SHSUHorn
Thief
Everyone has holes and next year may end up just like this year with a lot of one loss teams. USC to me though clearly looks like the best team in the land.
I’m disecting Vegas’ top 5 picks to win the title. I think looking at their odds are important because it will more then likely reflect the opening poll of next year or close to it. Last year Vegas had its top 5 as OSU, USC, Florida, ND, and Texas. Pretty good on the top 3, ND was more put there because of the hype knowing bettors would jump on it, and Texas was the defending champs and a Colt Mccoy injury away from being in the top 3 this year.
1. USC +280
Offense
Return 7 on offense total. Loses both its WRs who have been major contributors for the last 3 years at that position in Smith and Jarrett. This could be a problem because the passing attack has carried them. Against Michigan they threw the ball 27 out of 29 plays in the second half with only 48 rushing yards. Yes they had success but you can’t always get away being one dimensional like vs UCLA avg 1.9 ypc, 55 total rushing yards. Still have question marks in their rushing attack despite all the blue chippers need to find one horse, as it seemed they were starting a different RB each week. They lost 2 on the OL including first team all pac 10 C Ryan Kalil which surprises me because I really thought Sam Baker would leave early.
Defense
Will be nasty on defense next year with a lineup full of 5 star recruits. They return everyone on defense except one Dallas Sartz but they are more then loaded at LB. No question marks here from me.
Coaches
I doubt Carroll leaves for Miami but they could have some shakeups in the coaching staff. Steve Sarkisian is a big time favorite of Al Davis and he is interviewing for the Raiders job. Lane Kiffin went to high school with my cousin in Minnesota so his name has jumped out as the head coach for the Gophers.
Recruiting
Current class of 14 commits puts them currently ranked at #5 but that will change come signing day as their class is just sick right now with an avg rating of 4.14 stars. They have the top LB in the country in Chris Gallipo, the top DE Everson Griffen, and the top G James Wilson. RB Marc Tyler is rated as the #2 RB in the country but suffered a serious leg injury this year.
Recruiting Rankings
2007 - #5 (as of right now Four 5* recruits)
2006 - #1 (Five 5* recruits)
2005 - #1 (Four 5* recruits)
2004 - #1 (Eight 5* recruits)
Schedule
They have to travel to Lincoln to take on Nebraska in the second game of the season and have ND, Cal, and Oregon on the road. They will have UCLA at home for the revenge game.
2. Michigan +665
Offense
Return 7 on offense total. Should be fine at on offense with Henne and Hart in the backfield and despite losing Breaston will be fine with Arrington and Manningham. Lose four SRs that started on the OL in the Rose Bowl they had two good ones in the middle of the line they lost.
Defense
Big losses here losing 7 SR starters plus Branch on defense. Ohio St. had a ton to replace last year on defense so we will see. DT Branch, DE Woodley and CB Hall will be hard to replace. All 3 are more then likely going to be drafted in the first round.
Coaches
No changes that I’ve heard of.
Recruiting
Currently sitting at #9 in the rankings with QB Ryan Mallett the headliner. I thought he looked the best of all the QBs in the All-American game this past weekend. Kid has a big time arm and will turn heads when he takes over from Henne. Ronald Johnson the #5 player in the country out of Muskegon (MI) hasn’t committed to anyone yet but I’d put my money on the Wolverines and he would be a HUGE get for them.
Recruiting Rankings
2007 - #9 (as of right now one 5* recruit)
2006 - #13 (Two 5* recruits)
2005 - #6 (One 5* recruit)
2004 - #5 (One 5* recruit)
Schedule
They have ND, Penn St., Oregon, and tOSU all at home with only one tough road game at Whisky.
3. Florida +715
Offense
Return 6 on offense so far but may lose Andre Caldwell to the draft but it’s highly unlikely. It will be interesting to see the Gator offense under Tim Tebow since Leak wasn’t supposedly the right QB for Meyer’s offense. One thing for sure is Tebow will be backed behind an OL that returns 4 starters and will be the strength of the offense. If Caldwell returns the WR corp will be fine with him and Harvin despite losing Baker and Cornelious. They still need to find a running attack especially with that schedule in the SEC as they did have a lot of close calls. Looks like Spiller from Clemson is transferring to UF but he has to sit out a year.
Defense
Returns 6 players but may have some early defections in Nelson, Siller, Smith and Moss all have asked the advisory board for their draft status. If they lose those all four they will be in big trouble early on. Losing MLB Siller would be a huge loss because they are already losing both DTs and they helped clog up the middle for the 6th best defense against the run this year. Nelson is all but gone cause he should be drafted in the first round.
