Big 12
Oklahoma State (12-0) 18.771
Oklahoma (11-1) 17.408
Missouri (10-2) 13.285
Texas (9-3) 11.947
Texas Tech (8-4) 10.921
Baylor (5-7) 7.966
Texas A&M (6-6/5-7) 6.64
Kansas State (7-5/6-6) 5.299
Iowa State (2-10) 2.014 
Kansas (1-11) -1.7

*Games against FCS teams were not projected. However, teams were given a win for FCS games to show a better depiction of the projected season record, but this does not help in accuracy since FCS teams do win some games.
*Bowl games are not projected.

Oklahoma State is projected to have an undefeated season, but their games against Oklahoma and Missouri are projected to be very close. Texas A&M at Kansas State is too close to call and that is why there are two projections for both teams. Texas A&M is possibly the most overrated team in college football numerically speaking. Their rankings in the preseason polls must be mostly due to the "eye test" and speculation.


 
 
Nothing to surprising about my picks, but I may change some before the season starts.These are my BCS conference champion predictions:
ACC: Florida State
Contenders: Florida State is almost everyone's preseason favorite for ACC champion, but Virginia Tech is the frontrunner to win the Coastal division and the conference overall this year should be solid.
Big East: West Virginia
Contenders: Pitt may be the next contender, but overall the conference looks bland coming into this season and West Virginia seems to be the only strong team in the conference.
Big 12: Oklahoma
Contenders: The Sooners are the clear favorite, but the Big 12 does have other contenders for the 2011 championship including Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and longshot Missouri.
Big 10: Wisconsin
Contenders: It looks as though Ohio State should finally have a down year so that leaves the field wide open. Nebraska may be the next favorite to win championship after Wisconsin and they should win the Legends division, but plenty others have a chance including Michigan State and Michigan.
Pac 12: Oregon
Contenders: With Andrew Luck returning, it makes Stanford a contender, but it will be difficult for them to duplicate last season with all of their other key losses. If USC was not under a ban, then they could possibly win the championship. The Trojans may end up with one of the better records in the Pac 12. Oregon has a wealth of talent and should win another championship this year, but off the field issues are now looming over the program that may have an effect.
SEC: Arkansas/ Alabama
Contenders: I listed two champions for this conference since I am somewhat bias on this selection since I'm a known Hog fan. I do believe the Razorbacks can win the SEC this season, but Alabama is the clear favorite among most others. However, the SEC is stacked with competition with the West having other stout contenders in LSU and Mississippi State as well as in the East division there are contenders in South Carolina, Georgia, and maybe Florida under new coach Will Muschamp.


 
 
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On this blog, I have provided a variety of information to give a free preseason guide for college football fans. I have included the projected AP top 10, composite rankings from preseason magazines, the CFU top 50, a YouTube video, and many useful links.

These are my projected top 10 teams for the AP Top 25 that will be released in August. These are not my top 10 teams. My top 10 is on this blog post under the CFU Top 50.

Projected AP Top 10
1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. LSU
5. Boise State
6. Stanford
7. Florida State
8. Oklahoma State
9. Texas A&M
10. South Carolina
Just Outside: Nebraska.

Oklahoma and Alabama should be ranked at 1 and 2 respectively when the AP poll is released. Oregon and LSU will be in close competition for the 3 and 4 spots. I think LSU will get more #1 votes than the Ducks and there are more voters from the south than the west coast, but Oregon has had plenty of publicity and do warrant a high ranking in the eyes of many voters. Boise State should be in the top 10, but it is hard to say where they will fall in the rankings due to bias by certain voters that continuously underrate them. Stanford should be another definite top 10 team in which will most likely fall somewhere in the 5 to 8 preseason rank. Florida State will also be in the same range as the Cardinal. Oklahoma State and Texas A&M should be somewhere in the latter half of the top 10. The last team in is a close call; I think South Carolina will be in the AP top 10, but Nebraska does have a chance.

I also bought some college football preseason magazines over the past weekend and below are the composite rankings of the top 10 from the four I read including Athlon Sports, Sporting News, Phil Steele's top 40, and Lindy’s Sports. Athlon and Phil Steele both have Alabama ranked number one. Sporting News has LSU in the top slot and Lindy's has Oklahoma for their one. LSU seems to be the most bogus of the teams being hyped as a preseason number one. I agree that LSU may deserve anywhere from a top 5 to top 10 ranking, but there is not enough to warrant a ranking over Oklahoma, Alabama, or even Oregon. It looks like Sporting News filled up on too much gumbo.

All teams that were ranked in the top 10 by each preseason magazine are included in the rankings. Each team received points for their ranking (10 pts for #1, 9 pts for #2, and so on).

