No. 2: Ohio State Buckeyes

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Thursday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 2 is Ohio State.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Every preseason publication that talks about the huge step Terrelle Pryor took in Ohio State's Rose Bowl win over Oregon overlooks one thing: the kid actually established himself nearly two months earlier when he led the Buckeyes to a thorough dismantling of Penn State in Happy Valley.

His stat line was a far cry from the one he posted against the Ducks, but if you watched that game from start to finish, then you saw a young athlete become an elite college football player in 60 minutes.

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The Heisman Trophy: Which Sophomore Will Win It?

Second-Year Player Could
Earn Coveted Honor Again

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Because of the new rule that only a sophomore can win the Heisman Trophy, there are some angry upperclassmen heading into the 2010 college football season.

Obviously that's not a rule, but the last three winners — Tim Tebow in 2007, Sam Bradford in 2008 and Mark Ingram in 2009 — all were second-year players, and there's no reason to think it can't happen again this year.

Certainly Ingram has a chance — maybe two — to repeat the feat, but if he falls short like Tebow and Bradford did, here are a few sophomores who should definitely stay in the mix as long as their health cooperates in 2010:

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No. 3: Boise State Broncos

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Wednesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 3 is Boise State.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

With a beefed-up non-conference schedule, Boise State hopes wins against Virginia Tech and Oregon State will carry enough weight to keep the Broncos in the hunt to play for the national championship in January.

Only problem is, the Broncos will close out their WAC affiliation with another close-but-no-cigar type of season. I think Boise can sweep through its schedule unmolested, but two other teams will do the same thing, relegating the Broncos to yet another Fiesta Bowl appearance.

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List: Great Non-Conference Games In The Near Future

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Call your old drinking buddies, mark your calendars and plan those reunions. There are some serious heavyweight tilts on the way in college football.

And here's a tip: With America's greatest sport trending toward superconferences, the marquee non-league matchups we've grown so used to every September could be headed toward extinction. So listen to me now and hear me later: Get those trips inked soon before the wife locks your balls in the jar every weekend.

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No. 4: Texas Longhorns

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Tuesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 4 is Texas.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Most teams that lose the kind of star power that Texas lost from its 13-1 squad a year ago are faced with rebuilding seasons.

And then there's Texas, which brings in stellar recruiting classes year after year, luring top talent and developing young players into key contributors ready to make an impact upon taking their first steps on campus.

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College Football Preview: The Best Games Of 2010

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Here it is, the OGS annual list of the season's best college football games. Sixty-five in all:

WEEK 1
Saturday, Sept. 4
Oregon State vs. TCU (at Arlington)
LSU vs. North Carolina (at Atlanta)

Monday, Sept. 6
Boise State vs. Virginia Tech (at Landover, Md.)

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No. 5: Florida Gators

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Monday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 5 is Florida.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Everyone knows Florida's Urban Meyer can recruit, he can coach and he can win big football games. But he's never been asked to coach a team after a health scare, a leave of absence, a reversal of the leave of absence and then the departures of Tim Tebow and 10 other starters.

Meanwhile, John Brantley might be the nation's best-known quarterback never to have been a regular starter. He fills Tebow's big shoes in 2010, but those in the Gator camp have been high on him since his decorated prep career and they expect him to man the quarterback controls well this year.

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College Football Notebook: Aug. 22

Preseason Rankings, Playoff Logic And Gambling -- Oh My!

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Now that Boise State and TCU are enjoying their best preseason rankings ever, everyone loves talking about how important the August rankings are.

Oh, really? Perhaps you heard about Cincinnati, which was one slow Dallas second away from playing for a national championship last year. The Bearcats began the 2009 season unranked in both polls.

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No. 6: Nebraska Cornhuskers

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Friday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 6 is Nebraska.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Did you know Nebraska had a 1,000-yard rusher last year? All the commotion about Ndamukong Suh and a stout defense drowned out Roy Helu's 2009 season in which he picked up 1,147 yards.

Now a senior, Helu returns to lead a veteran running back corps for a Huskers team that's expecting more from its offense than it got last year.

Much more.

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No. 7: Iowa Hawkeyes

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Thursday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 7 is Iowa.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Iowa's defense turned heads last year, and while that unit should again be strong, its offense might be just as dangerous in 2010.

America-loving quarterback Ricky Stanzi returns for his senior season. He earned plenty of headlines while helping Iowa to a 9-0 record -- its best start in school history -- to begin the 2009 season. Four of those wins were by a total of eight points, and another game required a 28-point fourth quarter in order to dismiss visiting Indiana

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No. 8: Miami Hurricanes

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Wednesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 8 is Miami.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Miami has found its way into just about everybody's top 10 this preseason, having somehow done it very quietly. And it's been quite a while since a highly ranked Hurricanes squad did anything under the radar.

But fourth-year coach Randy Shannon has steadily revived a Miami program that finished 7-6 in 2006. His first two teams were an unimpressive 12-13, but Shannon and the new-identity Canes made some waves last year with early season defeats of ranked Florida State, Georgia Tech and Oklahoma teams. Miami finished 9-4 in 2009 and left plenty of reason for optimism with its cast of players returning for 2010.

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No. 9: Oklahoma Sooners

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Tuesday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 9 is Oklahoma.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Not only did Oklahoma suffer tremendous injuries last year, but many of them happened early in the season, forcing untested players into key, season-long roles for which they might not have been ready. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

One of those players was quarterback Landry Jones. He and several others took some lumps during a five-loss campaign last year, but now that 2009 is long behind them and eyes are turned toward a new season, there's renewed optimism with all that experienced gained.

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No. 10: TCU Horned Frogs

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Monday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 10 is TCU.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Texas Christian's calling card in coach Gary Patterson's nine years there has been its defense, but last year's offense woke up and showed a similar ability to dominate.

And with dual-threat quarterback Andy Dalton leading a unit that returns nine starters, the Horned Frogs seem poised to better their nearly 40-points-per-game average from a year ago.

With a pair of 600-yard rushers returning in 2010, as well as four wideouts who combined for 133 catches and more than 1,900 yards last season, the TCU offense should sing. And it will do so with a very experienced offensive line that could be among the nation's finest. Marcus Cannon and Jake Kirkpatrick are studs up front.

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No. 11: Oregon Ducks

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Friday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 11 is Oregon.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

It's funny how, in the year of the quarterback in the PAC 10, one team without a star at the position seems the consensus pick to win the league.

Oregon lost Jeremiah Masoli after a pair of off-field incidents led to his dismissal. The dual-threat quarterback is now at Mississipi (get it?), but the cupboard in Eugene is hardly bare.

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No. 12: Virginia Tech Hokies

The One Great Season College Football Countdown continues Thursday. We'll be counting down the preseason Top 25 teams in 2010. Today's No. 12 is Virginia Tech. (PS-Don't forget to scroll to the very bottom of this preview to watch my video of that belligerent d-bag from last year who told GaTech fans they "didn't know how to watch a football game.")

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Everyone's been talking about Virginia Tech's huge season-opener against Boise State, but has anyone looked at the Hokies' schedule the rest of the way?

Frank Beamer's bunch has a legitimate chance to take a 10-0 record into Miami and battle the Hurricanes for the ACC Coastal Divison crown, where a berth in the conference championship game will be at stake.

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