We're midway through Collegefootballnews.com's preseason rankings and I'm already excited for the season. Why not my rankings? Because I'm way too busy at the liquor barn to start breaking down stats and depth charts. I'll leave this to the pros. Here are CFN's 11-15 teams. We will continue tomorrow with 6-10.
15. USC 2009 Final CFN Ranking: 16
What now? This is uncharted territory for Lane Kiffin and the program. Having been humbled by the league for a change, USC will spend the next few months trying to pull itself back up to national contention. Continuity at quarterback will help and raw talent on both sides of the ball isn’t an issue, but the Trojans need to locate the swagger that was missing in 2009. Of all the units, the secondary will be hardest hit by graduation, losing Taylor Mays, Kevin Thomas, Josh Pinkard, and Will Harris.
14. North Carolina 2009 Final CFN Ranking: 31
Now that Butch Davis has built a foundation in Chapel Hill, he’s looking to get the Heels over the hump and into the ACC title game with a team loaded with NFL players … at least on one side of the ball. The defense should be tremendous starting with DE Robert Quinn and DT Marvin Austin, along with linebackers Bruce Carter and Quan Sturdivant. The offense will be a work-in-progress until someone can step up and solidify the quarterback play. With the top four producers back, at least the young receivers figure to be much-improved.
13. Penn State 2009 Final CFN Ranking: 15
It’s Penn State, so the team is going to be good, it’ll go to a great bowl game, and it’ll be in the hunt for the Big Ten title, but it’s more of a Big Ten X factor than a sure thing contender going into 2010. Ohio State is loaded, Iowa should be even better, and Wisconsin should be terrific. Penn State has to replace Clark and has to hope for Kevin Newsome or Matt McGloin to be good enough to keep the passing game going while RB Evan Royster gets a heavier workload. There’s work to do to replace several key players on defense like DT Jared Odrick and linebackers Sean Lee, Navorro Bowman, and Josh Hull, but there are several decent prospects on the way ready to step up. This will be a good team that no one will put at the top of the Big Ten preseason pecking order, but it could surprise and be great with a little luck.
12. Iowa 2009 Final CFN Ranking: 8
Preseason top ten … maybe? Only four starters are back on offense, but the backfield is intact and Iowa is always great at filling in the holes with no-name players who come from out of nowhere to produce. The defense returns loaded, PK Daniel Murray and P Ryan Donohue could form one of the nation’s best kicking tandems, and the schedule isn’t all that bad with just two road games in the first eight. The toughest games, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, are at home.
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 10
Oregon won a Pac-10 championship with a team that had very few senior starters, so a repeat is more than just an attainable goal; it’s expected. With Jeremiah Masoli and LaMichael James returning to the backfield and the entire offensive line intact, Chip Kelly’s offense could be even more prolific in 2010. The defense can use a complement to Kenny Rowe at defensive end and the offense is always looking for more consistency from the receivers, but otherwise, this program is poised for a third straight 10-win season.
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