Coaching
This is Urban Meyer first time in awhile that he has been at the same school for 3 years. Not foreseeing any shakeups in the staff though.
Schedule
Tough road games at LSU and South Carolina while they have Georgia in Jacksonville and have at home FSU, Auburn, and Tennessee. If they run this schedule they are on in and once again they will be the highest ranked one loss team if it comes down to that.
Recruiting
Currently sitting at #3 for the incoming class but winning the MNC should help them close out strong on a few targets. The two headliners of the class are QB John Brantley (fuck him) who was the top QB at the Elite 11 camp and DT Torrey Davis who is considered the 3rd overall player in the country only behind Marvin Austin and Jimmy Clausen. Florida is in the top two or three for 7 players currently uncommitted on the Rivals top 100 players in the country.
Recruiting Rankings
2007 - #3 (as of right now two 5* recruits)
2006 - #2 (Four 5* recruits)
2005 - #15
2004 - #7 (One 5* recruit)
4. Texas +1005
Offense
Return 9 on offense. I considered Dockery a starter since he was the starter until a midseason injury that knocked him out for the year only if he comes back 100%. Jamal Charles is considered a starter even though Selvin Young started most games well because he’s a SR and Mack loves his SRs even though its pretty damn clear Charles is the better back. Colt Mccoy looked healthy and good in the bowl game and he should only get better after being the top freshman QB in the country last year. He has all 4 of his top WRs returning plus the emergence of Finley at TE. Losing Blaylock, Sendlein, and Studdard on the line will be huge.
Defense
Return 6 on defense. Heavy losses in the secondary losing 3 players that will all be drafted on day one of the NFL draft. So tell me how again with that secondary did Texas finish one of the worst in the country? The secondary is the biggest question mark on the entire team for next year, as Texas will probably be relying on a lot of freshman and sophomores at the CB spots. Keep reading on the defense…
Coaches
Gene Chizik moves on and frankly after watching the defense this year most Texas fans believe it or not are happy. He stayed in base scheme all year long and with no true LB coach on the team the LB play was horrible this year from Texas. He sold out his secondary because of this to stop the run and teams just killed Texas with big plays because of it. He didn’t see eye to eye with Mack this year on his defensive philosophies so there were some issues in the playcalling this year.
Duane Akina the secondary coach who has produced Huff, Jammer, Vasher, Ross, C. Grifin, M.Griffin and Brown just over the last few years gets the promotion to call the plays as co-defensive coordinator along with new hire co-DC Larry Mack Duff. Duff is a former LB coach, which is good and was currently coaching the 49ers special teams. He was the DC of the desert swarm defenses back in the 90s and worked with Akina there.
Recruiting
Since the Vince Young bonanza started after the Michigan Rose Bowl game it seems every top HS talent in Texas wants to play for Texas where as before OU was stealing the top talent and kicking Texas ass in recruiting the last few years. For 2007 Texas currently sits #1 with studs across the board but headlined by G Tray Allen, DB Curtis Brown and the next bigtime dual threat QB for Texas John Chiles.
2007 - #1 (Three 5* star recruits)
2006 - #5 (Two 5* recruits)
2005 - #20
2004 - #10 (One 5* recruit)
Schedule
Open up with TCU at home and have the RRS vs OU (no QB and no AP) in game 5 of the season. They have Nebraska and Tech at home and Aggie and OSU on the road. They have by far the easiest schedule of the top 5 teams and may be a reason why oddsmakers have made them a good choice to win it all.
5. LSU +1100
Offense
Return 6 on offense and would’ve been my choice to play USC if Russell returned. I know a ton on here are big on Flynn but he needs to show me more then just the Miami game to make me a believer.
Defense
Return 8 on defense from a squad that finished 2nd in the country. They will be nasty on defense next year loaded top to bottom with the only glaring hole at the safety spots.
Coaching
This is my biggest issue with LSU as I’m just not sold on Miles as a game-time decision maker. They lost Jimbo Fisher to FSU which was huge even though most LSU fans can’t stand the guy.
Schedule
Big OOC game vs Va. Tech at home plus SC, Florida, Auburn, and Arkansas all at home. Only tough road game is going against Saban and Bama for the first time.
Recruiting
Sitting at #4 with a solid overall class but no 5* blue chippers. That will change as two players from the state that are uncommitted and seemed to be leaning to LSU plus the top WR in Texas Terrance Tolliver is also looking at LSU. Miles has benefited from the great classes Saban put together before he left but those players are starting to graduate.
