LSU can wrest SEC, national title from Gators
In an unprecedented alignment of talent and good fortune, the torch was passed from Joakim Noah to Chris Leak to Corey Brewer. Will Tim Tebow be the next recipient or will Florida's domination of the major revenue sports on the NCAA calendar finally cease? That may be foremost among the many questions to be answered this fall with the advent of the college football season.
There is no guarantee the Gators will be the best team in their conference, let alone the nation, but that's a major testament to the depth of the SEC, which placed six teams among the top 25 in the final Associated Press poll of 2006 and has an equal number in the wire service's 2007 preseason ratings. In fact, Florida is not as highly regarded as LSU, ranked second despite the departure of quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who was the No. 1 draft choice in the National Football League. The best news for football fans is that the two teams are scheduled to meet in Baton Rouge to settle regional honors on Oct. 6.
The most likely successor to Florida, where sophomore Tebow assumes the reins of Urban Meyer's high-powered offense from Chris Leak, is 2004 national champion (and 2005 finalist) USC. The Trojans have an outstanding quarterback in John David Booty, a stable of skilled running backs and fresh scars from losing two Pac-10 games for the first time in five seasons. That's not likely to happen again despite the improvement of California and crosstown rival UCLA.
But if there's a genuine geographic shift away from the usual spheres of influence, it may well tilt toward the Big East, where West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers - all finished among the top 12 teams a year ago - battle for the title and perhaps two BCS bids. Not only has the trio enhanced the prestige of the conference after it appeared headed for irrelevance once Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College defected to the ACC, but the Mountaineers, Cardinals and Scarlet Knights boast four legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates among them in running backs Steve Slaton and Joakim NoahRay Rice and quarterbacks Brian Brohm and Pat White.
They also have wafer-thin non-conference schedules that assure that their showdowns in late October and November will carry significant weight in the standings and in subsequent bowl matchups. Rutgers hosts Buffalo in one of two games that kicks off the Division I season Thursday night. The other sends LSU to Mississippi State, one of the SEC's lesser lights.
It is the makeup of the Tigers' schedule that is among the reasons that favor LSU in the South. Led by fifth-year senior quarterback Matt Flynn, the team plays its most formidable opponents at home, starting with ACC favorite Virginia Tech on Sept. 8 and including SEC contenders South Carolina, Auburn and Arkansas, as well as Florida.
Texas, the 2005 BCS champion, appears to be the class of the Big 12 and Michigan, behind quarterback Chad Henne and running back Mike Hart, at long last seems in position to overthrow Ohio State in the Big Ten, although Wisconsin and Penn State are legitimate threats. The Nittany Lions will be boosted by the return from knee surgery not by a great passer or fleet runner but by head coach Joe Paterno, now 80.
JoePa, the second-winningest coach in Division I history, continues his pursuit of 77-year-old Bobby Bowden, who ordered a dramatic shakeup of his staff after Florida State endured a 7-6 season, its worst in 25 years. The biggest change involved the replacement of offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden, the coach's son, with Jimbo Fisher from LSU.
What's uncertain is whether the Seminoles have the talent and the intelligence to implement a new system in time to challenge for the ACC's Atlantic Division title after finishing fifth among six teams.
One year after Boise State bulled its way into the national picture with a perfect record and enchanted the country with a creative and entertaining victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, the likelihood of a school outside the six power conferences being awarded a BCS berth remains a long shot. The most obvious qualifier is another team from the Western Athletic Conference. Hawaii returns quarterback Colt Brennan, who set an NCAA record with 58 touchdown passes and led Division I in passing efficiency last season, as well as his top three receivers. But the Warriors will have to go unbeaten, including a victory over Boise State on Nov. 23 in Honolulu, to earn the opportunity.
In what was a decided gain for all college football, and particularly to trailing teams, an NCAA oversight panel tossed out the 2006 rules designed to shorten games and returned to the common sense practice of stopping the clock on changes of possession and not starting the clock on kickoffs until the receiving team touches the ball. Dramatic endings will be back in vogue, a benefit in which the entire sport can share.
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