2011 College Football Preview

My predictions for the season include two polls.  The first poll is my Power Poll.  The Power Poll takes into account the odds for teams to make it to the end of the season undefeated along with their schedules (or the ease of that schedule) and the talent on those teams.  The other poll represents how I think the season will turn out, including which teams will be in BCS games and the National Championship Game.  I have also included my Conference Projections below the polls

	Power Poll			End of the Year Top 40
1	Oklahoma		1	Wisconsin	ACC
2	Alabama		2	Florida State	Big East
3	Wisconsin		3	Arkansas	Big Ten
4	Boise State		4	Boise State	Big 12
5	Florida State		5	Stanford	Pac-12
6	Arkansas		6	Oklahoma	SEC
7	Stanford		7	Alabama
8	Oregon		8	Oregon
9	LSU		9	Oklahoma State
10	Oklahoma State		10	LSU
11	Texas A&M		11	Notre Dame
12	Notre Dame		12	Texas A&M
13	Nebraska		13	West Virginia
14	West Virginia		14	Florida
15	USC		15	Northwestern
16	Southern Miss		16	BYU
17	Florida		17	Nebraska
18	North Carolina		18	Houston
19	Virginia Tech		19	Southern Miss
20	Northwestern		20	USC
21	BYU		21	Michigan
22	Texas		22	Virginia Tech
23	Houston		23	Tulsa
24	Mississippi State		24	North Carolina
25	TCU		25	TCU
26	Michigan		26	Mississippi State
27	Tulsa		27	Texas
28	Penn State		28	Michigan State
29	Michigan State		29	Georgia
30	Georgia		30	NC State
31	Ohio State		31	Penn State
32	NC State		32	Ohio State
33	South Carolina		33	South Carolina
34	Miami (OH)		34	Miami (OH)
35	Miami (FL)		35	California
36	California		36	Missouri
37	Missouri		37	Clemson
38	Clemson		38	Tennessee
39	Tennessee		39	Auburn
40	Auburn		40	Miami (FL)

	Projected Conference Winner			Projected BSC Birth
	ACC			Big 12
	Atlantic		1	Oklahoma
1	Florida State		2	Oklahoma State
2	NC State		3	Texas A&M
3	Clemson		4	Texas
4	Maryland		5	Missouri
5	Boston College		6	Texas Tech
6	Wake Forest		7	Baylor
	Coastal		8	Kansas State
1	Virginia Tech		9	Kansas
2	North Carolina		10	Iowa State
3	Miami (FL)			Pac-12
4	Georgia Tech			North
5	Virginia		1	Stanford
6	Duke		2	Oregon
	Big East		3	California
1	West Virginia		4	Washington
2	Pittsburgh		5	Washington State
3	South Florida		6	Oregon State
4	Louisville			South
5	Connecticut		1	USC
6	Rutgers		2	Arizona
7	Cincinnati		3	UCLA
8	Syracuse		4	Utah
	Big Ten		5	Arizona State
	Leaders		6	Colorado
1	Wisconsin			SEC
2	Penn State			West
3	Ohio State		1	Arkansas
4	Illinois		2	Alabama
5	Purdue		3	LSU
6	Indiana		4	Missisippi State
	Legends		5	Auburn
1	Northwestern		6	Ole Miss
2	Nebraska			East
3	Michigan		1	Florida
4	Michigan State		2	South Carolina
5	Iowa		3	Tennessee
6	Minnesota		4	Georgia
	Notre Dame		5	Kentucky
	Boise State		6	Vanderbilt

BCS National Championship Game: Wisconsin vs. Florida State

BCS National Champion: Wisconsin

Top 6 Heisman Favorites

1) Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford

2) Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama

3) E.J. Manuel, QB, Florida State

4) Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State

5) Landry Jones, QB, Oklahoma

6) LaMichael James, RB, Oregon

5 Other Contenders

1) Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin

2) Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan

3) Justin Blackmon, WR, Oklahoma State

4) Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina

5) Darron Thomas, QB, Oregon

Darkhorse Contenders

1) Montee Ball, RB, Wisconsin

2) Dan Persa, QB, Northwestern

3) Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia

When I was originally putting together my rankings, I had Arkansas at number 2 and Florida State at number 3; but when Knile Davis was lost for the season, that had to change.  The reason I have Wisconsin ranked number 1 is the running game, the defense and most importantly: Russel Wilson.  I believe Florida State will beat Oklahoma early in the season and tear through a weak ACC (the same way Wisconsin will tear through a weaker Big Ten).  I think Arkansas will lose 1 game maybe 2, but not to Alabama (who I think will lose 3, maybe 4 games this season).  With Arkansas losing at least once and an undefeated Wisconsin and Florida State, this will represent the first BCS National Championship Game without a SEC team since the 2005 Rose Bowl.  Just remember while you watch the BCS National Championship Game between Wisconsin and Florida State, you saw it hear first.