2007 -#4
2006 - #7 (Two 5* recruits)
2005 - #22
2004 - #2 (Three 5* recruits)
I’m disecting Vegas’ top 5 picks to win the title. I think looking at their odds are important because it will more then likely reflect the opening poll of next year or close to it. Last year Vegas had its top 5 as OSU, USC, Florida, ND, and Texas. Pretty good on the top 3, ND was more put there because of the hype knowing bettors would jump on it, and Texas was the defending champs and a Colt Mccoy injury away from being in the top 3 this year.
1. USC +280
Offense
Return 7 on offense total. Loses both its WRs who have been major contributors for the last 3 years at that position in Smith and Jarrett. This could be a problem because the passing attack has carried them. Against Michigan they threw the ball 27 out of 29 plays in the second half with only 48 rushing yards. Yes they had success but you can’t always get away being one dimensional like vs UCLA avg 1.9 ypc, 55 total rushing yards. Still have question marks in their rushing attack despite all the blue chippers need to find one horse, as it seemed they were starting a different RB each week. They lost 2 on the OL including first team all pac 10 C Ryan Kalil which surprises me because I really thought Sam Baker would leave early.
Defense
Will be nasty on defense next year with a lineup full of 5 star recruits. They return everyone on defense except one Dallas Sartz but they are more then loaded at LB. No question marks here from me.
Coaches
I doubt Carroll leaves for Miami but they could have some shakeups in the coaching staff. Steve Sarkisian is a big time favorite of Al Davis and he is interviewing for the Raiders job. Lane Kiffin went to high school with my cousin in Minnesota so his name has jumped out as the head coach for the Gophers.
Recruiting
Current class of 14 commits puts them currently ranked at #5 but that will change come signing day as their class is just sick right now with an avg rating of 4.14 stars. They have the top LB in the country in Chris Gallipo, the top DE Everson Griffen, and the top G James Wilson. RB Marc Tyler is rated as the #2 RB in the country but suffered a serious leg injury this year.
Recruiting Rankings
2007 - #5 (as of right now Four 5* recruits)
2006 - #1 (Five 5* recruits)
2005 - #1 (Four 5* recruits)
2004 - #1 (Eight 5* recruits)
Schedule
They have to travel to Lincoln to take on Nebraska in the second game of the season and have ND, Cal, and Oregon on the road. They will have UCLA at home for the revenge game.
2. Michigan +665
Offense
Return 7 on offense total. Should be fine at on offense with Henne and Hart in the backfield and despite losing Breaston will be fine with Arrington and Manningham. Lose four SRs that started on the OL in the Rose Bowl they had two good ones in the middle of the line they lost.
Defense
Big losses here losing 7 SR starters plus Branch on defense. Ohio St. had a ton to replace last year on defense so we will see. DT Branch, DE Woodley and CB Hall will be hard to replace. All 3 are more then likely going to be drafted in the first round.
Coaches
No changes that I’ve heard of.
Recruiting
Currently sitting at #9 in the rankings with QB Ryan Mallett the headliner. I thought he looked the best of all the QBs in the All-American game this past weekend. Kid has a big time arm and will turn heads when he takes over from Henne. Ronald Johnson the #5 player in the country out of Muskegon (MI) hasn’t committed to anyone yet but I’d put my money on the Wolverines and he would be a HUGE get for them.
Recruiting Rankings
2007 - #9 (as of right now one 5* recruit)
2006 - #13 (Two 5* recruits)
2005 - #6 (One 5* recruit)
2004 - #5 (One 5* recruit)
Schedule
They have ND, Penn St., Oregon, and tOSU all at home with only one tough road game at Whisky.
3. Florida +715
Offense
Return 6 on offense so far but may lose Andre Caldwell to the draft but it’s highly unlikely. It will be interesting to see the Gator offense under Tim Tebow since Leak wasn’t supposedly the right QB for Meyer’s offense. One thing for sure is Tebow will be backed behind an OL that returns 4 starters and will be the strength of the offense. If Caldwell returns the WR corp will be fine with him and Harvin despite losing Baker and Cornelious. They still need to find a running attack especially with that schedule in the SEC as they did have a lot of close calls. Looks like Spiller from Clemson is transferring to UF but he has to sit out a year.
Defense
Returns 6 players but may have some early defections in Nelson, Siller, Smith and Moss all have asked the advisory board for their draft status. If they lose those all four they will be in big trouble early on. Losing MLB Siller would be a huge loss because they are already losing both DTs and they helped clog up the middle for the 6th best defense against the run this year. Nelson is all but gone cause he should be drafted in the first round.
