Storylines to watch

Before I get to what the most intriguing stories to follow this season will be, let me go on record and be the first to say that we're in for an exciting, yet very strange football season in 2010.

When you mix in agents, suspensions, the NCAA's convenient timing for handing down rulings on the status of kids with troubled pasts and the greed of big time programs looking for even bigger television revenue paychecks, the weird and unexpected is bound to happen at the drop of a dime. And this year it looks like it will be on a routine basis.

Here are the top storylines to follow this off-season:

What happens at USC?
-One of two things is going to happen with the USC Trojans this year. Lane Kiffin will show everybody he can actually coach by leading the Trojans to at least 10 wins and become the game's new villain all over again. Or, the Trojans will go in the tank after realizing they're playing for pride instead of the customary BCS Bowl that we've all grown accustom to seeing them in over the past decade and Kiffin will have to endure more verbal jabs than one of Floyd Mayweather's opponents at a pre-fight promotional event. Personally, I'm rooting for Kiffin and the Trojans to be the most dangerous team on probation since Terry Bowden's Auburn team in the early 90's.

While the wave of talented players is not quite the same as it was before Kiffin left to coach the Oakland Raiders in the middle part of this decade, the Trojans still have a talented QB in Matt Barkley and one of the best defensive units in the Pac-10. Is it enough to win the conference in a probation year? Only time will tell.

A new challenger in the Big 12 South
-There's no such thing as a sure thing in college football, but I'm willing to bet you Bo Pelini and the Nebraska Cornhuskers will be back at Cowboys Stadium in December to take another shot at the Big 12 Championship.

The question is whether or not anybody can knock Texas and Oklahoma off their perch in the Big 12 South. Since Mack Brown and Bob Stoops arrived at their respective schools, everybody else in the division has basically been reduced to second class citizens. Sure, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and Oklahoma State have pulled the occasional rabbit out of their hat from time to time, but nobody has really ever threatened the stranglehold the two juggernauts have taken over the division.

Texas Tech is always a dicey road trip for anybody in conference and they're bound to pick somebody off now that Tommy Tuberville has made tackling a requirement instead of the option it appeared to be during the Mike Leach era. Oklahoma State will score points because that's just what they do. Without players like Dez Bryant, Russell Okung and Perish Cox though, it's hard to believe this is the year the Cowboys finally break through and make their first appearance in the conference championship game. Baylor might go to a bowl this season now that Robert Griffin is back from a knee injury, but they're not going to win the division.

That leaves Texas A&M.

Yes, I said it. The once proud program of my childhood that was run into a ditch by Dennis Franchione now has offensive weapons across the board and a QB in Jerrod Johnson who has the tools to win a game by himself if necessary. Whether or not the Aggies make a push for the Big 12 South's throne will come down to how well a young offensive line protects Johnson and how well their defense adjusts a new 3-4 scheme

If there was ever a year to catch Texas and Oklahoma in the South, this is it. Whether or not anybody has the guts to step up to the plate and actually do it will be something to pay attention to as the season goes on.

Boise State's shot at playing for the crystal ball
-Say what you want about the strength of their conference, the Boise State Broncos are for real.

There's still a list of talking heads who will tell you the Broncos are frauds, but all they keep doing is showing up big when it matters most.

Every year, the argument against the Broncos is that they haven't gone out and played anybody. That won't be the case this year. The Broncos open the year on Monday in the nation's capital against a dark horse championship contender in Virginia Tech in what amounts to a glorified home game for the Hokies. If they survive that, they'll have to deal with Oregon State at the end of this month. If Chris Petersen and company get through non-conference unscathed and run the table in the WAC, there's no reason they should be passed up by a one loss team from any other league for a spot in the title game.

The aftermath of the agent scandal that reared its ugly head this summer
-Butch Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels are about to have their season derailed before it even starts do to some of their players alleged interactions with agents and an academic scandal. South Carolina TE Wesley Saunders is on the shelf for at least tonight's game against Southern Miss because he's still being investigated by the NCAA for possible dealings with an agent. (I know Steve Spurrier says it's because he violated team rules, but that's just Spurrier doing what he can to protect his player.)

No word has come down yet on the status of Alabama's wrecking ball Marcel Dareus and USC is so thin at certain positions after the NCAA hit them with sanctions for the transgressions of Reggie Bush that they've had to stop tackling in practice for fear of injury.

The NCAA has already handed out some stiff penalties and it's pretty much a guarantee they'll be swinging the discipline hammer even more when all the facts come out about how much was really going between the players in questions and the agents who were allegedly footing the bill in hopes of landing one of the numerous potential first round draft picks.

Whether or not college athletes need to be paid is a debate for another time. In this current climate though, where coaches salaries are skyrocketing by the semester and schools are switching conference affiliations for better multi-million dollar television contracts, it's pretty obvious at this point that something has to be done.

***A quick rant for the day:
-What the NCAA did to Ole Miss QB Jeremiah Masoli earlier this week was despicable and ridiculous all rolled into one.

Masoli did everything required of him to be eligible to play for the Rebels this season. Graduate with a year of eligibility left? Check! Find another place to play that offers a graduate program that his former school didn't? Check!

The fact that the NCAA conveniently waited until just days before the season opener to rule him ineligible is a measured act of callousness and is a clear sign that somebody on that board has decided to make an example out of the former Oregon standout.

Sure, Masoli started this thing by squandering his second chance with Chip Kelley, but for them to wait until just a few days before he tries to hit the reset button on his life is sad on so many different levels.

My mini preview for the 2010 college football season

Hello followers of mosvoice!

I know it's been a while since I've picked up my pen, but I'm back after snapping out of another corporate-induced funk.

Today marks the start of the 2010 college football season and I think we can all agree that life is worth living again. That's no disrespect to the Rangers and their run towards the AL West Championship, but there's nothing like football-filled Saturday afternoons in the fall.

This year, I'm taking a little detour from the standard picks and predictions that you'd normally get from me. I'm still going to tell you who's going to win the big games every week, but I'm going to look more at the storylines and teams that will have a behind the scenes impact on how this season ends. (Think upstarts and upsets!)

Once again, it's great to be back for another college football season. With that said, let's get to it!