Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Southern California is No. 1 in the first AP Top 25 of 2012, tossing off the weight of NCAA sanctions and returning to a familiar place in the rankings — with a boost from LSU's problems.
USC earned the top spot in The Associated Press' preseason college football poll for the seventh time in school history and the first time in five seasons, edging out No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 LSU.
It will be interesting to see what happens this year out west. I am not 100 percent convinced that USC is going to get past Oregon. They did win last year in Eugene, but keep in mind that Oregon had a horrible first half and stormed back late to nearly take the West. That game was a tale of 3 quarters and a furious 15 minutes which turned out to be too little too late. Also, we're hearing a lot about USC's impressive recruiting and returning starters -- Barkley for sure is an ace and he will be *the* big stud on that team. But Oregon's run-n-shoot offense is probably going to be even harder to stop considering all of the beef up front they've been recruiting as of late. I think their defense will be improved - that was actually the thing that was different about the Ducks in 2011 versus the 2010 campaign. More experience should help. I still think the Ducks are the slight fave out of the PAC.
Another interesting story this year will be the Big conference, which I think will begin to show signs of returning to form, even without Penn State. I think this is the year that Ohio St, Wisconsin, Michigan St, and Michigan start getting at least a little bit of their respect back. The Big Conf. has a great chance to do that in the opener against Alabama, and while I think the Tide will eventually wear down Michigan, this could be one of those shocking openers where a motivated team like Michigan storms out of the gate with something to prove and takes advantage of a confident reigning title team. Even if Michigan gets slapped around, Wolverines fans shouldn't worry; they'll recover over the season. I think it's built for a BCS run.
It's hard to disagree that the big battle for supremacy to watch will be in the SEC. I don't think LSU's going to miss Mathieu all that much on defense, but I do think they will miss his play making ability on special teams. The defense will be good for sure, but will they be as big and physical as Alabama? That's the question. Also, don't discount the SEC East this year. Even without Florida, South Carolina and Georgia are going to be real forces to be reckoned with.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
