2012 College Football Preseason Top 25
Yeah, LSU Looked Awful Against 'Bama. But the Tigers are Still No. 1 for 2012.
By Tim Hyland, About.com Guide
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The memory of LSU’s dreadful performance against Alabama lingers.
In that national title game, with everything on the line and everyone in the college football universe watching, the Tigers folded. They looked awful, to be perfectly honest with you.
And so now here we are, with that game still fresh in our collective college football memory, and we are supposed to believe (according to some, at least) that LSU should be taken seriously as a national title contender once again in 2012.
But are they? And if so, why? Well, find out here, in my college football Preseason Top 25 for the 2012 season.
1. LSU Tigers
(Getty Images)
Yeah, the Tigers were atrocious against ‘Bama. Yeah, they looked so completely inept that one might be left to wonder if there was more to this performance than just a proverbial bad day at the office. And yeah, it’s more than fair to ask if the memories of the defeat will haunt this bunch deep into next season. But then there’s this: Once again, Les Miles in 2012 will once again trot out one of the most talented, most athletic, most physical rosters in the nation. Some key pieces from that 2011 group are gone—quarterbacks Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson (who was particularly bad against ‘Bama) among them—but plenty others return, including the wonder that is Tyrann Mathieu. He’ll be the best player in the nation, and that’s always a good place to start.
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2. Oregon Ducks
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I considered putting the Ducks up at No. 1. I really did. You see, the way I figure, eventually Chip Kelly is going to figure out that while the fast-paced offense and the super-fast offensive stars and the lightning quick defensive backs are all well and good, you need more than just quick, and more than just fast, to win the national title. You need what LSU and Alabama have: Massive bodies up front. Oregon is inching ever closer to reigning supreme in college football. But looking at the lines, well, I just don’t think they’re there yet.
3. Alabama Crimson Tide
(Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
How can you possibly bet against Nick Saban? I mean, let’s face it: He has established himself as one of the greatest coaches the game of college football has ever seen, and if he’s proven anything during his remarkable stint at Alabama, it is that he does not need a whole lot of time to “rebuild.” Indeed, it would probably be fair to say that he doesn’t need to rebuild at all. While Saban will most certainly miss such 2011 stars as tailback Trent Richardson, you just know he’s got a wealth of talent waiting in the wings (no, I will not mention oversigning here). He always does. And beyond that, he’s the smartest guy in the room. As long as Saban stays in Tuscaloosa, the Tide are Top 5 material. Guaranteed.
4. Michigan Wolverines
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There is a window of opportunity that will remain open in the Big Ten only until Urban Meyer fully establishes himself in the Buckeye state and inevitably goes about the work of dominating the conference like no man since the great Fielding Yost. The way I see it, that window of which I speak will remain open for about … a year. Which should provide just enough time for Brady Hoke to win one Big Ten crown before seeing his hopes dashed in every season that will follow. Denard Robinson may not be the perfect quarterback, but he’s certainly one of the best five players in the country, and the Michigan defense seems to be making enormous strides under the guidance of Greg Mattison. A return to glory—albeit a brief one—is imminent in Ann Arbor.
5. Boise State Broncos
(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
I can hear your laughter and/or anguished cries of, “What on earth is he thinking?” from here. Yes, the Broncos lose everyone of note from last year’s outstanding squad, including some guy by the name of Kellen Moore, who may well be the most important player in program history. So perhaps it should be no surprise that so many are writing off the Broncos in 2012, and figuring that they won’t make their annual run at the BCS. Well, consider this: Chris Petersen is now 73-6 at Boise. He apparently turned down several top-level job offers to stay with the Broncos. Do you really think he just really likes the weather out there? Eleven wins, guaranteed.
6. USC Trojans
(Harry How/Getty Images)
Every season has a cliché to call its own, and last year’s cliché-of-the-moment was couched in the idea that, at season’s end, there was no better team in the nation than USC. Which, of course, is a completely subjective and entirely unscientific statement. But no matter, the college football talking heads ate it up, leaving us to ponder the altogether unappetizing possibility that Lane Kiffin actually does know what he’s doing. And you know what? That might actually be true. Matt Barkley will return, as will a slew of returning starters on offense, and the Trojans will challenge the Ducks for Pac-12 supremacy. With a break or two, an undefeated regular season isn’t out of the possibility. And yes, I am talking about a Lane Kiffin-coached football team here.
7. Georgia Bulldogs
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Hey, believe it or not, there actually is still something called the SEC East, and apparently, the winner of this little division still matters on the college football landscape; specifically, they get to serve as tackling dummies for the inevitably superior team that wins the SEC West. Anyway, I digress. While Florida and Georgia may pale in comparison to the power nexus over in the West, they are hardly pushovers, and Mark Richt’s bunch looks particularly promising for 2012. A guy who this time last year was supposedly on the hot seat will enter the season with the league’s best quarterback (Aaron Murray) and a great shot at the division crown.
8. Stanford Cardinal
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One of the biggest surprises of the just-concluded recruiting season was the fact that, somehow and someway, coach David Shaw delivered a class for the Cardinal that some ranked among the Top 10 in the nation. That was a incredibly promising sign for a program that many had figured would head south almost immediately after the departure of former coach Jim Harbaugh. Yes, losing quarterback Andrew Luck will be a crushing blow, but Shaw has acquitted himself nicely thus far; it’s time to consider the possibility that Stanford might actually be here to stay.
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9. Oklahoma Sooners
I said it last year and I’ll say it again: Bob Stoops has plateaued in Norman. The Sooners are a reliable Top 10 outfit these days, and that’s nothing to be ashamed about, but it seems fairly clear to me that this program isn’t what it once was in Stoops’ early 2000s heyday. Landry Jones will return next season, along with a host of other major contributors, so another 10-win season seems likely. But a national title run? Nope. Not until they fix that defense, which let them down big-time in 2011 (anybody remember that Baylor game?).
10. South Carolina Gamecocks
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Probably because Steve Spurrier hasn’t actually won anything of great importance since taking over at South Carolina (yes, a division title is nice, but after all, it’s only a division title), it’s sometimes easy to forget what a remarkable job this guy has done down in Columbia. While it may be true to say that Lou Holtz did the hard work of laying the groundwork for a South Carolina revival, credit must be given to Spurrier for taking this program to a level it has rarely achieved during its long and mostly uninspired history. The Gamecocks may never be a true SEC power under Spurrier (or anybody else, for that matter), but what they are these days is this: A tough out, one of the top two or three teams in the East, and, all of a sudden, a legitimate Top 15 program. That’s what they’ll be once again in 2012, with monster tailback Marcus Lattimore leading the way.
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