- Boise State-- Expected to take an actual run at the National Championship game. Athlon Magazine preseason #5 in the nation. Play Georgia to start the season in Atlanta and have a November 12th matchup at home versus TCU.
- TCU-- Expected to fall down a peg in 2011 with the losses on defense as well as the loss of Andy Dalton. Athlon Magazine has them at preseason #15 to start the season. Play at Boise, at Baylor, and home versus BYU.
- Air Force-- A bit of a suprise to be this high in the preseason polls, but in 2010 they were only manhandled by TCU. Lost to Oklahoma by 3, SDSU by 2 and Utah by 5. A few different bounces of the ball and they go 13-1 rather than 9-4.
- BYU-- A bit of a disappointing season in 2010 with more than one game getting out of hand and become a blowout on the negative side. Ambitious schedule with games at Ole Miss, at Texas, at TCU, at Oregon State and at Hawaii. Could fall significantly if they cannot handle the difficult schedule.
- Southern Mississippi-- Perennial top 40 team should contend forthe CUSA crown and be right on the cusp of a top 25 spot due in large part to an easy schedule. The most difficult non-conference game is at Virginia.
- Houston-- Should sweep their out of conference games with ease other than the UCLA game. UCLA will have to travel to Houston to play the game. If Keenum stays healthy, this is a very managable schedule.
- Tulsa-- Probably a better team than both Southern Miss and Houston but the schedule is treacherous with a trip to Norman to play Oklahoma, a meeting with Oklahoma State, and a trip to Boise. Will be lucky to win one of three in those matchups.
- UCF-- Went 11-3 last season and beat an SEC team that is preseason top 15 in the Liberty Bowl. Play at BYU and at FIU in addition to a home game versus Boston College. Could move up with an upset or two and be right near the top spot at the end of the season.
- Northern Illinois University-- Having the reigining conference player of the year as well as a great supporting cast should allow NIU to continue to have another great season. 3 of the 4 out of conference games should be wins and they have a chance to shock the world and beat Wisconsin at a neutral site. The Tuesday night ESPN game versus Toledo should be considered a gift for a Tuesday night.
- Navy-- In a decision splitting hairs, I went with Navy over SDSU because I like their chances at South Carolina, home versus Air Force, home versus Southern Miss, at Notre Dame, home versus Troy and at SMU over the SDSU team that has an incredibly hard schedule with a new head coach.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Non-Big 6 Top 10 Preseason (Updated: Replaced SDSU with NIU)
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No MAC schools, figures. If we had a top25 team last year why wouldn't we have a team in the top 10 of Non-aq. NIU and Toledo are both deserving.
ReplyDeleteNIU was in my original top 10, they are like 10.5 for me right now. I honestly believe that they will end up in the top 6 at worst but going into it, I felt that SDSU and Navy just barely beat them out.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I respect your criticism of the top ten. It is fair and I would like to do one based on fan choices if I can get enough to comment.
ReplyDelete1. Boise 2. AirForce 3. BYU 4. TCU 5. So Miss. 6. Houston 7. Toledo 8. Navy 9. NIU 10. Tulsa
ReplyDeleteAs a NIU fan, I am fine with the Huskies being just outside this list for the preseason because we have a new coach and our non-fully seasoned D. However, if they are 3-1 or better going into conference play they should be on the list.
ReplyDeleteI also expect WMU to defeat Illinois & UCONN. This would make the 10/15 meeting @ NIU a huge game as we already expect.
Yeah, that was the thought process I had with NIU as well. I see the MAC as a top heavy conference with 3-4 really good teams and 3-4 really bad teams and 3-4 average ones.
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