Now that the 2006 football season is over, and signing day has come and gone, and it's a weekend without college football, it's time to start thinking about the 2007 football season. There are just 203 days until my Trojans kickoff against Idaho. Who will be the best teams in 2007? If I had a preseason vote, I'd cast these ten schools at the top:
1. USC. The heart of this team -- its defense -- returns 11 starters, if you count CB Josh Pinkard, who missed the season with an injury. The only starter who must be replaced is OLB Dallas Sartz, but the talent waiting at linebacker is incredible. In addition, there are at least two incoming freshman (LB Chris Galippo and DE Everson Griffin) who should compete to be starters, and two more (CB Ronald Johnson and S Marshall Jones) who can step in immediately if someone gets hurt. Defense wins championships, and this will be one of USC's best defenses ever. The returning offense won't be bad either. Two linemen graduate, and both starting receivers are probably gone, but the second string receivers were good enough to start already. The only downside: the schedule puts all their toughest games on the road: Nebraska, Notre Dame, Cal.
2. LSU. Like USC, the Tigers will return a crew of monsters on defense. There are two strong candidates to replace QB JaMarcus Russell, but this time could lose a game or two because of inexperience at the QB position. Drawing Florida at home could be the difference that makes LSU the SEC champions.
3. Florida. Urban Meyer spent the last year recruiting like a fiend. It paid off quickly. Now his players have both talent and BCS experience. They bring in another class that has almost as much quality as USC's and more depth. Their biggest problem: a tough conference schedule that includes Tennessee early, and road games at LSU, Georgia and South Carolina.
4. Texas. They have some rebuilding to do in the secondary, and a new defensive coordinator comes in. However, Colt McCoy had some of the best numbers in the country last year, and Texas has landed two more great recruiting classes. Some of those freshman and sophomores will step up and fill the gaps. They always do.
5. Wisconsin: Sixteen starters return from a 12-1 team, including freshman RB P.J. Hill.
6. Louisville. This was a very good team in 2006, and with all that talent returning, plus a soft Big East schedule that makes it a lot easier to get through the season without major injuries like last year, this could be another BCS year for the Cardinals. Louisville: Keeping QB Brian Brohm and RB Michael Bush might make up for losing coach Bobby Petrino. A road game at West Virginia could kill their repeat BCS hopes.
7. Ohio State: Without Troy Smith, Antonio Pittman or Ted Ginn, Jr., this team will need to replace a lot of offense, and it's defense was badly exposed in the BCS title game and the Michigan game (especially after Michigan's poor showing in the Rose Bowl).
8. Oklahoma Sooners. They played quite well in 2006 even without their star running back. The 2007 team will have incredible pass defense, a line good enough to beat any Big 12 team in the trenches, with the possible exception of Texas.
9. Michigan. They were one play away from playing for the national championship last year, and almost all of those guys are back. They get Ohio State at home in a year where the Buckeyes are reloading. There was talk of Michigan being a preseason #1 with a strong win in the Rose Bowl. Instead, the Wolverine defense was exposed -- and they lose the best parts of it: Branch, Woodley, Rondell. The new recruiting class won't fill those gaping holes. Still, the offense will still be strong with QB Chad Henne, RB Mike Hart and WRs Mario Manningham and Adrian Arrington all back.
10. West Virginia: Pat White and Steve Slaton return. Add to it a schedule that isn't very difficult, save a home game against Louisville, and this team will put together a fine record in 2007.
Who might I have missed? Virginia Tech returns 17 starters, including most of the nation's top-rated defense. Arkansas returns Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, who will be the best tandem of running backs in the nation. Nebraska might surprise people with a newly effective passing game led by Arizona State transfer Sam Keller.
Who didn't I miss? Notre Dame. Quinn, Samardzija, Walker and 15 other starters are gone. The young players are good, but the defense struggled in 2006 and the incoming class (which suffered a pair of last-minute defections) failed to address glaring needs in the D-line and the corners. Still, a friendly schedule could bring another 10-2 regular season. UCLA. Some pundits put the 2007 Bruins in their top ten lists. I don't see it. Coming off a 7-6 season made tolerable only by an upset home win over rival USC, they have a quarterback controversy, a weak incoming freshman class, and although 10 starters return on offense, it's the same 10 players who struggled to score in 2006. The defense also loses its best player, Justin Hickman, and the All-American kicker is also gone.
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Posted by: rgwipnu agyx | March 08, 2007 at 23:26