CFN 2009
Pre-Preseason Rankings
No. 26 to 50
- 2009
No. 1 to 10 |
No. 11 to 25
No. 51 to 75 | No. 76 to 100 |
No. 101 to 120
- 2007 CFN Pre-Preseason Rankings
- 2008 CFN Pre-Preseason Rankings
Most of these teams
will be in the top 25 at some point this year, and almost all will go
into the season thinking about winning the respective conference titles.
There's something just missing from each team to be considered among the
elite.
The ranking is based on how good the team should be in 2009, while the
Final CFN Season Ranking is based on how good a season the team had in
2008.
Teams that should be better than last year,
teams that should be worse,
team that should be about the same.
26. Kansas 2008 Record: 8-5 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 39
KU missed the big boys from the South in 2007 and didn’t play a tough
non-conference game, and it went to the Orange Bowl. The schedule got
much, much nastier last year and the Jayhawks went to the Insight. This
year’s team should be right in the hunt for the North title all year
long with QB Todd Reesing leading a loaded offense that will be
fantastic if replacements can be found for the interior of the line. The
points are going to have to come in bunches with the phenomenal
linebacking corps needing to be replaced. The secondary returns intact.
27. Michigan State 2008 Record: 9-4 2008 Final CFN
Season Rank: 28
The team was more than Javon Ringer last season, and it’ll come through
this year as LB Greg Jones leads a loaded defense that loses SS Otis
Wiley and DT Justin Kershaw, but should be fantastic. The young
receiving corps of last year should be far better, but it’ll all come
down to the backfield as Kirk Cousins will get the first look this
spring as the new starting quarterback, with Oklahoma transfer Keith
Nichol as the No. 1A. There are a good slew of backs ready to replace
Ringer, led by A.J. Jimmerson.
28. Auburn 2008 Record: 5-7
2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 81
The Gene Chizik hiring might have been a bit bizarre, but he came up
with two great hires in former Tulsa offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn,
and former Minnesota defensive coordinator, and Duke head man, Ted Roof.
The new coordinator moves should make the Tigers instantly better, even
if Chizik needs to prove himself. Seven starters are back on offense,
including QB Kodi Burns, who has to show he can throw despite the loss
of receivers Rodgeriqus Smith and Robert Dunn. Sen’Derrick Marks is gone
off the defensive line, but nine other starters return to what should be
among the SEC’s best defenses.
29. Boston College 2008 Record: 9-5 2008 Final CFN
Season Rank: 25
After a bizarre parting of ways with head coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who
led the Eagles to two straight ACC title games, and losses, Boston
College will go with Frank Spaziani to try to keep the success going.
Can the offense be better? Can QB Dominique Davis be better? Will there
be more of a running game? All-star LB Mark Herzlich is back to lead a
good back seven, and the ends will be fine, but there’s no replacing the
nation’s best tackle tandem of B.J. Raji and Ron Brace.
30. Texas Tech 2008 Record:
11-2 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 9
And so the rebuilding begins. Mike Leach is still in Lubbock, but Graham
Harrell, Michael Crabtree, and three offensive linemen are gone. Taylor
Potts will get the first look as the new star of the passing show, but
Crabtree will be impossible to replace. Even with the loss of DE Brandon
Williams a year early to the NFL, along with the graduation of both
safeties, the defense shouldn’t be all that bad.
31. Iowa 2008 Record: 9-4 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 19
Just how much of last year was Shonn Greene, the great defensive
tackles, and the right all around mix? Greene is gone, along with the
defensive inside tandem of Mitch King and Matt Kroul, but the offensive
line should be fantastic and the defense gets back almost all the
playmakers in the defensive back seven. QB Ricky Stanzi should be a
steady factor, instead of just along for the ride.
32. Florida State 2008 Record: 9-4 2008 Final CFN
Season Rank: 20
The potential is there for the Noles to be in for a special team, with a
little bit of luck. Pushing for an ACC title is a must considering all
the starters are back on a young offensive line, while QB Christian
Ponder should be far better with a year of experience. The defense will
have some problems with stars like DE Everette Brown and LB Derek
Nicholson gone, while the loss of kicker/punter Graham Gano will be
felt.
