Running 2010 college football season thread

Well, Ohio State has a legitimate chance of making it to the Championship game if they can survive their schedule. OSU somehow worked their way into eight home games and only four away games, but two of those away games (Iowa and Wisconsin) could turn out to be brutal.

This is probably one of the deepest years for the Big Ten in awhile in my opinion. Ohio State, Iowa, and Wisconsin all have a legitimate shot at making the National Championship game if they win out.

Iowa has to go to Arizona and play a pretty solid Arizona team, but they have all the other major threats to win the Big Ten at home. Though it will be interesting to see how they do against Northwestern this year considering their losses against them the last two seasons. I think Iowa has the easiest road to win the Big Ten with their schedule and their long list of returning starters.

Wisconsin has a pretty weak non-conference schedule, but they do have to travel to Iowa, as well as Michigan State. They get Ohio State at home, so that should make things a bit easier on them. They have a good number of solid returners, and they have a good chance to start the season 4-0 before they are really challenged.

Ohio State has three big roadblocks in their season, Miami at home, and then going to Iowa and Wisconsin. If Pryor can keep up his Rose Bowl performance level, then things should be looking up on offense. The defense lost some solid starters, but the one thing about Ohio States defense is they always seem to have great players laying in waiting, so we'll see how their defense holds up.

Other than those three, the other teams that I think have a chance are Penn State and possibly Michigan State. Penn State still has major questions at QB, but Evan Royster should be able to carry some of that pressure on his shoulders. Penn State still has to go to Ohio State and Iowa, as well as to defending National Champs Alabama (going to visit three BSC bowl winners in one season is almost unfair) but if they manage to pull off the upset at Bama, they should definitely be in contention then. As for Michigan State, they've been improving pretty steadily in my opinion, and they get Notre Dame and Wisconsin at home, but have to go to Iowa (who they barely lost to last season) and Penn State.

Either way, the Big Ten should be really interesting to watch this season.

As for the rest of the nation, things seem a bit too up in the air for me to really tell how things might turn out. Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma all have to replace long-standing starting QBs, as well as lots of other starters, so it will be interesting to see how they handle the change. Alabama has to rebuild some of it's defense but still has most of it's offense, so we'll see how they can handle this season.

Boise State has a legitimate chance of getting to the National Championship game if they can get by #6 Virginia Tech in their opening game and Oregon State in their third week. If they win those two games, I wouldn't be surprised to see them ranked in the top three. I also know I'll be paying alot of attention to Nebraska this year to see what is coming to the Big Ten next year. Also, in an unrelated note, I would find it hilarious if the National Championship game is Nebraska versus one of the Big Ten teams.

 

Just throwing my Big 10 out there for tonight.


The Big Ten shall be interesting this year. Obviously, like most.. I do believe the Ohio State has a huge chance to run away with it. Terrelle Pryor, if he plays at an elite player like he did against Oregon in the Rose Bowl, will defiantly be a Heisman candidate. Penn State would be in the mix for me as well, but only if JoePa learns that some true-Freshman are the best way to go (quarterback Paul Jones), but knowing him, he’s going to go with a “veteran” and have a mediocre year.

Now, to the teams who could make a splash. Wisconsin has a great chance, with a great running back. Too high of hopes for them though? We always talk about them early in the season and then they fizzle out, just like Michigan last year. A great, young quarterback and always a group of great running backs. Watch out for them again this year if they can get it together on defense and stay healthy. I’ll throw Iowa into the splash category as well because I’m not as high on them as most people are. They have a great, solid team with two of the best running backs in the NCAA, but I believe it was more of a Cinderella run for them last year. Of course, they’ll beat Penn State this year like always, but they won’t make it past powerhouses like Ohio State. Defiantly feeling an upset in Arizona and a rough game against Michigan State.

 

Now that I had time to read VV's post, I guess we have a lot of the same thoughts.

Well, to answer your Pryor question.. we just won't know until it happens. He was very indecisive his freshman and sophomore year which is why he had such 'mediocre' seasons. If he learns to see the field, I can see him throwing for 2,500-3,000 and rushing for 600-700 yards.

Surprise team? If we're sticking with the Big 10, Northwestern. Northwestern usually gives big teams a tough game, so you can never count them out.

 

Obviously it's tough to pick this early in the season, but my sleeper team is Georgia. Mallet has tons of experience under his belt and most of their defense are returning starters. Just throwing it out there.

 

If you're talking about Ryan Mallett then you probably mean Arkansas, not Georgia.

 

My main complain with Pryor, as Bob said, is that he needs to learn to see the entire field better. As it stands, he has a tendency to zone in on one receiver most of the time (generally Posey) and force too many balls his way. If he can break out of that and put his personal feelings aside (one of my friends here at Ohio State is going to athletic training and she was assigned to the football team. She said that Pryor and Posey are BFFs which is why Pryor seems to favor Posey) then he can really start to excel I think.

As for teams that might come out of nowhere, I'm not too sure. I think Northwestern might make some noise, but they just don't seem to be on the level of playing great games every week. They are good for Two or so huge games a year it seems. I could see maybe one of the other lesser known Mountain West or WAC teams having a surprising showing, possiby Houston or BYU. But other than that, I'm not really sure. It seems to me that most conferences are set in who can win big or it's just such a mess that no one really will have a superb showing.

 

I will contribute here.

Although my college football knowledge is minimal, I love watching football, so I will talk about whatever game I catch here and there.

 

It's kind of a wide open year for the national championship. Alabama are the favorites with all their offensive stars coming back, but they have to replace a lot on defense, and their defense is what won them the title last year.

Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma are ranked highly, but they all have to replace star quarterbacks. At least OU's Landry Jones got a lot of experience last year, but I can't see Texas or Florida being better this year than last, especially the Gators with all the talent they lost on both sides of the ball.

Ohio State has pretty lofty expectations. I'm kind of cautiously optimistic about them right now. They have a lot of talent at the skill positions. If the offensive line performs well and Pryor has improved his passing, which I think he has, then this team could be really good. Defensively, the front seven is going to be sick. There are some holes in the secondary, but there are definitely some talented young players who could turn into stars there.

Boise State and TCU are both in the top 10 to start the season. It remains to be seen whether a non-BCS team can make the title game. I was unimpressed by both teams in their bowl game last year.

Watch out for Virginia Tech. They always have a strong defense and special teams, but their offense could be dangerous this year with Tyrod Tayler and Ryan Williams in the backfield.