Top 10 Composite Rankings from Preseason Magazines
1. Alabama (2) 37
2. Oklahoma (1) 37
3. Oregon 29
4. LSU (1) 24
5. Boise State 24
6. Florida State 18
7. Stanford 10
8. Virginia Tech 10
9. Notre Dame 10
10. Texas A&M 5
11. Ohio State 5
12. Oklahoma State 4
13. Nebraska 4
14. Georgia 2
15. Arkansas 1

The preseason CFU Top 50 teams are listed below. The rankings are based on merit of previous accomplishments with an emphasis on the previous season combined with the amount/quality of returning starters, coaching, and the incoming recruiting class. The CFU Top 50 is not a prediction of other polls or of the season's final rankings. Otherwise, I attempt to determine rank with some sort of fairness rather than preordain rank. However, there is no exact science to these rankings. I am in the process of developing a formula based ranking that I will release later.

CFU Top 50
1. Oklahoma
2. Oregon
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. Oklahoma State
6. Stanford
7. Florida State
8. Arkansas
9. LSU
10. South Carolina
11. TCU
12. Nebraska
13. Wisconsin
14. Texas A&M
15.  Miss State
16.  Michigan State
17. Notre Dame
18. Auburn
19. Missouri
20. Virginia Tech
21. Florida
22. USC
23. West Virginia
24. Ohio State
25. Georgia
26. Texas
27. Penn State
28. Northwestern
29. Michigan
30. BYU
31. Utah
32. Maryland
33. NC State
34. Pitt
35. Miami FL
36. Clemson
37. Tulsa
38. North Carolina
39. Arizona State
40. Illinois
41. Baylor
42. San Diego State
43. Air Force
44. Texas Tech
45. Tennessee
46. UCF
47. Navy
48. South Florida
49. Arizona
50. Washington

Just outside the top 50: Nevada, Boston College, Miami-OH, Hawaii, Houston, Oregon State, Fresno State, Northern Illinois, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Cal, Cincinnati, Troy, FIU

Since I last posted the CFU top 25, some of the rankings have changed. Ohio State is now ranked at 24 due to the loss of their coach and quarterback combined with the instability now in the program. Nevada was close to being a top 50 team based on merit of last season’s accomplishments, but the loss of talent at skill positions especially Colin Kaepernick leaves to question if they can continue the level of success from last season. Many preseason rankings have them somewhere around a top 75 to 90 team, but I believe they deserve a higher rank due to the recent progress of their football program.  

Here are links for more information:

Other early preseason Top 25 rankings:
Early preseason rankings by NationalChamps.net:
http://nationalchamps.net/2011/earlybird/index.htm
Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25:
http://www.athlonsports.com/college-football/top-25
ESPN College Football Live early Top 25 Poll:
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/19472/one-big-east-team-in-early-top-25

Information provided by Phil Steele:
Preseason All American team:
http://blog.philsteele.com/2011/06/01/2011-preseason-all-american-team/
Preseason All Big Ten and All SEC teams:
http://www.philsteele.com/Blogs/2011/May11/DBMay28.html
Returning starters (some inaccuracy since this blog is from Jan 26th):
http://blog.philsteele.com/2011/01/26/2011-returning-starters/

Stats, standings, and other rankings:
College Football 2010 Season Standings on ESPN.com:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/standings
Last season's rankings according to TeamRankings.com:
http://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/ranking/overall-power-ranking-by-team
CFU Rankings Page:
http://www.collegefootballuniverse.com/Rankings.html
CFU Stats Page:
http://www.collegefootballuniverse.com/Stats.html

2011 Recruiting Class Rankings and Info:
ESPN Class Rankings:
http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/recruiting/classrankings
Rivals.com 2011 Team Class Rankings:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/teamrank/2011/all/all;_ylt=ApSDmI41k6vqg9LevvPW9E5GPZB4
Scout.com 2011 Team Rankings:
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=14&yr=2011

Coaching Changes:
"10 Head Coaches Poised for Instant Success at New Schools" on BleacherReport.com:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/694589-college-football-2011-10-head-coaches-poised-for-instant-success-at-new-schools#/articles/694589-college-football-2011-10-head-coaches-poised-for-instant-success-at-new-schools

Other Posts from JB's Blog with Preseason Info:
Dirty South of College Football (analysis of SEC west):
http://collegefootballuniverse.weebly.com/1/post/2011/05/the-dirty-south-of-college-football.html
College Football Universe Top 10 (note rankings have changed):
http://collegefootballuniverse.weebly.com/1/post/2011/05/college-football-universe-top-10.html
Dynamic Dozen Early Heisman Watch:
http://collegefootballuniverse.weebly.com/1/post/2011/05/dynamic-dozen-early-heisman-watch.html


2011 College Football Bowl Season Top 10 Highlights on YouTube:
 
 
·         Andrew Luck Junior QB Stanford 70.7 Comp%, 32 TDs, 170.2 Passer Rating

·         Kellen Moore Senior QB Boise State 71.3 Comp%, 35 TDs, 182.6 Passer Rating 