33. Cincinnati 2008 Record:
11-3 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 21
The Bearcats keep winning and winning and winning. If they could go to
the Orange Bowl last year with a variety of key injuries, then getting
past a few personnel issues this season shouldn’t be a problem … maybe.
QB Tony Pike is back along with seven other offensive starters including
receivers Mardy Gilyard and Marcus Barnett. Oh yeah … the defense. One
starter returns. One. SS Aaron Webster. To make matters worse, star P
Kevin Huber is gone.
34. Missouri 2008 Record:
10-4 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 16
Now we get to see if the program has staying power or if the last two
seasons were just an aberration. The Chases, QB Daniel and TE Coffman,
were all-timers who won’t easily be replaced, and it’s not every day
when an explosive first round talent like Jeremy Maclin hangs around
Columbia. While S William Moore was a disappointment, he was one of the
decent parts of the miserable pass defense and is now gone. LB Sean
Weatherspoon is an All-American, and he’ll have to play like it with
three starters gone, including DT Ziggy Hood and DE Stryker Sulak, off
the front four.
35. Houston 2008 Record: 8-5 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 41
It’ll be a shock if Houston doesn’t have one of the top five statistical
offenses in the nation. Eight starters are back, led by QB Case Keenum,
the 2008 national leader in total offense, from an attack that finished
second in the nation in passing (behind Texas Tech) and second in total
offense (behind Tulsa). And then there’s the defense, a nightmare last
year, it loses all four starters up front including pass rushing star,
Phillip Hunt.
36. Wisconsin 2008 Record: 7-6 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 60
This was supposed to be a BCS caliber team last year and it was a
tremendous disappointment. Few will be expecting much after last year,
but the pieces are there to be a sleeper in the Big Ten race with RBs
John Clay and Zach Brown working behind a good line, and QB Dustin
Sherer with a year of experience. The secondary should be the strength
of a defense that’ll be better than it appears considering all the
losses on the front seven.
37. Southern Miss 2008 Record: 7-6 2008 Final CFN
Season Rank: 51
The team that was so red hot to end the year, winning the last five
games, including a 21-3 domination over eventual Conference USA
champion, East Carolina, comes back loaded. Led by RB Damion Fletcher,
eight starters are back on an offense that got better and better. The
defense loses heart-and-soul LB Gerald McRath, but gets back eight
starters from the league’s No. 2 scoring defense.
38. Arizona State 2008 Record:
5-7 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 87
One of the nation’s most disappointing teams last year, ASU still had a
shot to go bowling had it beaten Arizona in the regular season finale.
QB Rudy Carpenter is gone, but Danny Sullivan should be ready to hit the
ground running. In all, the offense gets back seven starters and has
good replacements for the missing producers. Defensively, seven starters
are back from a ball-hawking group that should be even better after a
strong season. PK Thomas Weber is one of the nation’s best.
39. Notre Dame 2008 Record:
7-6 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 67
The thrill of the blowout win over Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl temporarily
glossed over the disappointing season, but it also set the expectations
high for this boom-or-bust year for Charlie Weis. The offense should
start to fly, with two years of experience under Jimmy Clausen’s belt
and the receiving tandem of Golden Tate and Michael Floyd. Eight
offensive starters return, but only five starters are back on defense
with FS David Bruton and LB Maurice Crum gone. 2009 is when the Weis
recruiting classes need to finally come through big-time.
40. Arkansas 2008 Record:
5-7 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 72
2008 was all about the transition from the Houston Nutt running attack
to the Bobby Petrino passing game, and now the real fun should begin.
One-time star recruit, and former Michigan Wolverine, Ryan Mallett,
wasn’t able to play last year, but that only gives him another year of
eligibility. The young defense that took its lumps throughout last year
will still be young, but it should be loaded thanks to nine returning
starters.
41.
Illinois
2008 Record: 5-7 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 69
The market corrected itself a bit on Illinois last year. The team really
wasn’t Rose Bowl-worthy in 2007, and it was far better than the 5-7
record might have indicated, and now it’s time for everything to even
out. QB Juice Williams and WR Arrelious Benn should form one of the
nation’s best pitch-catch combinations, while RB Daniel Dufrene turned
out to be a not-that-bad replacement for Rashard Mendenhall. There’s
work to be done on the offensive line, while the defense suffers some
huge losses with LB Brit Miller, CB Vontae Davis, and three other key
starters are gone.