Coaching
This is Urban Meyer first time in awhile that he has been at the same school for 3 years. Not foreseeing any shakeups in the staff though.
Schedule
Tough road games at LSU and South Carolina while they have Georgia in Jacksonville and have at home FSU, Auburn, and Tennessee. If they run this schedule they are on in and once again they will be the highest ranked one loss team if it comes down to that.
Recruiting
Currently sitting at #3 for the incoming class but winning the MNC should help them close out strong on a few targets. The two headliners of the class are QB John Brantley (fuck him) who was the top QB at the Elite 11 camp and DT Torrey Davis who is considered the 3rd overall player in the country only behind Marvin Austin and Jimmy Clausen. Florida is in the top two or three for 7 players currently uncommitted on the Rivals top 100 players in the country.
Recruiting Rankings
2007 - #3 (as of right now two 5* recruits)
2006 - #2 (Four 5* recruits)
2005 - #15
2004 - #7 (One 5* recruit)
4. Texas +1005
Offense
Return 9 on offense. I considered Dockery a starter since he was the starter until a midseason injury that knocked him out for the year only if he comes back 100%. Jamal Charles is considered a starter even though Selvin Young started most games well because he’s a SR and Mack loves his SRs even though its pretty damn clear Charles is the better back. Colt Mccoy looked healthy and good in the bowl game and he should only get better after being the top freshman QB in the country last year. He has all 4 of his top WRs returning plus the emergence of Finley at TE. Losing Blaylock, Sendlein, and Studdard on the line will be huge.
Defense
Return 6 on defense. Heavy losses in the secondary losing 3 players that will all be drafted on day one of the NFL draft. So tell me how again with that secondary did Texas finish one of the worst in the country? The secondary is the biggest question mark on the entire team for next year, as Texas will probably be relying on a lot of freshman and sophomores at the CB spots. Keep reading on the defense…
Coaches
Gene Chizik moves on and frankly after watching the defense this year most Texas fans believe it or not are happy. He stayed in base scheme all year long and with no true LB coach on the team the LB play was horrible this year from Texas. He sold out his secondary because of this to stop the run and teams just killed Texas with big plays because of it. He didn’t see eye to eye with Mack this year on his defensive philosophies so there were some issues in the playcalling this year.
Duane Akina the secondary coach who has produced Huff, Jammer, Vasher, Ross, C. Grifin, M.Griffin and Brown just over the last few years gets the promotion to call the plays as co-defensive coordinator along with new hire co-DC Larry Mack Duff. Duff is a former LB coach, which is good and was currently coaching the 49ers special teams. He was the DC of the desert swarm defenses back in the 90s and worked with Akina there.
Recruiting
Since the Vince Young bonanza started after the Michigan Rose Bowl game it seems every top HS talent in Texas wants to play for Texas where as before OU was stealing the top talent and kicking Texas ass in recruiting the last few years. For 2007 Texas currently sits #1 with studs across the board but headlined by G Tray Allen, DB Curtis Brown and the next bigtime dual threat QB for Texas John Chiles.
2007 - #1 (Three 5* star recruits)
2006 - #5 (Two 5* recruits)
2005 - #20
2004 - #10 (One 5* recruit)
Schedule
Open up with TCU at home and have the RRS vs OU (no QB and no AP) in game 5 of the season. They have Nebraska and Tech at home and Aggie and OSU on the road. They have by far the easiest schedule of the top 5 teams and may be a reason why oddsmakers have made them a good choice to win it all.
5. LSU +1100
Offense
Return 6 on offense and would’ve been my choice to play USC if Russell returned. I know a ton on here are big on Flynn but he needs to show me more then just the Miami game to make me a believer.
Defense
Return 8 on defense from a squad that finished 2nd in the country. They will be nasty on defense next year loaded top to bottom with the only glaring hole at the safety spots.
Coaching
This is my biggest issue with LSU as I’m just not sold on Miles as a game-time decision maker. They lost Jimbo Fisher to FSU which was huge even though most LSU fans can’t stand the guy.
Schedule
Big OOC game vs Va. Tech at home plus SC, Florida, Auburn, and Arkansas all at home. Only tough road game is going against Saban and Bama for the first time.
Recruiting
Sitting at #4 with a solid overall class but no 5* blue chippers. That will change as two players from the state that are uncommitted and seemed to be leaning to LSU plus the top WR in Texas Terrance Tolliver is also looking at LSU. Miles has benefited from the great classes Saban put together before he left but those players are starting to graduate.
2007 -#4
2006 - #7 (Two 5* recruits)
2005 - #22
2004 - #2 (Three 5* recruits)
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