·         LaMichael James
Junior RB Oregon 1731 Rush Yds, 5.9 Avg Rush, 24 Total TDs

·         Justin Blackmon
Junior WR Oklahoma State 1782 Receiving Yds, 16.1 Avg Rec, 21 Total TDs

·         Denard Robinson Junior QB Michigan 4272 Total YDs, 6.6 Avg Rush, 32 Total TDs

·         Landry Jones Junior QB Oklahoma 4718 Pass Yds, 38 TDs

·         Brandon Weeden
Senior QB Oklahoma State 4277 Pass Yds, 35 TDs

·         Knile Davis Junior HB Arkansas 1322 Rush Yds, 6.5 Avg Rush, 13 Rush TDs

·         Trent Richardson Junior HB Alabama, 6.3 Avg Rush, 10 Total TDs

·         Ryan Broyles Senior WR Oklahoma 1622 Receiving Yds, 14 TDs

·         Marcus Lattimore Sophomore HB South Carolina 1609 Total Yds, 19 Total TDs

·         Alshon Jeffery Junior WR South Carolina 1517 Receiving Yds, 17.2 Avg Rec, 9 TDs

*Stat totals are from last season.
These are my Dynamic Dozen Heisman frontrunners coming into the 2011 season. However, many of times the Heisman winner ends up being someone that was not on preseseason watch lists.
Here are links to other watch lists and Heisman info:
Heisman Pundit
http://heismanpundit.com/2011/02/22/the-2011-heismanpundit-com-heisman-trophy-watch-list/
Bleacher Report
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/700999-michigan-football-win-over-irish-would-vault-denard-robinson-into-heisman-lead
ESPN Pac-12 Blog
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/20134/is-the-2011-heisman-trophy-a-pac-12-race
These lists cover most of the preseason candidates except some longshots like Chris Relf and Edwin Baker which may have just as good of a chance looking at recent history. Bleacher Report has Terrell Pryor on their list, but I doubt he will have a chance since he has to sit out five games. Andrew Luck will be at the top of almost everyone's Heisman watch going into week one. It will be his trophy to lose. Here is a YouTube video of his college highlights so far.



 
 
1. Oklahoma
2. Oregon
3. Alabama
4. Boise State
5. Stanford
6. Oklahoma State
7. Florida State
8. Arkansas
9. LSU
10. South Carolina
11. TCU
12. Ohio State
13. Wisconsin
14. Nebraska
15. Texas A&M
16. Mississippi State
17. Michigan State
18. Auburn
19. Notre Dame
20. Missouri
21. Florida
22. Virginia Tech
23. USC
24. West Virginia
25. Georgia

The rankings are based on overall merit encompassing a variety of factors. The CFU Top 25 is not a prediction of other polls or of the season's final rankings. I will be posting the top 50 soon with further analysis and all rankings are still subject to change.
I also posted these rankings on a blog at http://www.hogblog.org/.
 
 
1. Oklahoma
After last season's Big 12 championship and Fiesta Bowl win, the Sooners are returning a veteran class with a stellar offense and an all around solid team.

2. Oregon
The Ducks bring back some key impact players like Darron Thomas and LaMichael James from a squad that lost the National Championship game by only 3 points.

3. Alabama
The Tide rolls into another season with an elite defense returning most of the players from last season's top five defensive squad while bringing in a top rated recruiting class. 

4. Boise State
The boys in blue down in Boise consistently win each season under Coach Petersen plus they are bringing back a Heisman finalist in Kellen Moore. 

5. Stanford
The Cardinal faithful have the most feared ball slinger in college football in Andrew Luck which is the clear preseason Heisman favorite.

6. Oklahoma State
The Cowboys have a high scoring shoot em out kind of offense that will continue to give teams trouble with ten starters returning from a top five offense last season.

7. Florida State
The Seminoles return 16 starters on offense/defense from a team that won the Chick fil A Bowl against South Carolina and brought in a top notch recruiting class for this season.

8. Arkansas
The Hogs have an elite squad of wide receivers that is the deepest in the nation and returns enough playmakers on both sides of the ball to make a run at the BCS.

9. LSU
The mad hatter consistently squeaks out big wins each year due to his solid defensive squads and deranged play calling. They are an experienced team that could be a BCS contender. 

10. South Carolina
QB Stephen Garcia is questionable for the Gamecocks. But standout HB Marcus Lattimore will be back this season and Spurrier reeled in the number one rated recruit.

Just outside the Top 10: TCU, Wisconsin, and Ohio State.


I will be posting the rest of the top 25 soon. See how CFU rankings compare so far to the ESPN College Football Live Top 25: http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/18792/oklahoma-tops-cfb-live-preseason-poll
I also copied this blog post to www.HogBlog.org.