42. NC State 2008 Record: 6-7 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 54
Can the Wolfpack get off to a decent start so it doesn’t have to
scramble at the end just to get bowl eligible? Russell Wilson is one of
the ACC’s stars to get excited about, but RB Andre Brown won’t be around
to help carry the offense. The lines will be a major plus, while the
defense that was so great at ball-hawking over the final few games of
last year gets many of the top playmakers back.
43. Kentucky 2008 Record: 7-6 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 57
In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, Kentucky wasn’t all that
bad with a winning season and a bowl win over East Carolina. Now the
expectations are high with nine offensive starters returning, not
including do-it-all star, Randall Cobb. On the other side, the defense
got a pleasant surprise with the return of all-star corner Trevard
Lindley. Five starters are back, but the defense will need a bit of help
with the loss of DE Myron Pryor and DE Ventrell Jenkins.
44. Minnesota
2008 Record: 7-6 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 71
Now the program has to start to really roll. Despite last year’s
disastrous second half, big strides were made throughout the season. Out
of the dome, Minnesota is in a new stadium and with a new attitude. QB
Adam Weber and WR Eric Decker will form a dangerous combination, but
it’ll be the defense, even without defensive coordinator Ted Roof, who
took off to Auburn, that should make the biggest improvement with nine
returning starters.
45. Rutgers 2008 Record: 8-5 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 38
The team didn’t start playing well until the passing game turned around,
and now all the key parts are gone including QB Mike Teel. Kordell Young
and the running game will have to carry things early on, working behind
a strong line with all five players returning. There are some big losses
on defense, like S Courtney Greene and DE Jamaal Westerman, but things
aren’t all that bad.
46. South Carolina 2008 Record: 7-6 2008 Final CFN
Season Rank: 61
Steve Spurrier has recruited well, and he has had a little bit of
success, but he hasn’t been able to make South Carolina a consistent
power. It won’t happen this year, either, with several strong starters
gone, but there are some great players returning including three
starters on the defensive front and LB Eric Norwood. Stephen Garcia is
expected to be the new star quarterback, but he’ll need seasoning.
47. Arizona 2008 Record: 8-5 2008 Final CFN Season
Rank: 37
Mike Stoops finally got the program over the hump and to a bowl game,
but it’ll be tough to build on the success. Long time starting QB Willie
Tuitama is gone, and now it’ll likely be up to untested prospect Matt
Scott to take over. Losing WR Mike Thomas hurts, but star TE Rob
Gronkowski is special. With top tackle Eben Britton gone early to the
NFL, the Wildcats have to replace three starters up front, while the
defense loses LB Ronnie Palmer and four other starters. Even with all
the key losses, there are some stars to rely on, specifically the
running back tandem of Keola Antolin and Nic Grigsby, and punter Keenyn
Crier.
48. Oregon State 2008 Record:
9-4 2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 23
RB Jacquizz Rodgers will be back and will be one of the stars of the Pac
10, but the Beavers lose 20 seniors including tremendous defensive
linemen Victor Butler and Pernell Booth. Lyle Moevao is back at
quarterback and the leader of the offense, but he’ll have to be more
decisive and even sharper with patching needing to be done on the line.
49. BYU 2008 Record: 10-3
2008 Final CFN Season Rank: 33
The Cougars need to prove once again that they can be considered among
the elite of the non-BCS conference teams. They were supposed to be
Utah, but melted down against the top teams. QB Max Hall has to carry
the attack that loses star WR Austin Collie and almost everyone on the
line. DE Jan Jorgensen leads a veteran defense that should be among the
best in the Mountain West.
50. South Florida 2008 Record: 8-5 2008 Final CFN
Season Rank: 44
The USF defense is always strong and is always good at coming up with
replacements. That’ll be put to the test again this year in a few key
spots. The big loss is LB Tyrone McKenzie, but in a surprise move, DE
George Selvie came back for his senior season. QB Matt Grothe returns to
run the offense, but four starters are gone off the line and several key
playmakers will need to be replaced.
- 2009
No. 51 to 75 |
No. 76 to 100 |
No. 101 to 120
- 2007 CFN Pre-Preseason Rankings
- 2008 CFN Pre-Preseason Rankings
|