College Football Teams

The 2008 college football season may be six months away but analysts are breaking down the best college football teams for the upcoming season.  The following conferences have great teams that will be in the Top Ten of the BCS by the end of the 2008 season.


Top College Football Teams in Southeastern Conference

The Southeastern Conference features plenty of contenders for the BCS Championship in 2008 (http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfootball).  There are three college football teams from this prestigious conference that can be counted amongst the best in the upcoming season.  Fans throughout the United States can learn about the strengths of these teams instead of selecting winners based on team logos and mascots.

The University of Florida Gators will land at number two in the BCS rankings by the end of the 2008 season.  The Gators return sensational quarterback Tim Tebow after a Heisman Trophy-winning season.  Tebow has a young receiving corps along with transfer running back Emmanuel Moody to give Florida a true running threat.

The Gamecocks from South Carolina along with the Georgia Bulldogs will round out the Top Ten contenders for the conference.  Both schools are popular in terms of team products sold but their football teams possess the talent to challenge for the national championship.  The Gamecocks will ride to the number eight position in the BCS ratings on the back of quarterback Chris Smelley and veteran coach Steve Spurrier.  The Bulldogs return 17 starters on offense and defense for a team that surged at the end of the 2007 season.


PAC-10 Conference and Top 10 College Football Teams

The perennial all-star teams put on the field by USC head coach Pete Carroll have brought greater attention to the PAC-10 Conference (http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/pac10-m-footbl-body.html).  Carroll’s efforts for the 2008 season will give the school another national championship as the top team in the BCS standings.  The Trojans won their final four games including a Rose Bowl victory over Michigan to provide momentum for the upcoming season.  Budding star Joe McKnight and young quarterback Mark Sanchez will provide a tremendous amount of scoring to make up for a young defense.


The Big 12 Conference Elite College Football Teams

The two entrants into the Top Ten of the BCS in 2008 will be the Universities of Oklahoma and Missouri.  The Sooners and Tigers have iconic logos that make for great team products but their potential extends beyond sales at team gift shops.  Oklahoma will settle in at number five in the BCS rankings while Missouri will be edged out of the national championship game in the number three spot.

The efficiency of Sam Bradford in 2007 will help a young Sooners team keep its traditional place at the top of college football.  Bradford may not be able to improve upon his 36 touchdown and 8 interceptions last season but his headiness in the face of defensive pressure will help the Sooners overcome deficiencies at other positions.  Missouri’s lethal combination of quarterback Chase Daniel and receiver Jeremy Maclin will give the Tigers enough firepower to defeat competition within the Big 12 Conference (http://www.big12sports.com/sports/m-footbl/big12-m-footbl-body.html).


Big Ten Conference Teams in the Top Ten

The Wisconsin Badgers have one of the most recognizable team logos in the United States.  The Big Ten Conference has three teams that have been regulars in the top 25 over the last decade with the Badgers, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Michigan Wolverines performing well.  The Buckeyes and Wolverines will suffer as the Badgers make a serious push for the BCS championship.

The Badgers will win the Big Ten (http://bigten.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/big10-m-footbl-body.html) and end up number seven in the 2008 BCS rankings.  The team has experienced backup Allan Evridge ready to take over the program from exiting Tyler Donovan.  Evridge will have the benefit of three solid running backs including star P.J. Hill.  The X factor is the defense as several key players like cornerback Jack Ikegwounu have left the program.


Elite Football Teams from the Big East

The final team in the 2008 BCS Top Ten standings will be the West Virginia Mountaineers.  West Virginia has undergone a major change this offseason with the exit of Coach Rich Rodriguez for the head coaching position at University of Michigan.  The Mountaineers may fall off a bit this season without the architect of the current program but quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton were nearly unstoppable for much of 2007.  White and Slaton will give the Mountaineers a good chance at the BCS championship though other teams have greater depth to make late-season pushes.


Atlantic Coast Conference and the Top Ten

The rising popularity of the Clemson Tigers due to team product sales and TV exposure is comparable to the team’s growth into a national contender.  The Tigers have a tough schedule as well as the challenge of overcoming Clemson’s historic ineptitude in late-season games.  Bowden’s star players including Cullen Harper and running back C.J. Spiller will help fuel the Tigers on their way to the number four position in the country.

Mountain West Conference and the Top Ten

One of the college football teams that will shock the world in 2008 is the Brigham Young University Cougars.  BYU has a long tradition of great quarterbacks including John Beck, Jim McMahon, and Ty Detmer.  The Cougars have faced problems in cracking the Top Ten due to the relative weakness of the Mountain West Conference (http://themwc.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mwc-m-footbl-body.html) in college football.  The Cougars’ dominance of their conference along with a few key wins in the West will help BYU ascend into the BCS Top Ten.

The Cougars will get critical wins against legacy schools like Washington and UCLA before sweeping through their conference.  Quarterback Max Hall and his offensive counterparts need to win every game in order to have a chance at an at-large BCS bid.  A perfect season is possible as long as Hall remains efficient and another MWC team does not rise to knock down the Cougars.