Around the college football world in 30 minutes

Before we begin, I'd like to dedicate this column to Franz Ferdinand who's quickly climbing the ladder of my favorite artists of all time, a very exclusive club currently reserved for only a scant, few other bands including Oasis, Modest Mouse and The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Another brief note before we jump too far into our topic de jour, I am the newest news and sports correspondent for WPKO/WBLL out of Bellefontaine, Ohio. This job marks the closest thing to a tangible career I have ever had and I wouldn't have had the nerve to pursue such an opportunity were it not for my incredible inner-circle of friends/family who have supported me the entire time.

Those people include, but are nowhere near limited to: Zach, Ian, Yutz, Alan, Marcus, Adam and, of course, my beautiful bride-to-be, Kate.

Now, on to the piece...

The USA Today Top 25 Preseason Coach's Poll has been released and Florida is the top-ranked team in the country. Why not? The Gators return many of their starters from a season ago, including Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow.

Texas comes in at number two and Oklahoma three--for similar reasons as Florida.

Of course, The 'Horns and Sooners had virtually identical seasons a year ago and enter this campaign with many of those similarities.

The poll might as well read:
2a. Texas, 2b. Oklahoma

USC is four, Alabama five and our beloved Ohio State Buckeyes are the sixth-ranked team in the nation.

The thing about preseason polls, though, is that they are completely and utterly irrelevant.

Head coaches from every BCS conference might as well get together on a Friday night in July, throw back more Captain Morgan than anyone should and draw names from a hat. The impact on the regular season would be the same.

Don't believe me?

Four of the top-10 teams from last season's preseason poll were not in the final top-10 rankings and two of those four teams (LSU and Clemson) were not ranked at all by season's end.

By contrast, Utah and TCU were not in the preason top-25 at all and were both top-10 teams by the end of the year.

These were just top-10 patterns, too. The rankings top to bottom were completely ridiculous. Michigan was ranked 24 in last year's poll and finished unranked as did Auburn, Kansas and Wisconsin--all top-15 schools entering last season.

In the spirit of those unpredictable trends, I submit to you a couple of my own predictions as we prepare to embark on another riveting college football season sans any kind of discernible method to crown an overall champion.

Nebraska will play in the Big 12 Championship Game: The Cornhuskers enter this season ranked 22nd in the nation, it's the team's highest preseason ranking since 2007 when they were ranked 19 entering the year. Of course, the team stumbled its way through '07 and finished unranked. Head Coach Bill Callahan was fired at the end of the season and the Bo Pelini era began. The team enjoyed a degree of success last season and earned a spot in the Gator Bowl.

It is the not-so-humble opinion of this aspiring sports columnist that Nebraska will be much better this season, despite its freshman-laden roster which includes well over 100 under-classmen and only 16 seniors.

The biggest reason for this claim is the team's schedule. Other than a home game against Oklahoma, the 'Huskers only other real test is a road game in Lubbock against the Mike Leach led Texas Tech Red Raiders, or, as I like to call him, That Guy That Looks A Lot Like Vince Gill

Beyond that, coin-flip games like Missouri, Kansas and Iowa State, games the Cornhuskers have lost in recent memory, should fall in favor of Nebraska this year; 10 wins is not, at all, an unreasonable win total this season.

Jevan Snead will be a household name by season's end: When SEC coaches voted for their preseason Offensive Player of the Year Tim Tebow received all but one of the votes; Steve Spurrier voted for Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead. I suppose it's possible that Spurrier voted that way in some passive aggressive attempt to stick it to Florida, his former employer, but regardless of his rationale it's not an altogether ridiculous thought.

Florida lost only one game a season ago, a heart-wrenching one-point defeat at home to none other than the Snead-led Rebels. The game was an SEC classic in which Snead willed his team to victory with a gritty performance that saw him throw for 185 yards, two touchdowns and rush for another.

Ole Miss closed out last season with six consecutive victories including a comeback win over Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl and is ranked 10th in the aforementioned completely meaningless preseason top-25 poll.

USC will lose at least two games this season: I am keenly aware of the fact that "USC" and "rebuilding" are not two terms that have often collided in the same sentence for the better part of the last decade. However, this season may be the closest thing Trojan Nation has seen to a rebuilding year since I was in junior high.

The team lost eight starters from last year's punishing defense and serious questions at the quarterback position loom as the season begins. Junior quarterback Aaron Corp will enter the season as the Trojans starter, however, freshman Matt Barkley is the unquestioned Carson Palmer/Matt Leinhart/Mark Sanchez in waiting and if Corp struggles this season, especially if he struggles in a loss, do not be surprised if Head Coach Pete Carroll turns to Barkley and when he does, it'll be for good.

Finally, I feel like I should make the clarification that I believe USC will lose two games and the team's trip to Ohio's Capitol City on September 12th may not necessarily be one of those games. Even if USC escapes Columbus with a victory, it still plays road games at California and at Oregon as well as its annual rivalry showdown with a much improved UCLA club to close out the regular season.

Speaking of USC vs. Ohio State...

On two completely separate occasions last weekend I was asked whether or not I thought Ohio State could avenge last season's beatdown at the hands of the Trojans. Since everyone seems to be so concerned with my opinion on that game I'll offer it here.

The Buckeyes have a much better chance at beating USC this time around, and even if they don't the final score will be nothing like the 34-3 butt kicking given to the Bucks last season.

In many regards USC/OSU II resembles Texas/Ohio State II from the fall of 2006.

In fact, this edition of Ohio State football is a lot like the 2006-2007 Buckeyes. That is, a team, with a few question marks on defense beginning to come into its own with a potentially All-Universe quarterback entering his first full season under center.

Furthermore, USC, as previously mentioned, will not be nearly as good as the team Ohio State saw a season ago, just like in 2006 when Texas was without Vince Young and started an inexperienced Colt McCoy at the quarterback position.

An added bonus for the Bucks, just like in '06, the game will be played in The 'Shoe, as opposed to the hostile environment found in Southern California.

Finally, the Big 10 isn't that deep of a conference this year. Other than the Buckeyes and Penn State, the only other team in the top 25 as the season begins are the consummate underachievers that comprise Iowa University football.

Don't you love how I spent, like, four full paragraphs at the beginning of this blog downplaying the importance of preseason polls and have subsequently referenced those very polls several times since in an effort to validate my points?

Anyway, if Ohio State can pull off a win against the Trojans the opportunity to run the table this season certainly exists.

I would be remiss if I didn't close this column by pointing out the fact that I am pretty much full of crap most of the time about most things, so taking my predictions to Vegas and betting the family nest egg on the claims I make in this space is an extremely stupid thing to do.

That said, one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that this college football season promises to be positively fascinating and I, for one, cannot wait for the games get underway.