School will soon be in session, which means college football kicks off even sooner. Florida rode a superb offense and a dominating defense to the NCAA Football title last season, despite not being listed among the favorites early in the year. If the National Championship goes to one of the favorites this year, expect one of these schools to bring home the title.
USC
This year's Trojans' squad may sport the best defense they've ever had under head coach Pete Carroll. If you think about how good some of Carroll's National Championship defenses have been, that's a truly scary statement. The defense is just outstanding and knows how to play well together with 10 starters returning. Offensively the Trojans lost some big weapons to the draft in Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith. However, John David Booty has the pedigree to be a solid scoring QB without the plethora of weapons that Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart had when they led USC to glory. The Trojans have an incredibly tough schedule this year that includes road games at Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon and California, and they should be definite No. 1 contenders if they can escape those games unscathed.
LSU
No more JaMarcus Russell? No problem. Don't expect the Tigers to simply roll over this season just because they lost their star quarterback to the NFL. Senior Matt Flynn is ready to step in and take the reins and he has some good receivers in Early Doucet and Brandon LaFell. The Tigers' defense was ferocious last season and with eight returning starters they should be feared again. The schedule-makers were very kind to the Tigers this season and the only tough road game ahead of them appears to be their trip to Alabama. That being said, LSU still has to tackle Virginia Tech, South Carolina, Florida and Arkansas at home. If LSU and USC were to meet up in the National Championship game, they might finally get to settle that national title they split back in 2003.
Florida
Don't count out the reigning national champs just yet. The Gators lost a lot of their championship squad including QB Chris Leak, RB DeShawn Wynn, WR Dallas Baker and a huge chunk of their smashmouth defense, but they also reloaded with plenty of talent too. The Gators' chances of repeating as title-holders likely will rely on two things. First and foremost is QB Tim Tebow. As a freshman Tebow flashed his strong arm and quick legs in limited duty last season. Now he'll have to prove he can carry the load all year. Secondly, the defense needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and has a lot to live up to from last year. Florida's trip to LSU on Oct. 6 will likely define their season.
Michigan
The Wolverines would likely be the No. 1 contender for the National Championship if they hadn't been blown out in last year's Rose Bowl. The Michigan offense should be killer this season with QB Chad Henne, RB Mike Hart and WR Mario Manningham all returning. The defense has only seven retuning starters, but new blood could be just what Michigan needs to fill in the glaring holes that were exposed in the Rose Bowl. For Michigan to earn a berth in the championship game, they will have to beat Ohio State this year.
Louisville or West Virginia?
The Big East announced itself as a legitimate championship contender last year, but only one out of Louisville or West Virginia can actually make it to the big game. The Cardinals will ride the strong arm of senior QB Brian Brohm. One thing that may hurt the Cardinals is that they will have to adjust to new head coach Steve Kragthorpe after Bobby Petrino left for the NFL. The Mountaineers have one of the best backfield duos in all of college football in QB Pat White and RB Steve Slaton. The amazing duo combined for 2,963 rushing yards and 34 rushing touchdowns last season and could be even better this year. Circle the Cardinals/Mountaineers game on November 8 on your calendar right now.
Bet on the 2007 NCAA Football season at WagerWeb Sportsbook
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