5. Georgia (1) The Dwags accually had a first place vote before landing in the # 5 spot. This team is loaded offensively, QB Aaron Murray, RBs Todd Gurley & Keith Marshall, WR Malcome Mitchell, & TE Arther Lynch are all very talented, skilled, & experienced as we begin the 2013 season. Any questions this team has are with a very talented but inexperienced defense. Mark Richt’s record at Georgia is 118-40 as he begins his 13th season in Athens. The problem for Coach Ritch is the schedule, the young defense is being tossed into the deep end of the pool to start the season … Clemson… at Clemson & South Carolina at home. I do not believe any team in the country will have a more challenging beginning to their season than the Dwags. If Georgia emerges from the first two weeks of the season unbeaten, they should move into the second spot in both the coaches and AP polls based on these wins!
4. Stanford: A whole bunch of people, me included, thought when Jim Harbaugh departed, the program would begin to slide. Clearly, under Davis Shaw’s learedship it has not missed a beat, in fact, it has improved. Shaw, in his first two years with the Cardinal is 23-4, 11-2 in 2011 while winning the Fiesta Bowl & last year, 12-2 with a victory in the Rose Bowl. Their schedule is favorable, while they play SC on the road, the Cardinal get Oregon, Arizona State, Washington, UCLA, California (biggest rival), & Notre Dame all at home. Stanford does not open its season until September 7th, a bye the first week of the season is interesting; Stanford plays every week in September & October and get their second bye on the first Saturday of November. They then finish out the season with four straight games in November. That month Stanford plays Oregon, at home, on 11/7/13 followed by the 11/16/13 encounter @ USC and ends their season in Stanford Stadium vs ND. Pretty rough November … Oregon, USC, & the Irish …. oh yeah, do not forget “the game” vs California!
3. Oregon: Speed, Speed, & more speed… is always what I think of when I hear the word/state Oregon mentioned; even if they are talking about a “Big Foot sighting” I think “I’ll bet that Sasquatsh is faster than a Washington or Montana Yeti” … ok … that is probably just me … but at some level, when we think of the Oregon Ducks football team, we all think speed! Chip Kelly is gone to the NFL (four seasons … four BCS appearances) and former Offensive Coordiator, Mark Helfrich, has taking control of the helm. The Ducks play an ACC team, Virginia on the road & then an SEC team, Tennessee at home, not the best compettition those conferences have to offer, but with Butch Jones taking over at Tennessee… well that game could be interesting. QB Marcus Mariota & RB D’Anthony Thomas are all about speed, but this version of UO has power, Center, Hroniss Grasu & OT Tyler Johnstone are the best at their positions in the PAC 12. The strenght of the defense is in the secondary, CBs Ifo Expre-Olomu & Terrance Mitchall… per usual, the front 7 and their ability to stop the run … is the question for this team!
2. Ohio State: I have no idea why the Bucks are rated this high … none … well, ok… let me try to come up with an explanation or two … while inexperienced, they are talented and their schedule is weak …. or … the college football moguls wants to see a Saban / Meyer match-up in the final BCS Championship! That said, let’s take a look @ OSU. QB Braxton Miller ran the ball 227 times last year for a net gain of 1273 yards … this is a huge problem. Miller needs to extend plays with his feet not escape with them puppies… in other words, he needs to move in the pocket with his eyes down the field and throw, not run, the ball up/down the field. I have a novel idea for Braxton … give the ball to Carlos and let him run the ball down the field and take them pops! Another issue with Miller is he completed only 58% of his passes last year, 148/254 in 2012 ..same percentage as Wisconsin’s Joel Stave, who is not consider an elite QB. Look it, Miller is talented, but not as skilled as people like to make him out, he can get there … but he is not there yet. On Defense, the Bucks have only one of their front seven back, WLB Ryan Shazier, the front seven is talented, but woefully inexperienced to be ranted 2nd in the country. Now to the suspensions, RB Carlos Hyde is out for the 1st three games and All American Corner back Bradley Roby is out for the first game. This high of a ranking is related to the schedule, coach, & potential … not the current roster, …… at this time of the year, it is simply to inexperienced!
1. Alabama: This is the most complete team in the country. They are one of the best offensive teams in all of college football, QB, RB, & WR (maybe the best corp of receivers in the nation) are all outstanding; while the TE and O-Line are solid. Their defense has the best line backing crew in the nation, Mosley, DePriest, Hubbart, & Dickson & Ha Ha Clinton Dix is the best FS in America. Their D-Line is talented but lacks experience with only, DE, Ed Stinson, returning for the 2013 season. By SEC standards, the schedule is a gift, they avoid Florida, South Carolina, & Georgia when taking on the SEC East! I think every one in the country is looking forward to the Sept. 14th battle, in College Station, with A&M. Of the top five teams listed by the AP, in my view, the team that has the best shot at knocking off Alabama is Georgia … & … they have to survive @ Clemson & South Carolina @ home in the first two weeks of the season and later, Nov. 2nd, Florida, at a neutral site, Jacksonville. This ranking is clearly deserved and you will have to beat Bama, (as they will not beat themselves) Saban will have them focused each and every week!
Let the Games begin!
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