Over the next 30 “business days”, I will be counting down my top 30 for the 2009 College Football season. After hours of studying game film, breaking it down matchup by matchup, and predicting upsets, I’ve come up with the teams I believe will be the 30 best in the country by season’s end. Will your team be included? (Hint: If you prefer Tennessee, No.) Hook ‘em…

30. Iowa Hawkeyes
29. Oregon State Beavers
28. Southern Miss Golden Eagles
27. Nebraska Cornhuskers
26. Kansas Jayhawks
25. North Carolina Tarheels
24. USF Bulls
23. Michigan State Spartans
22. UCLA Bruins
21. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
20. FSU Seminoles
19. TCU Horned Frogs
18. Illinois Fightin’ Illini
17. BYU Cougars
16. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
15. Oklahoma State Cowboys
14. Georgia Bulldogs
13. LSU Tigers
12. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
11. Ole Miss Rebels
10. Cal Golden Bears
9. Virginia Tech Hokies
8. Boise State Broncos
7. Ohio State Buckeyes
6. Alabama Crimson Tide
5. Penn State Nittany Lions
4. USC Trojans
3. Oklahoma Sooners

The Story: Texas is coming into 2009 with a real chip on their shoulder. After beating Oklahoma by ten at a neutral Dallas location, they sat back and watched as the Sooners moved ahead of them in the BCS ratings and eventually into a Championship Game spot. Mack Brown took it in stride and led his disappointed Longhorns to a late victory over a pretty good Ohio State squad. Texas returns 16 starters from last year, and a favorite to be one of the two teams that get their shot at the National Championship.

The Glaring Stat: 76%. The Longhorns red zone touchdown percentage.

The Outlook:Colt McCoy is probably the best passer in the country, maybe the best ever as far as college football is concerned. Why would one say that? He completed an insane 78% of his passes last fall! With 9 fellers returning on offense, including most of his top targets (minus Quan Cosby), this Texas offense will challenge Oklahoma as the best in the nation.

Ya, Crosby is gone, but McCoy’s best friend and roommate, Jordan Shipley, received a sixth year  of eligibility from the NCAA this past spring. Using his deceptive speed Shipley was a nice target no matter where he was on the field. The question is, who will step up and be the second option on this team? DeSean Hales can operate as that receiver/back hybrid that Jeremy Maclin and Percy Harvin have made so popular the last few years. Former quarterback John Chiles could really see so snaps at receiver, a gifted athlete might need some time to get used to the position, but could end up being a gem. Finally, James Kirkendoll is the guy everyone expects to blow up this year. Listed as number two on the depth chart, coaches believe his hands are the best on the team.

At first thought you’d believe that this Texas team would have three or four guys who could step in and rush for 1000 yards, right? Their leading rusher last year? Colt McCoy…not leading RETURNING…but leading. Vondrell McGee will be the number one back going into the fall, as he was the number one ending the year. Hard to complain about their productivity, I mean all the team did was go 12-1 last year with no true running backs going for more than 400 in a season. Still you fear that one bad passing game will need a running back to carry this offense, having someone to trust would be welcomed. Returning four starters on an offensive line that every deemed questionable last fall will only help. Adam Ulatoski will likely be an All-American at tackle, and center Chris Hall might be one of the more underrated players in the country.

Even more shocking than the rushing attack has to be the performance of the secondary. They finished the year ranked 104th in the country. Sure playing in the pass happy Big 12 might have skewed the numbers, but this team only pulled in six interceptions, not much wiggle room there. To be fair they were replacing three of the four starters from ‘07 and with two freshman including Earl Thomas. Thomas is undersized at safety, but really packs a punch, leading to an insane 17 pass breakups and two interceptions. With a year under their belt, I expect this green unit to really grow this fall.

Questions fill the defensive line as they’re replacing three starters from last year’s sack happy, run stoppin’ group. Replacements Alex Okafor, Ben Alexander, and Eddie Jones were all top ten recruits at their respective positions, things might start slow, but this group has the talent to be a solid core. Sergio Kindle is primarily a linebacker, but saw some serious snaps at defensive end late in the year. The guy is great no matter where you throw him. While he’s probably going to be a linebacker at the next level, the Longhorns will probably use his talents on the line again, as they’re pretty loaded in the linebacking corp. 

The Schedule:
9-5-09 LOUISIANA-MONROE
9-12-09 at Wyoming
9-19-09 TEXAS TECH
9-26-09 UTEP
10-10-09 COLORADO
10-17-09 Oklahoma @Dallas, TX
10-24-09 at Missouri
10-31-09 at Oklahoma State
11-7-09 UCF
11-14-09 at Baylor
11-21-09 KANSAS
11-26-09 at Texas A&M (Thur.)

Prediction: 12-0.
These guys will run the schedule and be Florida’s opponent is Pasadena…of course we all remember the LAST game they played in Pasadena…against an “unbeatable” defending champ…

GatorTrey is a contributor to SpartyandFriends.com. He can be reached at GatorTrey (at) spartyandfriends.com as well as on twitter @jflynn05.

Popularity: 2% [?]