Baudoin's Blog

After spending the last two weeks picking apart the LSU football roster and schedule, it is now time to widen the scope to all of college football.

I am going to throw out who I believe the ten most talented teams in college football will be this year. This list of teams does not in any way reflect how I think the top ten should be listed to start the season, or how I think the top ten will end up in January.

This is simply who I think are the ten best teams in college football. Scheduling and injuries, among other things, play a part on how the rankings end up in January. I’ll look a little deeper into that next week when I throw out my BCS bowl predictions.

Without further ado, here are the ten most talented teams in college football.

10. Wisconsin

This team is constantly on the edge of being great. They return 17 starters from last season, including running back P.J Hill. This team never seems to make a whole lot of noise, but they are always solid.

9. Clemson

Clemson returns 16 starters from a very talented team. They are also adding a very great recruiting class. This team could surprise a lot of people this season.

8. Auburn

Much like Wisconsin, Auburn is always on the verge of breaking through but never can. They will certainly be talented though. It should be interesting to see how the new spread offensive of coordinator Tony Franklin works in Auburn.

7. Oklahoma

Bradford returns to lead a talented offense, but the defense will be young. Like always, Oklahoma is one of the nation’s best teams.

6. Missouri

Missouri is not going to jump up and surprise anybody this season. With the return of quarterback Chase Daniel and wide out Jeremy Maclin, this offense is easily one of the best in the nation. The defense returns a lot of starters and should also be improved. Missouri is a really talented team, and should be in the spotlight all year long.

5. Ohio State

Ohio State certainly has had enough talent to make it to the BCS National Championship Game the last few years. They just haven’t been able to get over the hump and actually win one. With 9 offensive and 9 defensive starters returning, this team will once again be very good.

4. LSU

A lot of people may call me crazy for putting LSU this high, but I believe that this team is just as talented as last year. The offensive and defensive lines are both among the nation’s best. Add to that tons of talent at the skill positions and you have yourself a great football team. All of the focus has been on the quarterback position, but I don’t think it will make a very big difference.

3. Georgia

Georgia is the popular preseason pick, with 17 returning starters off of a team that ended the 2007-2008 season very hot. Matthew Stafford will return to lead the offense, and they defense should be great as well. I’m not buying into all the hype about this team just yet though.

2. USC

When one speaks of talented football teams, this team always has to be mentioned at the top. Only four starters will return for USC on offense, but replacing starters never seems to be a problem in Southern California. Mark Sanchez will probably step in at quarterback and do a great job. The defense at USC should be much better, making them the scary team that they usually are.

1. Florida

Not many experts seem to be very high on Florida, but I can’t understand why. They return 16 starters from a very talented football team last year. In my opinion, the Florida offense will be unstoppable this year. Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin make up possibly the best combination in the country. If Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody can give Florida a solid ground attack, all the Florida defense should have to do is hold teams to under 30 points in order to win football games. By the way, the defense is pretty good too. As far as talent goes, this is the best team there is in my eyes.

Now, if you remember correctly I had Florida losing in the SEC Championship game whenever I predicted the LSU schedule last week. That means that my number one team on this list is not one of the teams that I believe will play for a national title. However, I’ll leave that discussion for next week.

If anyone has any questions, comments, or suggestions please feel free to e-mail me at tmbaudoin@gmail.com. You can also visit the Meridional web site at www.abbevillenow.com.