Ready for greatest college football season ever?
For starters, there’s best all-time team (Florida), player (Tebow) candidates
Kevin C. Cox / Getty ImagesQuarterback Tim Tebow, left, and coach Urban Meyer will try to bring the Florida Gators their third national title in four seasons.
Greatest race for team of the decade?
With only one season to go, it's a very tight competition.
- Florida (87-29): Two national titles in the last three years, four BCS bowls.
- USC (93-22): One outright national title, a share of another, coming within a foot of another (the failed fourth-down run against Texas) and seven straight championships in the Pac-10. Oh, and seven BCS bowls.
- LSU (90-27): Two national titles, one with Nick Saban and another with Les Miles. Four BCS bowls.
- Ohio State (91-23): One national title and two appearances in the BCS Championship Game. Six BCS bowls.
- Oklahoma (102-19): One national title, more victories than anyone else in the decade and three appearances in the BCS Championship Game (all defeats). In all, seven BCS bowls.
Greatest Turnarounds?
Two of the most iconic programs have reached do-or-die status.
| Inside the IrishKeith Arnold brings you all of the latest news and insight on everything Notre Dame. |
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Notre Dame, 10-15 in the past two seasons under coach Charlie Weis, is under pressure to become relevant again. The Fighting Irish have a lighter schedule and enough talent (at least according to the recruiting gurus) to challenge for double-digit victories. How's this for hype? Lou Holtz and Beano Cook have already pegged Notre Dame for a spot in the national title game.
Michigan, a 3-9 disaster in coach Rich Rodriguez’s first season, has fallen off the Big Ten’s radar screen. Forget about beating Ohio State. The Wolverines simply need a winning season and a bowl game or else the tension might be unbearable.
Greatest Cinderella story?
There won’t be a college-football playoff any time soon. Unbeaten non-BCS teams, such as Utah last season, had no realistic chance at winning a national title.
But thanks to the Utes' annihilation of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, the top non-BCS teams have served notice that they're for real and now have at least a glimmer of hope of competing for a title in the current format.
Boise State and Brigham Young are just two of the non-BCS teams that could run the table and (perhaps) get a shot at winning it all.
Greatest non-conference matchups?
The addition of a 12th game has largely meant a bunch of unattractive mismatches. But here are some potentially electrifying games that will add juice to the season.
- Oregon at Boise State (Thursday) — Excellent lid-lifter from the West Coast.
- Georgia at Oklahoma State (Saturday) — Georgia has lost considerable offensive talent (Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno). Oklahoma State has not (with the return of Zac Robinson and Dez Bryant).
- Alabama vs. Virginia Tech at Atlanta (Saturday) — An SEC-ACC matchup that’s a big one for both conferences. The ACC desperately needs a serious national-title contender, and here’s an early opportunity to establish that status.
- USC at Ohio State (Sept. 12) — National-title elimination game? The Trojans won 35-3 last season in Los Angeles.
- Oklahoma at Miami (Oct. 3) — Sounds like a terrific game, right? Well, we can only hope. Miami’s program hasn’t been up to form in a few seasons, but here is a shock-the-world opportunity.
Greatest coaching duel?
Penn State’s Joe Paterno has 383 career victories. Florida State’s Bobby Bowden has 382 (for now, at least, pending the NCAA’s follow-through on vacating 14 of those victories).
Again, the NCAA could make this race into a one-man show.
Either way, it’s yet another chance to view two coaches whose exploits will not be duplicated in this or any generation. We could be set up for a monumental storyline for 2010 — Paterno chasing his 400th career victory.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
This season has plenty of great things to offer. Actually, it’s offering plenty of the greatest things.
Joey Johnston writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a columnist for the Tampa (Fla.) Tribune.
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