Big games:
Sept. 17: Tennessee at Florida
Sept. 24: Tennessee at LSU
Oct. 29: Florida vs. Georgia
Outlook: Four coaches with bold personalities–Florida’s Urban Meyer, LSU’s Les Miles, Mississippi’s Ed Orgeron and South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier–will try to thrive in the nation’s toughest, nastiest conference.
2. Big Ten
Order of finish:
%%
1. Ohio State 7. Northwestern
2. Iowa 8. Michigan State
3. Michigan 9. Minnesota
4. Purdue 10. Illinois
5. Penn State 11. Indiana
6. Wisconsin
%%
Big games:
Oct. 8: Iowa at Purdue
Oct. 22: Michigan at Iowa
Nov. 19: Ohio State at Michigan
Outlook: The temptation is to divide the conference into three groups: contenders (Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan, Purdue), mixed bags (Penn State, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, Minnesota) and walkovers (Illinois, Indiana).
3. Atlantic Coast
Order of finish:
%%
ATLANTIC COASTAL
1. Boston College 1. Virginia Tech
2. Florida State 2. Miami
3. N.C. State 3. Virginia
4. Clemson 4. Georgia Tech
5. Maryland 5. North Carolina
6. Wake Forest 6. Duke
%%
Big games:
Sept. 5: Miami at Florida State
Sept. 17: Florida State at Boston College
Nov. 5: Miami at Virginia Tech
Outlook: Boston College brings East Coast toughness to a league that now has 12 members, two divisions and a title game. Florida State scored just 25.2 points per game last season, its worst output since 1981.
4. Big 12
Order of finish:
%%
NORTH SOUTH
1. Colorado 1. Texas
2. Iowa State 2. Oklahoma
3. Missouri 3. Texas A&M
4. Nebraska 4. Texas tech
5. Kansas State 5. Oklahoma State
6. Kansas 6. Baylor
%%
Big games:
Oct. 8: Oklahoma vs. Texas
Nov. 25: Nebraska at Colorado
Nov. 25: Texas at Texas A&M
Outlook: Only baseball’s National League West is weaker than the Big 12 North, but Colorado coach Gary Barnett doesn’t mind. Texas is set at quarterback with Vince Young, but Oklahoma plans to play two QBs in an effort to replace Jason White.
5. Pac-10
Order of finish:
%%
1. USC 6. Oregon State
2. California 7. Washington St.
3. Oregon 8. Arizona
4. Arizona State 9. Washington
5. UCLA 10. Stanford
%%
Big games:
Sept. 24: USC at Oregon
Oct. 8: California at UCLA
Nov. 12: USC at California
Outlook: Can any team challenge the big, bad Trojans? It’s doubtful, but Oregon, Arizona State and Cal all get USC at home. Ty Willingham looks to turn around the train wreck that is Washington.
6. Big East
Order of finish:
%%
1. Louisville 5. Connecticut
2. Pittsburgh 6. Rutgers
3. West Virginia 7. South Florida
4. Syracuse 8. Cincinnati
%%
Big games:
Oct. 15: Louisville at West Virginia
Nov. 3: Pittsburgh at Louisville
Nov. 24: Pittsburgh at West Virginia
Outlook: Three newcomers–Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati–will try to give the league a new identity. It could certainly use one. At least perennial whipping boy Temple has been kicked off the premises.
7. Mountain West
Order of finish:
%%
1. Wyoming 6. Air Force
2. Utah 7. UNLV
3. New Mexico 8. BYU
4. Colorado State 9. San Diego State
5. TCU
%%
Big games:
Sept. 15: Utah at TCU
Oct. 15: New Mexico at Wyoming
Nov. 19: Utah at BYU
Outlook: Two of Urban Meyer’s former assistants are now Mountain West head coaches: Kyle Whittingham at Utah and Mike Sanford at UNLV. The Utes lose 14 starters from an undefeated team.
8. Mid-American
Order of finish:
%%
EAST WEST
1. Bowling Green 1. Toledo
2. Miami of Ohio 2. Northern Illinois
3. Akron 3. Ball State
4. Kent State 4. Central Michigan
5. Buffalo 5. Eastern Michigan
6. Ohio 6. Western Michigan
%%
Big games:
Oct. 5: Miami of Ohio at Northern Illinois
Nov. 15: Bowling Green at Miami of Ohio
Nov. 16: Northern Illinois at Toledo
Outlook: The league loses five-time champ Marshall to Conference USA and South Florida to the Big East. But several solid teams remain, including NIU, which hasn’t left Toledo with a victory since 1972.
9. Western Athletic
Order of finish:
%%
1. Boise State 6. New Mexico St.
2. Fresno State 7. San Jose State
3. Nevada 8. Utah State
4. Hawaii 9. Idaho
5. Louisiana Tech
%%
Big games:
Sept. 3: USC at Hawaii
Sept. 3: Boise State at Georgia
Sept. 10: San Jose State at Illinois
Outlook: Newcomers Utah State, New Mexico State and Idaho won’t threaten conference power Boise State, which ended last season ranked 12th in the AP poll.
10. Conference USA
Order of finish:
%%
EAST WEST
1. Southern Miss. 1. Texas-El Paso
2. Ala.-Birmingham 2. Houston
3. Memphis 3. Tulane
4. Marshall 4. Rice
5. Central Florida 5. Tulsa
6. East Carolina 6. SMU
%%
Big games:
Sept. 16: Houston at UTEP
Nov. 19: UAB at UTEP
Nov. 19: Memphis at Southern Miss
Outlook: The league now has two divisions and a title game. Honk if you care.
11. Sun Belt
Order of finish:
%%
1. North Texas 5. La.-Lafayette
2. Middle Tenn. 6. Arkansas State
3. Troy 7. Florida Atlantic
4. La.-Monroe 8. Florida Int’l
%%
Big games:
Sept. 10: North Texas at Middle Tennessee
Oct. 4: Troy at North Texas
Oct. 22: Louisiana-Lafayette at Middle Tennessee
Outlook: Another conference in search of an identity, the Sun Belt adds Florida Atlantic and Florida International. At least North Texas can play.
