1. Ohio State - The Buckeyes' offensive is stacked beyond belief with quarterback Troy Smith, receiver Ted Ginn Jr., and back Anthony Pittman, and could be unstoppable in the Big Ten. The stellar defense lost nine starters, but some of their replacements could be even better. If their new defense gels, watch out.
2. West Virginia - The Mountaineers climbed to the top of the Big East last season, and with the dynamic duo of running back Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White leading the offense they should be poised to stay there. The West Virginia defense will need to fill a few holes to maintain their success from a year ago.
3. Texas - The Longhorns may have said goodbye to Vince Young, but there's still plenty of talent in Texas. The 'horns are atacked both offensively and defensively, and have a pair of talented freshman QBs, Colt McCoy and Jevan Snead, ready and willing to fill Young's shoes.
4. Oklahoma - The Sooners' defense should continue to rip up opposing offenses with eight returning starters. A healthy Adrian Peterson in the backfield makes their offense lethal no matter what happens to untested quarterback Rhett Bomar.
5. Notre Dame - Charlie Weis re-energized the offense and with quarterback Brady Quinn a year wiser they should be even better. The defense remains mostly intact, but still needs to improve on their pass rush and defense versus the deep ball.
6. USC - The Trojans lost a lot in the offseason, but new quarterback John David Booty still has plenty of talent to work with. Up front the Trojans' defense should be strong, but the secondary looks exploitable.
7. California - NEw offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar's plans to implement a spread offense that could be explosive with the weapons at his disposal. Look for the new offensive system to continue to highlight the Golden Bears' lethal backfield duo of Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett.
8. LSU - The Tigers have a number of spots to fill on both sides of the ball, but their bench was deep last year and they have the talent to fill those holes and still dominate. JaMarcus Russell will be the starting quarterback again, despite backup QB Matt Flynn's stellar play while Russell was injured last year.
9. Florida State - Look for quarterback Drew Weatherford to lead an improved passing attack. The defense should be steady despite losing seven starters, but the Seminoles' offensive line needs to improve after getting pushed around too much last season, which killed their running game.
10. Auburn - New defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has made some interesting moves that could shore up a questionable defense. The running game will be strong behinh Kenny Irons, but the passing attack lacks a real threat downfield.
11. Florida - Chris Leak was wildly inconsistent last season and needs to step up in his senior year to keep the Gators' offense rolling along smoothly. When he's on, the Gators devour the competition. When he's off, they get skinned alive. The running game is still a mystery and a sub-par offensive line won't help.
12. Clemson - New starting quarterback Will Proctor inherits a loaded offense with plenty of weapons. The defense should be strong again with seven starters returning. A difficult road schedule early on could make or break their season.
13. Michigan - New offense and defensive coordinators should shake things up on both sides of the ball. The main pieces of the offense return in QB Chad Henne and RB Mike Hart, but the strength of the O-line could decide their season.
14. Iowa - The strong arm of Drew Tate and the powerful legs of Albert Young are back, but the receiving corps looks pretty thin. The defense lost some power at linebacker, but should be ok with a terrific defensive line and shutdown secondary.
15. Louisville - The Cardinals' offense is loaded, but a question mark hovers over them with starting QB Brian Brohm coming back from a torn ACL. The defense needs to find a way to deal without leader and sack machine Elvis Dumervil.
16. Oregon - The Ducks' offense lost a lot of firepower, and the Young QBs Dennion Dixon and Brady Leaf sharing time behind center they need to find a rhythm early in the season is dispel the doubts. The defense retained most of their important weapons.
17. Nebraska - Quarterback Zac Taylor started to come into his own late last season and if the Cornhuskers can develop a running game behind him they should be potent offensively.
18. Miami - The Hurricanes' coaching staff went through a complete overhaul with sex new assistants brought in under head coach Larry Coker. Despite the new faces the game remains the same in Miami, with pressure to perform on QB Kyle Wright.
19. Georgia - The Bulldogs enter the season with questions at quarterback for the first time in five years. Georgia's defense may need to come up big early in the season.
20. Penn State - The Nittany Lions have to find a way to replace 13 starters, while also breaking in a new quarterback.
21. TCU - The Horned Frogs should continue to put up big numbers behind QB Jeff Ballard and the lethal backfield trio of Robert Merrill, Aaron Brown, and Lonta Hobbs.
22. Virginia Tech - The Hokies' defense should be as punishing as ever, but their quarterback situation has tagged the offense with a huge question mark.
23. Boston College - The Eagles just missed a spot in the conference championship game in their first season in the ACC and they have the talent returning to be in the game this year.
24. Texas Tech - The starting quarterback situation is still up in the air, but with the Red Raiders' stacked receving corps, all head coach Mike LEach may need behind center is a strong arm.
25. Utah - The Utes have a quarterback controversy on their hands after Brett Ratliff led Utah to a victory in the Emerald Bowl in place on injured starter Brian Johnson.
