My picks for the BCS Conferences

We'll take a stab at them right now, the non-BCS Conferenes and Bowl Projections will follow.

Pac 10

1. Oregon 7-1
2. USC 7-1
3. Arizona St. 5-3
4. Oregon St. 4-4
5. Cal 4-4
6. Washington St. 4-4
7. Arizona 3-5
8. UCLA 3-5
9. Stanford 2-6
10. Washington 1-7

SEC East

Tennessee 7-1
Georgia 6-2
Florida 5-3.
South Carolina 3-5
Vandy 1-7
Kentucky 1-7

SEC West

Alabama 7-1
LSU 7-1
Auburn 5-3
Arkansas 5-3
Miss St. 1-7
Ole Miss 0-8

SEC Championship: Tennessee over Alabama

ACC Atlantic

BC 6-2
Forida St. 5-3
Clemson 5-3
NC St 3-5
Wake 2-6
Maryland 2-6

ACC Coastal

Miami 8-0
VT 6-2
GT 5-3
Virginia 5-3
UNC 1-7
Duke 0-8

ACC Championship: Miami over Boston College

Big XII North
1. Colorado 5-3
2. Nebraska 5-3
3. Kansas St. 4-4
4. Missouri 3-5
5. Iowa St. 2-6
6. Kansas 2-6

Big XII South
1. Texas 8-0
2. Texas A & M 7-1
3. Oklahoma 6-2
4. Texas Tech 3-5
5. Oklahoma St. 2-6
6. Baylor 1-7

Big XII Championship: Texas over Colorado

Big Ten

1. Ohio St. 8-0
2. Purdue 7-1
3. Iowa 6-2
4. Michigan 6-2
5. Michigan St. 5-3
6. Penn St. 4-4
7. Wisconsin 3-5
8. Illinois 2-6
9. Minnesota 2-6
10. Indiana 1-7
11. Northwestern 0-8


Big East--coming

Ranking the Defenses: Who to fear

I'm always a little puzzled when I get my Lindy's, Athlon and TSN previews and they all decide to rank the defensive and offensive units by position. While its interesting to know that Iowa has some of the nation's best linebackers coming back, that isn't real practical information unless their green defensive line adapts quickly.

So, in the spirit of establishing a more practical read of each team's strengths without simply listing last year's defensive team leaders, I've broken my list for 2005 down into the 10 teams you don't want to have to run against and the 10 teams you don't want to have to pass against.

The 10 teams you don't want to have to pass against:

1. Ohio St. : Virtually the entire 2004 defense, which one of the 5 best against the pass in the nation, is back, including its stars: LB A.J. Hawk and CB Ashton Youbody. If this team can generate any kind of consistent pressure from the front four, you might want to give up on throwing.

2. Alabama: Arguably the staunchest unit against the pass last year, the Tide only

3. USC

4. Georgia Tech

5. Miami: While there were occasionally problems last year (see the Thursday night Louisvilee game), its hard to argue with a defense that brings back 11 starters, especially when their overall numbers last year against the pass weren't too shabby. Hester, Merriweather, Reddick and Jenkins form a ridiculous starting defensive backfield.

6. LSU

7. Boston College: These guys could be scary impossible to pass on next year, with a potential top-5 NFL pick Mathias Kiwanuka at DE, a more mature LB Brian Toal coming off a solid true freshman year and, at times, do-everything WR/CB/KR Will Blackmon in the secondary. BC might actually improve on its #9 national ranking in interceptions forced in 2005.

8. Penn St.

9. NC State: The only team in the nation that gave up less than 5 yards per pass attempt last year loses Andre Maddox and the rest of a great defensive backfield, but but an ultra-experienced front four will keep the pressure off of the newcomers.

10. Fresno St.: Although the defense loses the heart of its front four, Garret McIntyre is a force as a tweener, with 7 sacks last year, and the secondary that pulled down 16 INTs last year is almost completely intact.

Just Missed: Oregon St., Iowa, Clemson, West Virginia, La-Lafayette


The 10 teams you don't want to have to run against:

1. USC: Last year--79.4 ypg on the ground, 2.62 yards per carry. That'll be hard to best,

2. Purdue

3. NC State: You could argue that this is the best run-stopping front four in the nation, as ends Mario Williams and Manny Lawson were all over ACC backfields last year and DTs Tank Tyler and and John McCargo have the job of freeing those two up to improve on their gaudy TFL numbers from last year.

4. Texas

5. Florida St.

6. Iowa

7. LSU

8. Penn St.

9. Arizona

10. Georgia Tech

Just Missed: Cal, Kent St., TCU, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia


Coming Next: The best offensive passing and rushing units.