My June Top 25

It's that time again people. June is upon us and we are all starting to look forward to what promises to be another heart-stopping and undoubtedly controversial college football season.

I've got a lot of stuff planned for the upcoming season, but the following is what I think the Top 25 should be at the moment.

***Needless to say, these rankings are very fluid. It's still just June and my personal experience with the game has shown me that weird things are bound to happen when you're dealing with a bunch of 18-22 year olds who have a little too much free time on their hands.

1. Alabama- They are the defending champs, right? Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson are still the most physical running back tandem in the nation, right? Greg McElroy can still throw it to Julio Jones on third down, right? Sure, Rose Bowl hero Marcel Derreus, Donta Hightower and Mark Baron will be leading a defense breaking in a bunch of talentednew parts but they're still going to be coached by Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, right? Unless the answer to one of the previous questions changes, the Tide will stay on top of this poll.

2. Bosie St. - Laugh if you want, the Broncos are for real people. They've got virtually everybody back from a 13-0 team and Chris Peterson is one of the best coaching minds in the land. Period. I'm sure we'll all be watching the opener in the nation's capital against Virginia Tech on Sept. 6th. In the meantime though, let's all pray the Mountain West formally asks the Broncos to for their hand in marriage. Excuse me, I mean expansion.

3. Ohio St.- Isn't it amazing how good the vibe is around the Buckeyes when they're coming off a Rose Bowl win as opposed to getting shalacked by an SEC juggernaut in a BCS Championship Game? We all know Jim Tressell's style. At this point, the Buckeyes just need to make sure Terrelle Pryor's surgically repaired knee is 100% before Miami comes to town on Sept.11.

4. Virginia Tech- If it wasn't for Alabama's Ingram and Richardson, the Hokies' combo of Ryan Williams and Darren Evans would be getting a lot more burn across the board. Williams, the ACC's ROY in '09, is a Heisman candidate and a 1st round pick the second he decides he wants to play on Sundays. Evans might be on that same plane if he hadn't missed all of last season with a knee injury. The Hokies will run the ball. We know Bud Foster will always put a salty defense on the field and the special teams play in Blacksburg has become an institution all to itself. The Hokies' season, however, will come down to how many plays QB Tyrod Taylor can make with his arm and not his feet. Week 1 in Washington D.C. against Bosie St. should be fun.

5. Texas- The sentiment coming out of Austin this spring was that the Horns are going to go back to running the football to help ease Garrett Gilbert into his role as the full-time starter at QB. (We'll see.) As usual, the Horns' non-conference slate is cake. The season , on the other hand, will ultimately be decided by what happens in Dallas against the Sooners on Oct. 2nd and what happens in Lincoln against the Cornhuskers two weeks later.

6. Iowa- They'll never be fun to watch, but Adrian Clayborn and the Hawkeyes will definitely have a say in who wins the Big 10 this year.

7. TCU- There are plenty of questions for the Frogs heading into the season. How good will All-Conference LB Tank Carder be after coming back from off-season shoulder surgery. Who's going to replace sack master Jerry Hughes? Will there be a hangover from the Fiesta Bowl loss to Bosie St.? Whatever the case may be, they'd be wise to have things figured out when they meet Oregon State at Cowboys Stadium on Sept. 4.

8. Florida- Even with this being the first year "AT" (After Tebow), things have been pretty quiet down in Gainseville. Oh, wait a second. There was that minor dust up Urban Meyer had at practie with that reporter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgqQshESm8s

9. Nebraksa- I thought about putting them a little lower. Then I looked at the group behind them and realized the Huskers have the best defense of anybody else competing for this spot.

10. Wisconsin-Is John Clay healthy yet? He should be by Sept. 4. Is their Big 10 schedule pretty managable? After hosting the Buckeyes and visiting the Hawkeyes in October, things should be pretty smooth.

11. Oregon- Do you think Chip Kelley saw a one year suspension for Jeremiah Masoli coming after that Rose Bowl loss to Ohio State? You think he saw having to rely on Nate Costa or Darron Thomas to run his offense for the 2010 season? Of course not, but that's the hand he's been dealt and that's the one he'll have to play with.

12. Miami- Randy Shannon finally got his contract extension and the Canes are loaded with talent. Now all they have to do is figure out a way to survive another early season death march that begins with a road trip to Ohio State on Sept. 11.

13. Oklahoma- If Landry Jones and the latest version of what should be another stiff defense under Bob Stoops and Brent Venables can lead the Sooners back to the top of the Big 12, last season's rash of injuries and disappointments will be seen as a blessing in disguise.

14. Pitt- With Cincinatti changing head coaches, there is no reason why the Panthers shouldn't win the Big East.

15. USC- After a decade of domination, the Trojans are suddenly one of the country's true wild cards. There's still plenty of talent in the land of Troy, and everybody will definitely be watching how Lane Kiffin does in his first year as the Trojans' new head coach. In the meantime, we're all waiting to see how big the hammer is the NCAA is about to swing at the Trojans' athletics department in light of the recent scandals involving Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo.

16. Arkansas- Points won't be a problem with Ryan Mallett and his cast of talented skill players. The amount of noise the Hogs make this season though is soley dependent on how much improvement they've made on the defensive side of the ball. Whatever it is the Hogs accomplish this season, we at least know they'll look good doing it in their new uniforms. http://angrytrey.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-arkansas-football-uniform.html

17. Georgia Tech- Will they win the ACC again? Who knows, but I'm willing to bet Paul Johnson and the Yellow Jackets will be heard from at some point this season.

18. Cincinatti- Brian Kelley, Tony Pike and Mardy Gillyard are all gone. That's ok because Zack Colleros will be throwing the ball to Armon Binns and taking plays from new head coach Butch Jones.

19. Oregon State- They're still underappreciated on the national scene, but all Mike Riley does every year is put a team on the field that gets better every week and usually throws a monkey wrench into somebody's late season run. TCU should be on high alert.

20. Houston- After a season that flirted with a possible long shot at the BCS flamed out in a turnover-filled loss to Air Force, Case Keenum and company will be looking to finish the job this year. They better make it happen quick, because Keenum's eligibility is up after this year and it's only a matter of time before a big time school from a BCS conference throws a big check at head coach Kevin Sumlin.

21. Penn State- Did anybody else see that holey sock masquerading as the Nittany Lions' offensive line in the spring game? They probably need to get that in order before they go to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 11 or Marcel Derreus might be responsible for sending another QB to the showers a little earlier than expected.

22. Utah- You know the Utes have arrived as a program because they went 10-3 last year, won another bowl game and it was considered a down year for them.

23. Florida State- There's plenty of talent on the offensive side of the ball and Christian Ponder is about as good as any triggerman in the country. The amount of time it takes for the Semionles to get back to prominence depends on how fast they adapt to new defensive cordinator Mark Stoops and his zone blitzing scheme.

24. North Carolina- Ok Butch Davis! It's time to do something big now. You've been on tabacco road for a few seasons now and you've built a defense stocked with at least 6-8 legitimate NFL draft picks on it. I guess we'll know a lot after that first game in the Georgia Dome against LSU.

25. UConn- The more I think about the job Randy Edsal is doing, the more I start thinking of him as the east coast's version of Mike Riley.

***Who's missing?


*LSU- The Tigers have top 10 talent, but Jordan Jefferson hasn't convinced anybody that he can win a big game against a top notch team and the thought of having to depend on Les Miles' decision making in the last two minutes of the game suddenly scares the hell out of me.