman’s the better receiver anyway. They won’t be top-tier on defense, but they’ll be extremely salty (I believe starting ten seniors, one junior, one soph.) good enough to win eleven regular season games and the Big XII championship game, in my opinion. This year, that ought to earn a title game bid.

3. $ewner$. I hate to admit it, but they’re good. Again. I want them to burn, but they’re going to be in contention, unless Bradford suffers a sophomore slump. Now, obviously they won’t finish #3 this season if Mizzou goes to the title game, but I think right now they have to be ranked #3 based on team strength.

4. LSU. This isn’t the same LSU that spanked tOSU last year in the championship game…it’s more like the one that lost two games in the regular season. But they’re still very strong, and have amazing talent throughout the depth chart. I think the stable of backs and receivers will really help whatever greenhorn starts at QB, and of course the front seven and OL are both very strong.

5. USC. Sanchez is out for the early season, but Mustain or another talented contender ought to be able to carry the torch for a few laps, if not win the job permanently. I think they have a peerless back seven, and their young receivers should be ready. If the receivers and running backs play up to half their hype they’ve received the past few years, look out—this could be the #1 team at some point, IMO.

6. Georgia. Stafford is talented, the receivers are serious underachievers, Moreno has some good talent, the lines are strong and big, and the defense is very fast. This team has a lot of questions, but possibly the most potential of anyone.

7. Florida. I think Tebow’s good, but not as awesome as to be able to carry his team. Last season was evidence that a guy can put up awesome stats, lose, and still win the Heisman, as long as he plays for the right team in the right conference. They’ll contend, but it depends largely on whether the receivers are healthier and one of the backs (possibly Moody, blech) steps up to take the bullseye off Tebow’s back.

8. Wisconsin. They’ll grind it, they’ll play much better defense than they did last season, and they’ll have a stronger QB who should’ve started over Donovan last year. Most of all, they’ll run the ball even better than they have the past two seasons.

I believe the ‘Horns will be in that next tier, along with Tennessee, Auburn, Illinois, and possibly one or two others. I think the 8-14 range is just fine for Texas this season, although they certainly have the potential to be much higher if they answer the right questions.

I think you just need some lubricant.